1957 – 1967

A congregational meeting was held in the Central Presbyterian Church, Huntsville, Alabama, on March 31, 1957.  The purpose of this meeting was to decide whether Central Presbyterian Church was to relocate to southeast Huntsville or remain downtown in its present location.  The vote was 121 to 127 for remaining in its present location.

After this very close vote, a Session meeting was held to consider the matter of beginning a new Presbyterian Church in southeast Huntsville.  The Session agreed to circulate a petition within the Central Church to determine how many people were interested in forming a new church.  One hundred seventeen people indicated a willingness to start and support a new church.

The Presbytery of Huntsville recognized this petition.  A congregational meeting was held on Sunday, October 13, 1957, to organize a new church.  During organizational meetings the name of Covenant Presbyterian Church, U. S. A. was chosen and the Reverend James E. Krahenbill, was called as minister.  The Women’s Organization was formed in November 1957, with a membership of sixty-four.

The Men’s Council was organized on January 12, 1958.

In January 1958 the new church moved to Blossomwood Elementary School where the Reverend Krahenbill was installed as minister.  During that year a five acre site was purchased from Mrs. J. D. Thornton, Sr. on Drake Avenue and a long-range building program was begun.  The initial phase of the program consisted of a Fellowship Hall and an Educational Building.  Actual construction was started in the spring of 1959.  The first service was held in the Fellowship Hall on February 21, 1960.  The dedication service was on March 6, 1960.

In 1960 our Weekday Kindergarten was organized under the very capable leadership of Willa Vial.  Its purpose is to provide educationally sound learning experiences in a Christian atmosphere of love and acceptance.

Because of the church’s growth, it was decided by November 1963 that we needed more educational space.  An addition to our Educational Building was completed in March 1964.

On May 10, 1964 Reverend Krahenbill preached his last sermon.  Reverend Robert Muir served as interim pastor until the Reverend Robert Stanbery was called.  Reverend Stanbery preached his first sermon at Covenant on December 6, 1964 and was installed December 13, 1964.

Covenant Women’s Organization

When Covenant was organized in 1957, the people decided to establish two elected bodies – the Session and the Trustees.  It was thought that the duties of Deacons could be divided between those two bodies.  This was being done in many churches at that time; however, many Deacon duties were immediately delegated to the VERY active Covenant Women’s Association.  This organization was affiliated with the National Presbyterian Women’s Organization.  The Covenant women met once a month as the Women’s Associ-ation with a program.  Then they also met each month in Circles for Bible Study.
 
At one time Covenant had five Circles.  The women visited all newcomers to the church during the week after their first visit.  They cooked, served, and did the kitchen cleanup for the Men’s Club monthly meeting.  There were always flowers in the Sanctuary each Sunday furnished by the women.  They always took meals to the sick and showered them with visits.  They did the communion preparation.  Each bride was presented a white Bible as a wedding gift from the church women.  The monthly covered dish suppers were prepared and served by the women, who also did the cleanup.  The women had a budget to which they pledged.  This was usually around $1,000 to  $2,500/year.  This money paid for the Bridal Bibles and a few miscellaneous expenses, but the majority went to Presbyterian missions, both national and international.  Our Women’s Association was very active in the Presbyterial, the women’s organization of the Presbytery, which met quarterly.  Many of the Covenant women served as officers in this organization.
What happened to this organization?  As more and more women went to work, attendance in the organization dropped off until there weren’t enough women to do all of the work. 

Finally, Covenant grew to the point that it  was felt that we needed Deacons to do much of the work the  Women’s Association had previously done.  Then the younger women formed the Young Mother’s Club, which was a group to study parenting, and did not wish to be a part of the National Presbyterian Women.  Finally the organization shrank to one circle with very small attendance and finally died.  There is now a women’s Bible study that meets every other Friday morning during the school year and usually about 30 to 40 attending.  Try it, you’ll like it!!!

1967-1977

Covenant celebrated our tenth anniversary October 13, 1967 with Dr. Eugene Smathers, moderator of General Assembly, guest speaker.  Construction on our sanctuary, administration building, and additional classrooms began June 1968 with Al Muller, Building Committee Chairman.  A Dedication service was held on July 13, 1969. 
On June 23, 1968, the Session called Rev. Mr. F. Woodward Finley to become the Assistant Minister of Covenant with the title of Director of Christian Education.  Mr. Finley served from 1968 to 1976, and was called by the congregation to become Associate Pastor in 1975.

Covenant reached out to the community, working with the Downtown Rescue Mission, Kum-ba-Yah Camp, a tutorial program, basketball, scouting, nursing home ministry, Meals on Wheels, Helping Hand Fund, and Interfaith Missions Service.  Our youth reached out through a live outdoor Nativity Drama and several musical Christian productions such as Superstar, Hello World, and See His Way.
In 1973, the Rev. Mr. Robert H. Stanbery accepted a call to a Presbyterian Church in Aurora, Colorado.  The Rev. Dr. Evert A. Cremer accepted the call to become our Senior Pastor in September 1975.