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History
The History of Covenant United Methodist Church
The First Methodist Episcopal Church in Plainfield was built by the 17 members of the congregation in 1832. It was a frame construction building that was just 30 by 40 feet. The first Pastors of the Church were G.F. Brown and J.N. Crane. They served jointly until 1933 when John H. McFarland became the Senior Pastor for 1 year. The next 22 Pastors served for just 1 or 2 years. This made it very clear that the lay members were the leaders of the church and were responsible for the incredible growth and success of First Methodist. This has served as the foundation of a lay-driven leadership culture that has been the key to the success of the church over the years.
First Methodist Episcopal Church in Plainfield (1832)
In 1834, the first Sunday School was organized with nine teachers and 28 pupils. This helped to increase church attendance. Therefore, in 1848, a bigger church was built to accommodate 100 worshippers. This structure included classrooms, lecture halls and a basement. It was a beautiful church that had a wooden steeple, a clock and a bell. In 1850, the church built a parsonage for its pastor Rev. W.E. Perry on Madison Avenue in Plainfield. By 1867, the church had more than 200 students and teachers. In 1869, there were significant improvements made to the church. However, tragically, on the night before the dedication of the improvements, a fire destroyed the building. The church members were so committed to making sure that the church was rebuilt quickly that they were able to rebuild and dedicate a renovated church on December 15, 1869.
In 1891, First Methodist Church purchased property on the corner of Somerset Street and Park Place in North Plainfield. By 1892, the Park Place Chapel had a Sunday School attendance of 90 students. In 1893, its members decided to separate from First Methodist and start Grace Episcopal Church (whose name was later changed to Grace United Methodist Church.)
Covenant UMC Senior Pastors
1832-1833 G.F. Brown
1832-1833 J.N. Crane
1833-1834 John H. McFarland
1834-1835 Edwin L. Janes
1835-1836 G.S. Wharton
1836-1837 B. Benson
1837-1838 E. Sanders
1838-1840 V. Sheperd
1840-1841 G.F. Brown
1841-1842 A. Gilmore
1842-1844 B. Kelley
1844-1845 R.B. Westbrook
1845-1847 L.R. Dunn
1847-1849 James O. Rogers
1849-1851 W.E. Perry
1851-1852 Thomas McCarroll
1852-1854 Robert Givin
1854-1856 J.O. Winner
1857-1858 S.W. Hilliard
1858-1860 G. Winsor
1860-1862 J. Atkinson
1862-1863 S. Armstrong
1863-1864 E.A. Day
1864-1866 A.M. Palmer
1866-1868 George H. Whitney
1868-1871 William Day
1871-1874 J.R. Bryan
1874-1877 J.L. Hurlbut
1877-1880 W. Day
1880-1883 Thomas H. Stockton
1883-1886 A.H. Tuttle
1886-1888 J.B. VanMeter
1888-1892 Charles B. Mitchell
1893-1897 Charles R. Barnes
1897-1905 W.C. Snodgrass
1905-1909 Abel C. McCrea
1909-1918 Charles M. Anderson
1918-1923 Berryman H. McCoy
1923-1927 David T. Stephenson
1927-1930 Philip S. Watters
1930 W. T. Swaffield
1930-1938 Parker B. Holloway
1938-1952 Paul G. Dennis
1952-1960 Wallace G. Sorenson
1960-1966 Raymond E. Neff
1966-1970 W. Gordon Lowden
1970-1975 Julius L. Brasher
1975-1978 A. Nelson Bennett
1978-1983 Milton Hargrove
1983-1989 Ronald Markle
1989 James White
Joe Bush
1989-1996 Charles Miller
1996-1998 Fred Wilkes
1998-2000 Lindsey Richardson
Tanya Bennett
Radamus Hernandez
2000-2002 Hugo Rey
Tanya Lynn Bennett
2002-2006 Cecilia Logan
2006-2008 Damaris Lowe
2008-2012 Frank Davis
2012-2016 Donald Sullivan Medley
2016-2019 Lakisha Groover
2019-2020 Tanya Lynn Bennett
2020-2021 Alicia Grey
2021-Present Dale Gilbert Caldwell
Additional History
Historical Past
First Methodist Episcopal Church in Plainfield (1848)
Foreign missionary work was very important to the members of the church at the beginning of the 20th century. A large sum of money was raised by the women of the church to support the church’s missionary efforts both in the US and overseas. From 1918 to 1923, during World War I, the church worked with the Red Cross to support the war effort by making bandages and wool garments for the soldiers. After the war, the church sponsored missionary work in India from 1927 to 1930. In 1932, a Young Married Couples Class (that was later called the “Forum”) was created to help couples enhance their relationship. For nearly 40 years, many of the most active volunteers in the church came from the Forum. In 1942, the Methodist Youth Fellowship (MYF) was organized for high school students. Music was extremely important to the life of the church so an organ of the highest quality was purchased in 1947 and dedicated in November 1949. In 1952, the Junior Intermediate Fellowship (JIF) was created to educate seventh and eighth graders.
First Methodist Church in Plainfield (1952)
On November 21, 1954, First United Methodist Church had its second fire. This forced Pastor Wallace G. Sorenson and the congregation to make plans to build a new church. It was agreed that a new church would be built in a different place. This resulted in the building of a beautiful church at 631 East Front Street that we now worship in every Sunday. The church’s extraordinary organ was damaged in the fire and completely rebuilt in 1958. In addition, the congregation purchased a new parsonage adjacent to the Church. The total cost of the property, building the church, rebuilding the organ, and remodeling the parsonage was $643,585. The $340,085 contribution from the congregation, fire insurance payments and the sale of the old church and former parsonage totaled $543,585. Consequently, the church only needed a mortgage of $100,000 that was paid off on November 3, 1963.
First Methodist Church in Plainfield (1958)
Junior, youth and senior choirs had always been an important part of the church. By 1960, the senior choir consisted of an amazing 45 people. In 1967, a Bell Choir, composed of young people was started. In 1968, the Methodist Church became the United Methodist Church. Consequently, the church changed its name to First United Methodist Church at that time. In 1978, Reverend Milton Hargrove became the first black Pastor of the church. Under the leadership of Reverend Charles “Chuck” Miller, the First United Methodist Church and the Grace United Methodist Church were reunited in 1994 under the church’s current name “Covenant United Methodist Church.” A premier senior housing complex named Covenant Place was built in 1998. This building, featuring 57 one-bedroom apartments for low to moderate income seniors, brings to fruition the vision that Rev. Miller held for the vacant lot next to Covenant.
Covenant United Sanctuary and Sunday School
The next 24 years in the life of the church was filled with many successes and challenges. From 1999 to 2020, the church had 13 different pastors. These leaders partnered with the congregation to carry on the work of the church in the midst of a struggling US economy, a global pandemic and a national drop in church attendance. The church has won awards for its outstanding community feeding program and tremendous praise for programs like its legendary International Food Festival.
Covenant Sunday Service
Since its founding in 1832, Covenant United Methodist Church has had 67 pastors in 190 years. This indicates that pastors have, on average, served the church for 2.8 years. This suggests that the church has excelled for 190 years primarily because of the incredible continuous leadership of the lay members. Current Pastor Dr. Dale Caldwell, who was appointed in 2021, has made supporting the leadership and development of the lay members one of his top priorities. Covenant has succeeded for 190 years because of its congregation. The only way that the church will excel for another 190 years is if the congregation is empowered to use its God-given gifts to achieve the church’s mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Historical Photos
