Pastor 25 Years; Work Not Done -- No Resting On Laurels With People Homeless

-- KENT

A long list of credits unfolds after his name, but the Rev. Marvin Eckfeldt of Kent isn't the sort to rest on his laurels.

He is the longest-tenured minister in Kent, and reportedly the longest-tenured Christian minister in the Northwest. After 25 years in his job as minister of the First Christian Church of Kent, Eckfeldt says he's certain he'll never leave the city, since much remains to be done.

Eckfeldt is a leader of the city's effort to house the homeless, and he is the force behind Kent's increasing support for human-services funding.

Kent now pays 1 percent of its budget to human-services needs. The city in January also approved $15,000 for a severe-weather shelter program, the first of its kind in King County outside downtown Seattle.

Eckfeldt, chairman of the city human-services commission, is largely credited with the shelter program's creation.

He spends most of his spare hours working with the homeless and the needy, a dedication that has brought him two ``Citizen of the Year'' honors from local service clubs.

His supporters say Eckfeldt, 55, has the intelligence and the dedication to promote human-service issues before the public and the council.

``By the sheer force of Marv's character, these things are getting attention,'' said Hans Rasmussen, director of Kent Valley Youth Services.

Late last year, Eckfeldt, allied with countywide social-services agencies, pushed for the successful establishment of Kent's Midway Nike Manor as housing for homeless families and mental-health patients. The West Hill site formerly housed personnel assigned to now-closed Nike missile-launcher and control facilities. It now houses 31 needy families.

One of his latest projects, the severe-weather shelter program, is providing hotel or motel vouchers to homeless single men, women and families. The program, operated though Catholic Community Services, is expected to help nearly 300 families or single people this winter.

The silver-haired and bearded Eckfeldt, who grew up poor in south-central Los Angeles, said it is his childhood experiences that motivate him to help the needy.

Eckfeldt's father died when he was 9 and his mother, a seamstress, was forced to live with her only child at her parents' home. Mother and son scrimped by on Social Security, living for 18 years in the same house in an area now called Watts, scene of race riots in 1965.

Without a father and with a working mother and few playmates, Eckfeldt turned to the church for guidance and support. He began going to church by himself at 13. Soon he was involved in youth ministry and was baptized as a Christian at the same time his mother and grandmother joined the church.

The church itself and its parishioners became a family for the youngster - so much so that Eckfeldt wanted to devote his life to caring for others.

``It's natural that the church, which takes care of its own members, should want to extend that to the larger community where we live. That's what I want to work for,'' he said.

At 18, Eckfeldt left to attend Northwest Christian College in Eugene, Ore. He had never traveled more than 50 miles.

In contrast, he now roams King County to promote human-services causes such as the need for a citywide food bank. Kent's food and clothing bank, which Eckfeldt helped establish, is now flourishing at its quarters in the Kent Commons.

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