Biblical Preaching
We behold Christ in all of his glory as we preach his gospel from his Word. As a church, we are committed to expository preaching as the main diet of our corporate worship. As church members, we strive to be a people of the Word in every facet of our lives.
Prevailing Prayer
We behold Christ in all of his glory as we seek his presence in prayer: public prayer, private prayer, prevailing prayer. God delights in the prayers of his people, and he delights to answer the prayers of his people. We desire to be those who call upon the name of the Lord.
Assembling in Worship
We behold Christ in all of his glory as we commit to regularly gathering to sing, pray, preach, and see his Word. The weekly gathering of the saints is one of the greatest delights and highest priorities of the Christian life. We want to take that as seriously and as joyfully as we can!
Deliberate Discipleship
We want to equip the church through deliberate discipling relationships. Prizing meaningful membership, we look to love, pray, encourage, guard, and obey one another in mutual submission out of reverence for Christ. In homes and habits, we desire to love one another as Christ has loved us.
Teaching Sound Doctrine
We want to equip the church by teaching sound doctrine. With a variety of avenues that complement the preached Word, we are pursuing what Jesus meant when he said, ‘teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you’ (Matt 28.20).
Raising Up Leaders
We want to equip the church by providing opportunities for members to grow up into Christ. Whether through small groups, preaching and teaching throughout the week, and training opportunities, we want to be a church where it is normal to have many ready and able to lead in our church and around the world.
Merciful Evangelism
We hunger to make Christ known through acts of mercy and clear evangelism. The purpose of the local church begins with the faithful proclamation of his Word, and so we want to be known as those who boldly bring the name of Christ to our city and beyond.
Strengthening Other Churches
We hunger to make Christ known by championing other local churches. Whether through church planting, revitalization, or strong partnerships, we want to make the name of Christ bigger and brighter than the name of our church. Make CBC decrease so that Christ may increase.
Reaching the Nations
We hunger to make Christ known through urgent missions outside our culture and language. Through raising up missionaries and supporting them, we pray to be a sending church that God uses to make his name famous in every corner of the earth.
Church ministries are organized according to ministry teams. These teams are made up of Covenant church members joining together with similar service desires to organize ministry efforts. We have several distinct ministries within our body which all work together to shepherd us all into the image of Christ, and you can find out more about each one on our ministries page.
We at Covenant believe that God is creating one, new, redeemed race of fully-mature followers of Jesus Christ. We believe the Church of all ages is that new humanity. The Church is made of sinners redeemed from every tribe, tongue, and nation, made holy by faith alone in Jesus Christ. This new race is created, sustained, and ruled by the power of the Holy Spirit through Christ’s life-giving Word, the Bible. Through His Word God has revealed how His people are to conduct themselves on His earth as we wait for the appearing of His Son and our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
For these reasons, we believe the Scriptures are sufficient and inerrant, meaning that through the Scriptures we have certain provision for all that is needed for life and godliness. As such, our doctrinal positions align with many throughout Baptist history, some of which include The London Baptist Confession of 1689, The New Hampshire Confession of Faith, and The Abstract of Principles and the more recent The Baptist Faith and Message (2000).
We are an elder-led, congregational-ruled church. Our elders and pastoral staff tend to the spiritual needs of the church, while the deacons tend to the physical needs of the church. Both work together to equip and serve the body in order that the church might fulfill her purpose and vision.
In May of 1997, five members of a local Baptist church met to begin exploring the possibility of forming a new church. They were motivated to plant a church because over the course of sixteen years they saw four godly pastors removed from their church because the power structure of the church refused to repent and reform. As a result, these five were soon joined by other families that desired to begin a new, biblically centered work.
The group invited local pastor, Richard Davis, to become their intentional interim and lead them in forming a new church plant affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. In June 1997, the church plant began meeting at Passmore/Sumner Funeral Chapel, now Music Funeral Services. Wednesday evening prayer and Bible studies met in a member’s home. In August 1997, Hope Baptist Church in Nashville Georgia agreed to be the sponsoring church for the church plant. A leadership team was developed with three elders selected. They were Tom Gregory, Bill Davenport, and Vic Hedgpeth. The church plant continued until December 1998 when it was constituted as Covenant Baptist Church of Valdosta, GA. The name Covenant Baptist Church was chosen because of the covenant relationship believers have with the Lord and the importance of sharing that relationship among the members and the pastor.
A search committee was formed and on April 3, 1999 David Cummings became the first Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church. Under his leadership, the church grew and developed theologically and practically. Since then the church moved several times based on need and availability of space. Locations included the former Seventh Day Adventist property on Slater Street and a rental property at the corner of Forest and Park Avenues, until finally moving to its seventh and current location at 3019 Country Club Drive. On May 31, 2020, after serving CBC for over 21 years, David Cummings retired from the office of elder and senior pastor. The entire congregation was asked to enter into a season of fervent prayer for the pastor search team, the search process, and the man whom God will provide as CBC’s next senior pastor. After a thorough process of prayerful examination, on February 14, 2021 the church called Josh Pool as our next senior pastor effective March 1, 2021.
The word "church" evokes a wide range of responses. For some, it brings back sentimental memories of adventurous bible stories, singing hymns, and Vacation Bible School. For others, "church" reminds them of painful times. There may be a spectrum of experiences (positive and negative) that many have had. Whatever the case, we want to define what we mean when we say "church." The Greek word for church is ecclesia, which means "a community or assembly that gathers together." We are a community that has experienced new birth by the Holy Spirit, having been saved by the righteousness and atoning sacrifice of Christ and gathers together to worship God through the priesthood of Christ. As Christians, we are new creatures with a new life; consequently, we have a new family, a new name, new identity, and a new purpose. We are now being conformed to the image of Christ to do the mission of Christ. Here is an explanation of our understanding of church, and how we work together.
John Stott, theologian and preacher, said this concerning the church, “he added to their number…those who are being saved.’ He didn’t add them to the church without saving them, and he didn’t save them without adding them to the church. Salvation and church membership went together; they still do.” First, the church is a body of believers whose lives have been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. It is not a man-made institution, rather it’s one that is made by God.
It’s right to assume that the church is not perfect. In fact, every Sunday, you will find sinners inside the church. Sin has affected everyone and that includes church members. But, there is one thing that makes the church different - the gospel of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul reminds us of this in his letters. Because of Jesus, there is hope. Jesus is the hope of the church, and his righteousness is what makes her acceptable to Him. Paul gives us a picture of this hope in the book of Ephesians. Ephesians 5 tells us that Christ died for the Church. The metaphor that Paul uses is a marriage relationship. The Church is the bride, and Jesus is the groom. Both parties are committed to each other in a covenant relationship. The second way we are defining the church is that it’s a body of believers who are committed to Jesus Christ, His gospel, and to one another.
Similarly, Wayne Mack and David Swavely state, “…the church is the primary means through which God accomplishes His plan in the world. It is His ordained instrument for calling the lost to Himself and the context in which He sanctifies those who are born into His family. Therefore, God expects (and even demands) a commitment to the church from everyone who claims to know Him.” The church has a purpose, and its purpose is to faithfully represent the Kingdom of God and share his gospel to a lost world. The church is the instrument ordained by God in carrying out these tasks. Paul, in (1 Timothy 3:14-15) states that the church is the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”
We invite you to explore what we believe and how we seek to accomplish the mission that Christ has for us in Valdosta. We are a body of believers who love Jesus and love his Gospel. Would you like to learn more about our family?
