The History of Covenant Presbyterian Church
A survey made by the Presbytery of New Brunswick in the 1940’s showed that there were five Presbyterian churches within a half-mile radius from the original First Presbyterian Church located in downtown Trenton, and it recommended that four of these churches relocate themselves to the outskirts of the city in relatively unchurched communities. First Church, because of its historical significance, was to remain at its original and present location. In January of 1947, however, Presbytery approved the merger of the Third and Fifth Presbyterian Churches into one congregation, and the name Covenant Presbyterian Church was chosen. Before the merger, both pastors had submitted their resignations to clear the way for a call to a candidate to be Pastor of the united church. Rev. Allan Winn, who had served Third Church as its Pastor, was installed as the Pastor of Covenant Church.
Soon after the merger, an unexpected opportunity arose; the small membership of Mount Carmel Church prompted the Presbytery to consider closing the church. The Rev. Marshall Harrington suggested to Covenant’s Session that because Mount Carmel was a direct outgrowth of the former Fifth Church, it would be appropriate for Covenant to propose a new merger involving the smaller church. This was approved and Mount Carmel united with Covenant in 1948.
The initial choice for a location for the new Covenant Church was the ‘point’ where Pennington Road and Parkside Avenue intersect, and the Presbytery bought land there for this purpose. However, the New Jersey Children’s Home Society’s 25-year-old stone building and cottage at Parkway and Parkside Avenues in Trenton came onto the market. The congregation voted to give Session the authority to buy this property, where the existing buildings could be used for classrooms and offices and land was available to erect a sanctuary and to provide parking. This site served as the home of Covenant Church until its sale in 2017.
In 1968, a member of the Presbytery’s long-range planning committee asked the Session to consider a merger between Covenant Church and Prospect Street Church. Covenant’s officers and Rev. Winn accepted the offer in good faith, and the congregation authorized a committee to explore the idea. Gradually it became clear that the strong consensus needed for a successful merger was lacking. An Administrative Commission of the Presbytery, in its attempt to identify the basis of lingering opposition to the merger, only succeeded in exacerbating the situation. The Prospect Street congregation voted to rescind its approval of the merger and to ask the Presbytery to withdraw its own endorsement of the plan.
In 1972, Covenant Church celebrated its 25th anniversary. A little more than a year later, Rev. Winn announced his intention to retire, effective November 1974. In January 1976, Rev. Hugh Smith III began serving Covenant Church as its second pastor. In that same month, the Session voted to commit 10 percent of the church’s giving toward mission. It was an act of faith and commitment on the part of the Session and of the congregation.
A seminary student intern from 1990 became the first woman to be ordained and installed as Associate Pastor in 1991. During this time, the youth group took many mission trips and linked with youth from other churches. In 1995 and 1997 the group joined with Ewing Presbyterian Church youth for a trip to Washington D.C. to work in soup kitchens and assist with homeless people. In 1996 and 1997, again, with Ewing Church, they attended a youth conference in Montreat, NC.
Change at Covenant Church
As typically occurs following the retirement of a beloved, long-serving pastor, there was a decline in the number of members at Covenant after the retirement of the pastor in 2004. With the flux in pastoral staff, the decline in membership accelerated during the subsequent years. The average age of the membership increased as many families with children left the church. For many years Covenant had offered a Vacation Bible School program which stopped in 2015.
After 2008, the finances at Covenant came under stress for three specific reasons: many pledging members had left the congregation, the long-time renter Mercer Children’s Center chose not to renew its lease, and the aging building required significant structural improvements and expensive maintenance. Then, in 2013, some actions approved by Session resulted in the resignation of the Clerk of Session, the Treasurer, and other leaders of the congregation from the church.
A Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) was formed and it selected a Transitional Pastor. Due to the increasing needs of Covenant’s aging congregation, another clergy member was hired as Ministry Assistant of Member Care. This position initially was for ten hours per week, but her hours were expanded when she started the Regional Older Adult Ministry. During this period, a PNC was formed to search for a ‘rebirth’ pastor. A candidate was selected, who accepted the position, but later declined the offer. After this had occurred, Session voted to discontinue its search and to retain its Transitional Pastor.
Conversations were initiated on the future of Covenant Church. After many meetings and much discernment, the congregation unanimously voted on June 30, 2017 to sell its property. The sale of the property was finalized on November 8, 2017 with the agreement that Covenant could worship at the ‘cottage’ rent-free for one year. In the spring of 2018, Covenant began exploring the possibility of merging with another congregation. The congregation approved setting aside 10 percent of the sale for mission. The Session voted to donate $120,000 to Westminster Presbyterian Church to support its mission work in Trenton, reflecting Covenant’s long-held philosophy to give back to the urban community that its three parent congregations had once served.
Furthermore, to fulfill the desire to establish a legacy for the congregation and to honor Covenant’s historical support for mission, $600,000 from the sale was dedicated to a Covenant Community Mission Fund, which would be directed to mission concerns outside of the immediate needs of the future blended congregation.