Covenant Church

Your pastor's family is beginning the 30th year serving you. We did not intend it to be so. When we moved into the apartment in the church complex on Labor Day 1981 it was intended to be temporary...perhaps only a couple of years.

My prior work had been with immigration, which I absolutely loved. Traveling from Charlottesville to New York City included working with multiple ethnic and cultural groups, e.g. The case of the "Siberian Seven" Pentecostals who lived in an American embassy for about a year stands out in my mind. Cooperative efforts helped to get them out of Russia and away from intense persecution.

God designed. We were part of His plan. Dr. Landreth resigned in a move for me to become pastor. Well, OK.. It would be a place to serve for a short time. Folks were kind, gracious, and biblically sound. They opened their hearts.

In that first year we added about 8,000 square feet of worship space and classrooms. Obtaining credit was difficult. We simply tightened our belts, gave, and loaned from within the congregation. In seven months we did enormous volunteer construction labor and moved into new facilities [now called the OT sanctuary] on Resurrection Sunday! Only then did we succeed in getting a bank loan.

Time has passed. God has bestowed favor. In practical ways the Lord helped us to add about 5 more acres of land in several different transactions and about 45,000 square feet of additional buildings. In spiritual ways the Lord extended our family to become a discipled trans-national, multi-lingual, mission force sending and helping missionaries.

As staff grew we were blessed to mature leaders who progressed to other ministries, e.g., pastors, youth, children and music ministers, teachers, missionaries, etc. Parishioners have advanced to position in the Pentagon, Naval Academy, chaplains in the military, college professors, scientists, lawyers, engineers, doctors.

We have labored carefully and tenderly in fields of nursing homes, jails, hospitals, rehab centers, and juvenile centers. We have built medical clinics in foreign countries, a church for lepers, and purchased boats and motors for missionaries. We have even served by purchasing land for graveyards in a country that will not allow Christian converts to be buried in theirs.

One of our greatest joys has been to encourage other pastors and their families. An intentional network has been developed that weekly reaches pastors and ministers in many countries.

In all of this we praise the Lord! We are not done! There is room for great efforts to be made to reach lost souls, baptize and make disciples. We feel God has blessed us more than we deserve.

Our children, Danny, Dana, and Josh are adults. We have seven grandchildren. Counting each of you, our family is too large to count. We rejoice in this! Our hearts are full.

Our family is humbled by your love. We serve you with joy.  And with hearts of love.  You are precious to us!

Pastor Bare