Our History

New Beginnings

From the remnants of a previous congregation, Christ Covenant was established as a church by charter on Easter Sunday, March 31, 1991, where we met at Watkins Junior High in the Bear Creek area of northwest Houston. Charles Simpson was our founding pastor and leader for the first two years of our existence. During that time, our affairs were managed by a board of trustees made up of faithful men from our congregation. Pete Sanchez Jr. served as the worship leader and one of the interim pastors when Charles traveled back to his hometown of Mobile, Alabama.

New Leadership

Once we were well established and stable as a congregation, Brother Charles began to pray about a successor to lead the church forward into the things God had for us. Pete Sanchez answered the call and took on the responsibilities of Senior Pastor. Over the next 3 years, Brother Pete and the trustees worked together to help the church become financially sound, and to move from a governing board of Trustees to a biblical model of leadership. On our 5th anniversary, we held a great celebration where Elders and Deacons were ordained to lead the church into the future.

A Place to Call Home

Shortly after we were chartered, we began looking for a place where we could build and put down roots as a church. We purchased 15 acres in the fledgling community of Wheatstone subdivision in the middle of the Copperfield area at corner of Longenbaugh Dr. and Queenston Blvd. We didn’t have the funds to be able to build at the time, but the Wheatstone community center building across the street from our property became available for us to use as a meeting place. We took the misused space and built out the second floor as a meeting room and the first floor as an office, fellowship hall and nursery area. We were home. And we could see our future in the property just across the way.

Crossing the River Longenbaugh

Though we longed to build on our own property, it would be several years before we were financially able to do so. In the mean time, we took out a loan and purchased the building where we met from Wheatstone community. In just 5 short years, God had given us the money to pay off that loan. Not long after that, we heard a word from God to “rise up and build” across the street. So we sold our building and met in a school for the next year. We used the funds from the sale as a down payment on a construction loan.

We broke ground in May, 2000, and started a three year capital stewardship campaign to raise the remaining funds we would need to build. Many of our members were directly involved in some part of the construction process and it was exciting to watch the building progress over the next 11 months. We held our first meeting in our new building on Easter Sunday, 2001, and had a building dedication in May. It was an quite a year for Christ Covenant!

Sending Out, Promoting From Within

Not long after we moved into the building, our pastor, Pete Sanchez Jr., began to feel a call from the Lord to move out into a new ministry. It was a difficult decision for both Pete and the church, since he had served Christ Covenant for over 12 years, but we both felt it was God’s will. Brother Pete left to be a director and teacher for Integrity Worship Institute in mid-2002. The elders formed a transition team and began to pray earnestly for our next leader. After much prayer and spiritual struggle, Dennis Jamison, one of the original trustees and a church elder, decided to leave his full time job in the workplace and answer the call to pastor the church.

As you can imagine, this was a giant step of faith for Dennis that was fully endorsed by our former pastor, the board of elders, and the church body. Although Dennis had not had many opportunities to preach, he took on the role of senior pastor willingly and with all diligence. Our church has benefited greatly from his strong leadership, his encouraging style of preaching, and his strong pastoral gift. Many in the church not only call Dennis their pastor, but also their friend. We are blessed to have him as our leader.

Debt Free and Moving Forward

In 2008, we were approached to sell 5 of our 15 acres to Harris County. We had no plans for the property other than for future parking, so we decided to sell. With the funds we were able to do some building expansion and pay off a significant portion of our debt. Shortly thereafter, we sold an adjoining small strip of property which allowed us to pay off our remaining loan balance. In June, 2009, we held a note burning ceremony and celebrated God’s faithfulness and provision for our church. In just 9 short years we were debt free!

In April, 2011, we celebrated our 20th anniversary as a church. As we look back over those 20 years, we remember how God led us and the men and women who helped us get to where we are today. Although we’ve come a long way, in many ways our journey has just begun. God continues to move and we continue to follow. Maybe you will be called to join us as we go. Why don’t you come by and see where we’re headed for our next 20 years? We would be glad to have you along for the ride!

To be continued…