In our 50+ year history, not only was New Covenant the first major charismatic church in St. Louis and contributed to the establishment of several large non-denominational churches in the area, but helped plant over 60 churches around the world. Our vision remains a commitment to the Bible as the Word of God, discipleship, and glorifying God through biblical friendships. Our desire is to see the world restored through the gospel of our risen Lord, Jesus, while we worship, obey, and glorify Him in our everyday lives. That's why our motto is…
Love Jesus / Love People
Located in Chesterfield, Missouri, the church was founded in 1968 and was originally located in Maryland Heights, another suburb of St. Louis. God formed New Covenant out of the "Jesus Movement" of the late 60's and 70's when many people were experiencing a revival in St. Louis where God was changing lives through the gospel, calling people to repentance, and also revealing powerful experiences of freedom and grace in the Holy Spirit. Many Christians in traditional denominations began speaking in tongues and found themselves outside the norms of their traditions. These "Spirit-filled" Lutherans, Catholics, and Baptists from around the St. Louis area began meeting together, along with new believers, and seeking God. The Lord knit these people together to form the congregation and then added to them international relationships and a vision to see the whole world filled with God's glory.
Through the 80's and 90's, New Covenant worked closely with Covenant Ministries International (CMI), an apostolic team led by Bryn Jones and based in Coventry, England. CMI had grown out of the Brethren Movement and Welsh Revival and connected hundreds of churches in the UK, Africa, India, USA, and Asia.
In the late 90's, the vision of glorifying God and filling the whole earth with the knowledge of the gospel shaped New Covenants contribution to CMI's work. As the Holy Spirit continued to move with power in the congregation, the Lord also highlighted the church's conviction to reach more people in the St. Louis area. So, while simultaneously training international leaders and helping to plant new churches, the church began meeting in smaller groups around the St. Louis to better serve the community. Five congregations were organized, each with a pastor leading the work and the elders laboring together to lead the church as a unified whole. Buildings were purchased, and New Covenant West County, North County, St. Peters, and a Lindenwood University outreach were established.
With the congregations functioning around the St. Louis area, the leadership began to see the need to highlight the primacy of the Word of God as the bedrock of our theological and relational work. As a result, the church began to embrace reformed thought, while marrying that to our charismatic roots. Still working with our international partners, Dr. Steve Ottolini began Covenant Family Churches (CFC) and the Covenant Leadership Training Institute (CLTI) in 1997 where New Covenant was at the forefront of training leaders both in the USA and abroad in connection with CMI.
In 2006, several families that had been attending the O'Fallon Congregation approached the leadership about planting a new work in a more rural context. The Troy congregation was born with six core families meeting in a Krumbly Burger Restaurant. A few years later the congregation was established in Lincoln County as Family Community Church.
Over time, some of the congregations that comprised New Covenant became independent, either because they were planted as their own churches, or because of splits in the leadership. By 2007, the multi-congregational vision of the church ended and the church pulled back to one site. The elders found a plot of land in St. Charles County, where over half of the congregants were living, and built a new building. The churched moved to this new facility in Weldon Springs, MO in 2008 and continued on to preach and teach Christ and His gospel.
But, God made it clear that the church was to minister in St. Louis County and, in 2014, the church moved back into the Chesterfield location at Timberlake and Highway 40, where we are located today. During this time, the church regrouped and continued supporting the international work of planting churches and training leaders.
In 2021, the Troy congregation merged officially with Chesterfield to become New Covenant Church once again. Now with two congregations, Chesterfield and Troy, we are reaching the lost in our communities; we are committed to discipleship to bring people to Christ and teach them His ways; and we are trusting God as we demonstrate the Lord's grace through relationship within the Body and serve those around us.