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Covenant Presbyterian Church had its
beginnings as Second United Presbyterian Church, incorporated in
1911. That name is still inscribed in stone over the front entrance
to the current sanctuary. Throughout the region, it was known as
“Second Church” until the name was changed to “Covenant”
in 1981.
In 1902, the Labelleview Land Company
began a new development on the northwest hilltop overlooking the
city of Steubenville. As more families from downtown moved there,
a desire grew to have churches in this new community. Among them
were members of First United Presbyterian Church (downtown). Under
the direction of their pastor, Dr. Walter Liggitt, efforts were
made to establish a daughter church.
The denomination of which First and Second
Church were members, the United Presbyterian Church of North America,
was organized in 1858. This was a union of several predominantly
Scottish American Presbyterian bodies that had come about in the
years of evangelistic outreach following America’s “Second
Great Awakening”.
Second United Presbyterian Church held
its first worship service on July 1, 1912, and was organized with
69 charter members. The original building had been completed at
a cost of $15,000. It was constructed in the “Akron”
style and included a central sanctuary, surrounding Sunday School
rooms, and a lower level fellowship hall. Dr. Mertz A. Eakin served
as the church’s first pastor and during the first ten years
led the church through its most significant membership increase,
growing from 69 to more than 400.
In April of 1923, Dr. Chauncey K. McGeorge
accepted a call to the pastorate at this church. The continuous
growth of the church and hilltop community necessitated enlarging
the facilities. In a major undertaking, the church raised funds
and constructed a new 300 seat sanctuary with a lower level gymnasium.
The ministry of Rev. James K. Leitch
(1933-1942) provided leadership to guide the congregation through
the difficult war years. Dr. Alexander S. Fleming (1943-1952) built
a strong foreign missions concern and budget within the church.
He was followed by Dr. Gordon Boak (1953-1959) whose ministry saw
increased attention to a youth program. It was during Dr. Boak’s
tenure that the United Presbyterian denomination merged with the
Presbyterian Church in the USA (PCUSA).
In 1960, Rev. Edwin Fontaine began a
twenty-eight year pastorate. With his leadership, the church built
a new educational building and then rebuilt it after a fire in 1974.
It was during these years that major changes in the steel industry
made such an impact on the population and economy of the community.
Second Church, like most congregations, saw beginnings of a decline
in membership as jobs dried up. The congregation which once numbered
nearly 800 declined to less than half that number. Despite that
fact, the youth ministry remained a high priority, including a church
summer camp, and a succession of Christian Education directors on
the church staff.
A significant challenge during Rev. Fontaine’s
ministry was the decision of the congregation to leave the PCUSA.
Second Church had always been an evangelical congregation. Members
became increasingly distressed over major doctrinal departure from
key Biblical truths. In 1981, the congregation voted, (almost unanimously)
to withdraw from that denomination and to begin to search for a
more conservative fellowship. It was at that time that the name
of the church was changed to Covenant.
During the pastorate of Rev. J. Arthur Wood (1988-1990), Covenant’s
members voted to affiliate with the Presbyterian Church in America
(PCA), a relatively young, but rapidly growing and solidly evangelical
and reformed denomination. Dr. Lawrence C. Roff served as Covenant’s
eighth pastore (1992-2000). In the PCA, he is known as an organist
and seminary professor (worship). At Covenant, he continued the
priority of Biblical preaching, as well as introducing a wider variety
of music to services. In the community, he took a leading role in
rejuvenating the Steubenville Council of Christian Churches and
ministering to striking steel workers. Under his leadership, Covenant
embarked on a major capital improvement program ($250,000) which
included the construction of a new parking lot and installation
of an elevator.
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