Covenant Presbyterian Church in Oviedo

A Brief History

In the late 1960's the "Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod" (RPCES) embarked on church planting in Florida. The church planted in the Central Florida area was located in the Goldenrod area of Winter Park. The church was organized in 1969 and called Immanuel Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Winter Park.  Property was purchased at 4800 Howell Branch Road with acreage on both sides of the road. The property on the north side was sold in order to raise cash for expanding the buildings. Part of this expansion was the founding in 1972 of Covenant Christian School as a ministry of the church. Over the coming three decades this school provided Christ-centered education to thousands of young people, and a large number of pastors' children from the Orlando area. The church grew in the late 70s and early 80s under the leadership of Rev. Peter Cross. During this time, some families left Immanuel to found Orangewood Presbyterian Church associated with a new denomination called the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).

Later, in 1982, the RPCES merged into the PCA.  And then in 1985 the church changed its name to Howell Branch Fellowship under the pastoral leadership of the Rev. Dr. Jack L. Arnold.   Rev. Tom Sidebotham was associate pastor overseeing the work of the school during this era. By the early 1990s, the church and school both grew until the church decided expansion to another facility was necessary. A building was purchased a block away on Grand Avenue as a new facility for the church and its offices. During this time, Rev. Mike Beates was also called as an associate pastor though his primary call was to Ligonier Ministries.

In 1996, the church hired Jim Fitzgerald as an assistant to the pastor when Dr. Arnold took a sabbatical. Dr. Arnold returned from a trip to Africa convinced of a new calling. By 1997 the Church released Dr. Arnold to found and direct Equipping Pastors International. At this time Mike Beates became Moderator of the Session as the church sought a new senior pastor. Also at this time, the church voted to change the name once again, to the current name of Covenant Presbyterian Church.

The church called Rev. Jim Fitzgerald in 2000 as senior pastor, retaining Dr. Arnold as "Pastor at Large" in his international ministry. In 2002 the local Presbytery was considering planting a church in neighboring Oviedo, Fla. Pastor Fitzgerald proposed to the Session that Covenant become a "re-plant" and move 8-10 miles to Oviedo. So in the summer of 2002, CPC Winter Park became CPC Oviedo and the congregation moved to a new setting, worshipping in the Chapel at Reformed Theological Seminary in Oviedo. Over the next year and a half, Mike Beates became full time associate pastor, the Church closed Covenant Christian School, sold its properties in Winter Park and purchased property on Route 419 in Oviedo. Since that time, the church has been developing plans for the property, and growing in its membership and depth in Christ.

A recent redering of how our planned church facility will look: