Covenant Life Church
Covenant Life Church is a 3000 member "reformed charismatic" church in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It has its roots in the "Jesus People" movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s and through church planting also developed into an Association called Sovereign Grace Ministries which has more recently has taken on a more denominational-like structure.
The church began in 1977 as a group of 30 meeting in a Rockville, Maryland basement. This group included Larry Tomczak and C.J. Mahaney. Covenant Life is currently led by Joshua Harris, the author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye and Boy Meets Girl. It was the flagship church of Sovereign Grace Ministries until December 2012.
Covenant Life Church had its roots in a city-wide charismatic prayer meeting called Take and Give (TAG) which ran from 1970 to 1979. TAG began as a small bible study led by Lydia Little, a Washington, DC area resident who had experienced the Jesus People revival in California and wanted to see similar renewal brought to local young people.[1][2] TAG continued to grow in numbers with the Tuesday night meetings moving from the Blair High School auditorium to a larger auditorium space at Christ Church of Washington. Larry Tomczak and C.J. Mahaney became the main teachers with Jim Orban leading worship and a number of other young people taking on other leadership responsibilities as the group grew.
At its largest point TAG attracted over 2,000 people, primarily young attendees under the age of 25. Many of the original members of CLC were at one point TAG attendees. The church began in early 1977 with about 30 people in a Rockville area basement under the name Gathering of Believers, going through several name changes (including Covenant Life Christian Community) as well as location changes to become more formally established as Covenant Life Church around 1980. The church met in the Magruder High School auditorium for many years before building their current building nearby at 7501 Muncaster Mill Road.[3]
The initial group that was to become Covenant Life was founded by a core group of young people including C.J. Mahaney and Larry Tomczak, It was initially founded as a group with a "co-equal" eldership with a highly participitory congregation church life. A main feature of church life centered around numerous small groups meeting in congregation members homes. Over the first few years Larry Tomczak and C. J. Mahaney increasingly assumed larger leadership roles. Tomczak eventually left the movement and C. J. became "senior" pastor. In September 2004, after several years of internship and preparation in varying pastoral roles, Mahaney turned the senior leadership position over to Harris, one time founder of the New Attitude conferences subsequently renamed "Next" in 2009().
Larry Tomczak eventually left the group and has subsequently suggested that the increasingly Calvinistic theology was a major factor in this parting of the ways.[4][5] Over the years in association with ongoing church plants around the U.S. and a few international locations, Sovereign Grace Ministries was started as an association of local churches (originally known as People of Destiny International). However, in December 2012, after a year of internal strife, Covenant Life Church formally separated from Sovereign Grace Ministries, citing numerous differences, but especially noting differences on issues related to church polity.
However, Covenant Life has little quarrel doctrinally with Sovereign Grace; its statement of faith[6] is almost identical to Sovereign Grace's statement.[7]
Covenant Life currently (2013) has 19 pastors on staff that perform a variety of pastoral and administrative functions for a congregation estimated to be above 2000 people.
The church currently meets at 7501 Muncaster Mill Road in Gaithersburg, Maryland. They previously held two Sunday morning services, one at 9:00am and the other at 11:30am. However, as of October 2013, they have transitioned to a single service at 10 AM.[8]
Covenant Life also runs a K-12 day school and a home school program. Almost 300 students currently attend the day school, which is accredited by the Association of Christian Schools International and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Over 500 students are enrolled in the home school program.
Church Plants
Covenant Life has over 25 years sent out numerous church plants to many cities in the U.S. and a few internationally (e.g. church plants include Cleveland, Chicago, San Diego, Mexico, Philippines etc.)
A few of those include:
In 1984, Covenant Life Church planted Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania.
In 2006, Covenant Life Church planted Sovereign Grace Church of Frederick in Frederick, Maryland.
In 2008, Covenant Life Church planted Iglesia Gracia Soberana de Gaithersburg in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Iglesia Gracia Soberana de Gaithersburg is the second Spanish speaking Sovereign Grace Ministries church in the USA. Pastored by José Mercado.
Covenant Life Church is also the name of a church in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, pastored by Mo Adugna and Wondwossen Getahun. Covenant Life Church in Addis Ababa is also affiliated with Sovereign Grace Ministries.
External links
References
- ↑ "Life on Wings". February 2006. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
- ↑ Tomczak, Larry. Clap Your Hands. pp. 154–155.
- ↑ Tomczak, Larry. Clap Your Hands. p. 193.
- ↑ "Charisma Magazine". Charisma Magazine. July 2000. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
- ↑ Tomczak, Larry (1998). What Do You Believe About How People get Saved?.
- ↑ Covenant Life Church statement of faith
- ↑ Sovereign Grace statement of faith
- ↑