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Dr. David Smith
Pastor
I confessed my need for Jesus as my Savior when I was 7 yrs. old. Through my involvement in church as a teenager, the Lord grew me to see my need for daily repentance. During my college years, I began to have serious theological questions about the Arminianism that I had been taught. After moving to Chattanooga, TN shortly after college, I heard Reformed theology for the first time. After coaching and teaching on the college and high school level for five years, the Lord called me to prepare for ministry at Covenant Seminary. In 1994 Tracy and I were married, and in 1995 I was ordained as a teaching elder in the ARP church, while serving as an associate pastor at Back Creek Presbyterian in Charlotte, NC. In 1998 Tracy and I moved to the Chicago area where I began doctoral studies. In 2003 we moved to Philadelphia, where I began teaching at a Christian high school. In 2010 I accepted the call to be the second pastor in Covenant Fellowship's 17 year history. Tracy and I have three children: Gresham, 11, Isaac, 8 and Katie, 6. It is a great privilege and joy to be able to serve a congregation that loves each other because of their love for the Lord Jesus.
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Scott Cornelius
Ruling Elder
I am a father of four children (Callie, Sarah, Allen and John) and husband to my wife Melissa, who is a stay at home mother and homeschooler. We started attending Covenant Fellowship Church in 1998 and have been a part of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian (ARP) denomination since 1997.
I accepted Christ as Lord and Savior as a young boy during a neighborhood children’s bible study. Growing up and through college there were times of deliberate sin but God remained faithful and through His conviction and chastening, repentance always resulted in forgiveness and restoration. God’s forgiveness is no less needed now on a daily basis than it was then, as He makes me into the likeness of His Son Jesus Christ. Praise God for His love and mercy.
After much prayer and counsel, I accepted the call to become ordained as an ARP Ruling Elder of Covenant Fellowship Church in 2006. It is a pleasure to serve the members of our church. We have a special group of people who take seriously the command to love one another. We are certainly not perfect, but love covers a multitude of sins.
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Brent Fields
Ruling Elder
My wife, Sydney, and I live in Summerfield, NC. We have been blessed with four children ranging in age from 12 to 18. Sydney and I first attended services at Covenant Fellowship 16 years ago and soon became members. Several characteristics stood out at the time that drew us to Covenant Fellowship: the warm and inviting hospitality of the congregation, the interaction between generations, the solid teaching from the pulpit, and lastly, enjoying a meal together immediately after church. We had never participated in a church environment like that and we felt very much at home.
Over the years, I have become more and more convinced of the “covenant family” element of Christianity. So often we compartmentalize our church experience in that we send the children off in one direction and the adults go another. The church has become consumer driven with exhaustive efforts to meet individuals at their perceived individual point of need. I believe that the church is a family of believers, young and old alike. I have seen the importance of inter-generational worship and how positively it has affected my family’s understanding of the gospel. I think it has been a tremendous blessing for my children to see Christ “fleshed out” in the lives of a number of adults. Understanding the covenant blessing of God upon all of His people has been pivotal in my understanding of my place as a child of God, a member of His household, and an heir to His kingdom.
I am grateful to have been involved with Covenant Fellowship over the last 16 years. God has used this time to help me understand my relationship with Him in light of His grace and mercy. I have come to see the complete and absolute indispensible reality of God’s word as found in the Bible. While I do not know what this life has in store for me, I do know that God has a plan that He will see through to its fruition and I can find rest in the assurance of His grace, His mercy, and His promises.
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Carl Schinke
Ruling Elder
I consider being an elder of Covenant Fellowship (CF) one of the greatest responsibilities in my life, second only to the shepherding of my family. It is a privilege and honor to have been ordained in this position since March 2010. Eldership is one of the highest callings in the Church, and is one in which I continually ask for grace in order to do. I am thankful I can rest assured our God is faithful to apply grace upon grace to me as one of His children because of the fullness of Christ (John 1:16-17)!
My wife, Angie, and I have been members of CF since 2000. Since that time, I have served in various capacities in the church. Leading worship, being a small group leader, and serving on our Operations Team have been some of those opportunities in which I have been blessed to serve.
What I appreciate and value about CF is the fact that since its inception, we have by God’s grace retained a closeness similar to the early church. We find ourselves relying upon the Living God to live as the Lord would want us to live, and in return He mercifully blesses our relationships to one another and to the world around us, as in the early chapters of Acts. Since my roots are in the Midwest, I am grateful the people of CF have embraced us like true family.
I pray CF would be as much of a blessing to you as it has been in our lives.
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