Some people refer to Mt. Zion as the church with the flags.
Five flags flutter high above the ground in the parking lot of the church on Maybee Road. Represented are Canada, Mexico, Michigan, Christians and the United States.
In the future, more flags may wave from those poles as lifelong Clarkston resident and pastor Loren Covarrubias continues to push Mt. Zion’s mission on both local and global levels.
Locally, the church is physically expanding having already broke ground on a new venue with seating for 3,800 next to the current 1,250 seat auditorium.
Even as the church undertakes the large expansion project, Covarrubias looks to extend the church’s teaching on a global level. Currently, Covarrubias and the church are reaching out by helping foster a church in El Salvador.
‘We see ourselves as the citizens of the kingdom of God and that includes all of the earth,? said Covarrubias. ?(Working at the global level) helps us focus on other people and not be self-centered. We do have local outreach as well , but the international work is so that we are not self-centered.?
According to Covarrubias, Mt. Zion provides leadership training to the impoverished Central American country. He estimated that while about 50 percent of El Salvador’s people live under the poverty line, they are not the poorest in the region.
‘The average worker (that has work) there has a job and makes $5 a day. You might think the prices for products would be lower, but the prices are the same as here,? said Covarrubias. ‘The American companies are abandoning El Salvador (and South America) because they can find workers cheaper than $5 a day. They’re going to China and India.?
El Salvador became the focus of Mt. Zion’s ministry after the church started a Hispanic Center locally in 1997 and discovered most of the nearly 400 people who responded to the ministry were from Central America, particularly El Salvador.
‘El Salvador is the ground floor and we want to spread from there,? said Covarrubias, who believes Christian values are key to fighting poverty and creating a better quality of life.
A lack of family order and crime are two problems Covarrubias believes teachings of the Bible can address pointing out the pastor of the church in El Salvador has a razor wire fence around the complex.
One medium through which Mt. Zion reaches Central America is television. Two times a week, hour-long programs featuring Covarrubias teaching Bible lessons are broadcast throughout the region. Although Covarrubias can speak Spanish, the program is translated by a Latin American pastor to incorporate the appropriate dialect and accent.
‘Due to poverty for many people there, church is one recreation and television another, because that is about all they can afford to do,? said Covarrubias.
Mt. Zion, which will soon hold nearly 4,000 in its new auditorium and broadcasts throughout much of Michigan and in Central America, started as a small Bible study group originally started by Covarrubias? mother in the basement of their home. Shortly after completing Minister’s Candidate school in 1978, Covarrubias guided the group into what is now Mt. Zion.
In addition to his television broadcasts overseas and locally, Covarrubias came be heard on a local Christian radio station throughout the week and has written two books. From 1980 to the mid-1990’s, Mt. Zion also purchased two buildings in Waterford and Clarkston turning them into community centers. An elementary school was also added to accommodate Mt. Zion School’s growth.
Mt. Zion Church is located at 4900 Maybee Road in Independence Township.