Senior Pastor

Covenant Community Church is a non-denominational Bible church incorporated in 1938 and located in Redford Township (www.redfordchamber.org/), an older suburb on the immediate western border of Detroit, Michigan. The township is a diverse, working class community with many churches. Covenant draws from many communities.

Covenant is an evangelical Bible teaching and preaching church with an emphasis on missions. Since its founding in 1938, it has had four Senior Pastors. The late Rev. John L. Drummond, served over thirty-eight years from before incorporation. The late Rev. H. Dalton Myers retired in February 2004 and served twenty-nine and a half years. Dr. Cole Westwood relocated in 2017 to be closer to his family in Indiana after serving twelve years. The Music Director, Rev. Jay Barsaleu, accepted the dual role of Pastor and Music Director in 2018. His pastoral experience and musical giftedness have served the church well. He anticipates retiring in early 2023.

We are an independent church governed by the congregation through the annual election of an Elder Board which gives the direction and vision to the church, while the congregation votes on major decisions as recommended by the Elders.

The church presently has an annual budget of approximately $240,000 with 24% designated to missions and 43% to support a staff consisting of a full-time Pastor, a church secretary who also is the financial secretary, a part-time Youth Pastor, and a part-time Housekeeper.

Attendance has been declining over the past decade or two and is presently in the 100-120 range for the Sunday morning service. In addition to the morning worship service and Sunday school for all ages, Covenant also runs a Wednesday adult Bible study/prayer service, a children’s club program, a youth ministry, and various adult Bible studies. It also has a library of 7,500 volumes including a large assortment of videos.

Musically we have a choir of some nine voices, a praise group consisting of vocal, percussion, guitar, violin, cello, keyboard and piano who are endeavoring to blend traditional and contemporary Christian music.

The strengths of our church are:

·        Strong evangelical heritage

·        Solid core of older, committed believers

·        Strong commitment to missions

·        History of pastoral stability and church unity

·        Strong music program

·        Strong teaching and shepherding ministry

·        Generous givers and no church debt at present time

·        Desire for a church body that is more representative of our diverse community

The weaknesses of our church are:

·        Declining effectiveness in evangelism and discipleship program

·        Aging population and declining attendance

·        Not attracting younger families (40’s and younger)

·        Well maintained but dated facilities

We are a church looking for God’s will. We are asking Him to direct us to a man who will lead us in our continuing love of God and His Son, as we worship and spread the Word, especially in our community. Our desire is to take our strengths and build on them and to target our weaknesses to change them into strengths. Our desire is to hold on to the stability that we have, yet relate effectively to the ever-changing world and community in which we serve. We worship an unchanging God and pray that He will lead the right man to our church family as we worship and share the Gospel to a lost and dying world.

The church’s Statement of Faith is available at www.covenantredford.com.