A dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony were held for the Teune Trailhead at Christ’s Covenant Church in Winona Lake Saturday.
Marc Goodwin, lead pastor at Christ’s Covenant Church, said the trailhead has been in the works for a couple years from start to finish, with the COVID-19 pandemic slowing the project down a little.
He said the church funded, built and designed the trailhead, which includes a pavillion and a playground. But the church has been working with the town of Winona Lake to make it part of its extension of the trail to the eastern part of Winona Lake.
During the ceremony, Goodwin said the church has a growing desire to see God grow the church to share the word of God. Part of doing that is reaching out to the community’s children.
Goodwin said at one point the church thought of creating a playground on the opposite side of where the trailhead is.
“But we heard, through the grapevine, that the town was interested in possibly extending the trail system,” Goodwin said. He said they worked with the town and Grace College.
The church worked with the town and Grace College because that part of the trail comes through Grace’s property and the town funded that portion of it, he said. Grace and the town worked together to decide the direction of the trail and where it went.
He said it’s been an encouragement to him as a community member to see the teamwork of the town and Grace College to see the trail extended. His hope is that the trailhead can be a nice place where people start or end walks, runs or bike rides. He also hopes people can come to the trailhead to play with their kids and grandkids.
More permanent trailhead markers will be placed, and while people can use the trail, some construction is still being done on that part of the trail, Goodwin said.
The trailhead is named after Ed Teune, a member of Christ’s Covenant Church, who died Aug. 21, 2019.
Goodwin said Teune was a beloved member of the church family and “meant a lot to so many of us.” He said they were honored to name the trailhead after him.”
During the dedication ceremony, three church members shared memories they had of Teune.
Aubrey Alcorn said she was grateful that it was decided to name the trailhead after someone who served God and who was humble and faithful instead of someone who donated the most money or gave the most time.
She said Teune was a faithful and humble servant of God. His acts of worship came from behind the scenes. An example she shared was, on Sunday mornings Teune would greet everyone when they would come into the church. However, what she remembered was, at the end of the service, Teune would stand and man the door as people were going out and make sure “no little one slipped out without their parents because he knew who belonged to who. It really was a ministry to me and it really served me well as a mom.”
Alcorn said Teune left a lasting legacy.
Steve Potter said Teune lived his life where people could observe him serving the church and serving God, and “you certainly wouldn’t be misled if you followed in that example that Ed lived.”
One example Potter gave of Teune was there was a fire at the church maybe 15 years ago. Potter got a call asking if he had a Shopvac and if he could help clean up.
As Potter was helping, he saw Teune helping in the cleanup.
“I found Ed and he was helping, too. And maybe some of you remember this. He was on his belly under the stage of the church in this small crawlspace sucking up water. He didn’t have to sign up for that. He just went in there head first and helped,” Potter said.
Lois Witte said Teune was a quiet servant, who had the gift of presence. He didn’t just hold doors open for people, he opened doors for people who needed doors held for them. He always noticed. Witte said she expected Teune to be holding doors at his own memorial service at the church.
Witte’s daughter remembered Teune would crouch down to talk to children. There are people that claim that children should stand when talking to an adult so the child knows the power and authority the adult holds over the child. However, if people look at Jesus’ example, “it’s pretty clear who got it right.” God humbled himself, leaving heaven and being born a man. This was not only Teune’s character, but Jesus’ character in him, she said.
