Our Mission
Covenant OPC exists to make disciples of Christ who:
- Worship God with joy,
- Work to advance God’s kingdom, and
- Witness to God’s world.
What We Believe
We believe the Bible to be the perfect, inerrant word of God. We whole-heartedly embrace the teachings that emerge from it, as summarized in the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. At the heart of the Scriptures is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even though all people are lost in sin and unable to stand before God’s justice (Rom 3:23; Ps 143:2), God the Son took on flesh and became a man to rescue us from our sin (John 1:14; 3:16). Jesus accomplished this rescue by dying in our place on the cross, receiving in his body the just anger of God for all our sin (1 Pet 2:24). But God the Father exalted Jesus for his perfect obedience and raised him from the dead on the third day (Phil 2:9). Now Jesus is in the process of bringing all his people to himself by sending his Spirit and giving the gift of faith (Rom 5:5; Eph 2:8). When we believe in Christ and turn from our sin, God makes us to share in Christ’s victory over sin and death, and we look forward to the perfection of that victory when Christ returns on the last day (Rom 8:17; Rev 21:3-4)!
Affiliations
We are a congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC), a reformed denomination committed to the complete trustworthiness of the Scriptures.
Within the OPC (which stretches throughout the United States), our congregation is part of the Presbytery of Ohio. A “presbytery” (1 Tim 4:14) is a group of congregations in a regional area connected with one another by a common confession, and is unified in service and ministry.
The OPC enjoys close relations with other churches of like faith and practice, and is a member of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC).
Our History
Covenant began as a church plant of Redeemer OPC (Beavercreek, OH). In November of 1996, five families began meeting under the leadership of Rev. Charles Jackson for worship in a Ramada Inn conference room. The “sanctuary” was complete with a dance floor and a disco ball (which did get turned on once by one of our toddlers). We moved from the Ramada Inn to the Howard Johnson’s across the street. This was no less an interesting place to meet. The conference room at Howard Johnson’s was directly upstairs from their lounge appropriately named “El Diablo.” While smoke rose from “El Diablo,” the gospel was preached from above.
God blessed the preaching of his word, and the fledgling group continued to grow. God graciously opened an opportunity to meet at a newly constructed Seventh Day Adventist Church in the summer of 2000. By 2009 the congregation was able to purchase our current building at 101 E. National Rd. After extensive renovations, we rejoiced to have a permanent place of worship in the heart of Vandalia.
After over 18 years of faithful shepherding at Covenant, Pastor Jackson accepted a call to equip future ministers of the gospel at the OPC’s seminary in Mbale, Uganda. (See the blog about their ministry here.) The Lord raised up Rev. Matthew Patton to succeed him, and he was ordained in November, 2015.
Living Water OPC’s first service
The Lord continued to bless Covenant, and in February, 2015 we launched our first church plant, Living Water OPC in nearby Springfield, OH, under the pastoral leadership of Pastor Peppo. In the wonderful kindness of God, this church plant became its own particular church in May 2017! Pastor Peppo then served as the church-planter of a mission work in Wilmington, Ohio (Wilmington Reformed Church), which became its own particular church in March 2022. After Pastor Detrick’s ordination as an evangelist in 2020, Pastor Peppo and Pastor Detrick worked together at Light of the Nations Church in order to plant a church in downtown Dayton. That church was particularized in April 2022, to the praise and glory of God.
In 2019, even as many members went to help start our church plant in Dayton, God still sent many new members to join Covenant. The congregation had grown to the point where an additional minister was necessary to meet our growing needs, and Rev. Jeremiah Montgomery was installed alongside Pastor Patton on January 3, 2020. Pastor Montgomery served with excellence until September 2023, when he became the General Secretary overseeing church planting in the OPC.