Our History
The Church of God, with headquarters in Cleveland, Tennessee is a Spirit-filled movement that found its way to Western Pennsylvania in the mid 1920’s. A tent revival, under the direction of Evangelist, Edna Kipe, was conducted in Markleysburg, Pa. in the fall of 1930. The fervor of this revival produced immediate growth, and a new church was organized on March 1st, 1931. Originally, the new congregation worshiped in a storefront on Main Street in downtown Markleysburg. Property was purchased, and a church was constructed a year later. This location served the church until a major milestone took place in 1980. Choice land was purchased on Historic Route 40, and ground was broken for a brand new house of worship in August of that year. The new brick building was dedicated in October, 1981. Several years later, a brand new Parsonage was constructed on the property. In November of 1994, Jerry Steele along with his wife Kathy and children Kenneth and Chris moved from Virginia to assume the pastorate. Markleysburg Church of God was now renamed, New Life Covenant Church of God. Several years later, The Learning Center Preschool began operating as an outreach to the community. This new school quickly grew, and was upgraded to a licensed Daycare. As attendance and ministries began to expand at an exponential rate, construction began in 1999 on a brand new 8000 square foot Ministry Center. A year later, growing worship services were moved from the original Sanctuary into this new auditorium. This new space, along with the addition of a talented Youth Ministry team in 2004 (Larry and Michelle Georgiana) to our staff, precipitated even more growth until we reached a crisis in terms of our educational facilities. This past summer we added two modular buildings to our plant, and are currently planning a 2000 square foot addition to our ministry center along with a brand new parking area that will accommodate 70 additional cars. These new improvements should be totally completed by the Spring of 2011.
We believe our history at New Life Covenant Church is actually “His” Story! From our humble beginnings as a revival movement under the flapping canvass of a makeshift tent, to the modern, state of the art facilities we have been blessed with today, we can trace God’s hand at every stage! We believe He has truly blessed us in the past, and will continue to direct our future as we keep our eyes on Jesus, and our hearts tuned to the Holy Spirit, making it our goal to glorify God in all we do as a church.