NEW COVENANT
Connect - Grow - Serve
About Us
New to New Covenant?
Welcome! If you’re new to New Covenant, we just want you to know that it’s great to have you with us.
New Covenant is full of people from many different backgrounds who are joined together by their love for God and for one another. We work hard at being a loving and caring church community. But we also want our church to be a place where ordinary people can come and meet God. We hope that during your time with us, you will genuinely feel the love of Christ and the presence of God’s Spirit at our church.
Please stop by the Hospitality desk after the service and let us know that you are new here…. we’d love to welcome you in person!
Sunday Morning Service 9:30am
The Big Picture
At New Covenant, our "big picture" goal is to help ordinary people live extraordinary lives. To help you and your family discover the extraordinary life God has planned for you, we use a simple three step model:
Connect. Grow. Serve.
1.Connecting with God and with other people is something all of us can relate to. Through our weekly worship services, you have the opportunity to experience God in new ways and create friendships with people who share your values and passions.
2.Growing is another important part of a healthy spiritual life. Our small group ministries offer opportunities for the entire family to find growth and wholeness in a friendly, Christian environment.
3.Serving is the ultimate expression of a healthy life. Our Christ-centered ministry teams will help you activate your unique gifts and talents to make a meaningful impact in the lives of other people.
In our experience, a healthy Christian life means that we are connecting, growing, and serving on a regular (often weekly) basis.
As you become more acquainted with our church, we encourage you to explore opportunities to experience extraordinary living through a small group ministry and ministry team, as well as our Sunday morning worship service.
A (Very) Brief History of New Covenant
New Covenant roots go back to the Advent Christian Church, a small congregation that occupied a building on Penfield Road, just west of Penfield's Four Corners. Like many churches throughout the U.S., the church experienced a period of significant spiritual renewal in the 1970's.
This period of spiritual renewal resulted in a highly successful coffeehouse ministry for teens and young adults, and in 1976 led to the formation of New Covenant Christian School. In 1980, New Covenant grew even larger when it merged with another congregation, Bushnell's Basis Full Gospel Church. Bushnell's Basin was also experiencing rapid growth and needed a larger worship space.
After the merger, it became clear that the congregation would need to purchase a suitable building for the ministries of both church and school rather than continuing to lease space in various facilities throughout the Penfield/Webster area. Their search came to an end in 1983 with the purchase of the old Denonville School building at 2070 Five Mile Line Road in Penfield.
Following our purchase of the building, New Covenant continued to run a K-12 Christian school for many years. However, due to increasing costs, in 1992 we merged the high school into the Charles Finney High School, which is supported by several local churches including New Covenant. We later merged the K-8 school with Finney in 2002. In 2004, Finney purchased the building from us, graciously allowing our church to use their space until the construction of our current building was completed.
After many months of construction and sacrifice, we held our first service at our present location on December 3, 2006 the first Sunday in Advent.
Throughout its history, New Covenant has consistently been a church that looks to the future. Since the school is no longer our major ministry, we have branched out into many of the other local and international ministries. We believe the future is bright at New Covenant, and we are excited to see what God has in store for us and you in the years ahead.
Our Core Beliefs
Creedal Beliefs
At New Covenant, we uphold the basic tenets of Christian belief which have been collected in doctrinal statements called creeds. Based on biblical teachings and the teachings of the apostles, these foundational creeds were formulated by early Christians as a way of defining the beliefs of the Christian church. Additionally, the creeds arose out of periods of lengthy discussion and debate, often spanning a period of centuries.
The two most basic creeds are the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. These creeds are common to nearly all Christians and contain the foundational elements of the Christian faith including a Trinitarian view of God, Christ's atoning death and resurrection, and other important beliefs.
New Covenant joins with Christians around the world in affirming these creeds and it is our expectation that all incoming members will affirm them as well. If you are not familiar with these creeds, please take the time to read through them and ask questions if you need clarification (See Appendices).
Spirit-filled
In addition to affirming the basic doctrinal creeds, New Covenant is also a Spirit-filled church. This means that after our salvation experience, we believe that God allows us to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we can be empowered to carry on Christian ministry.
A Spirit-filled life is a life in which the Holy Spirit is given free-reign and is often accompanied by the spiritual gifts described in I Corinthians 12. We are only vessels - conduits through which the power of the Holy Spirit flows and ministers to others. The Holy Spirit empowers us to become living stories of the overcoming power of Jesus Christ.
As with any other power source, we constantly need a Holy Spirit "refueling". Even the most well-intentioned believer experiences times when he or she feels drained. By intentionally setting aside time with God, His Holy Spirit is able to recharge us so that we are better able to serve Him and to carry out His purposes for our lives.
If you are unfamiliar with Spirit-filled Christianity or would like to experience this for the first time, ask your course instructor or contact one of our pastors for more information.
The gospels tell us that one came before Jesus to prepare the way--John the Baptist. We are told that John preached a call for repentance in the desert. People went to him, confessed their sins, and were baptized. Matthew 3:13-17 tells us that Jesus went to him as well. John was hesitant; knowing that Jesus was the Messiah he felt unworthy to baptize Him. But Jesus said to him, Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness. After Jesus came out of the water, the Spirit of God descended upon Him, and God proclaimed Him as His son with whom He was pleased.
Why was Jesus baptized Jesus said that it was proper that He be baptized ...to fulfill all righteousness. His baptism was the chosen time at which God placed a special anointing upon Jesus. God publicly set him aside and announced to the world His special role. This marked the beginning of Jesus ministry.
At the time, many believed John the Baptist to be the Messiah. Here John himself dispels these rumors by declaring the arrival of the true Messiah. Jesus was without sin. Yet He chose to participate in the act of baptism. He did so in order to completely and wholly identify with humanity and with the sin of mankind.
Our baptism is a proclamation as well. In doing so we proclaim to the world the change which has occurred inside of us as we turn from eternal death in sin to an eternal life in Christ. We participate in this change through baptism. Even more importantly, our baptism is part of a process, part of the change that occurs within us as we turn from a life of sin and darkness to a life of eternal light.
Our Structure
What does "non-denominational" mean?
As a non-denominational church, we have a constitution that outlines our congregational form of government. This means that some business items are subject to congregational approval. All of our business meetings are open to everyone, but eligible voters must be members in good standing who are at least 16 years of age.
The congregation is responsible for approving the positions of Senior Pastor and the Board of Elders. Once approved to these positions, the Senior Pastor and the Elders have the authority to appoint people to other leadership positions, such as pastoral staff, administrative staff, etc.
The Elders are legally and spiritually responsible for maintaining the health and
vitality of the church. They prayerfully seek God's direction and they do not proceed with any changes or leadership appointments until they have reached a clear consensus.
Affiliations
Although we are not part of a formal denominational structure, we believe it is important for our church to remain connected with other Christians and streams within the body of Christ. With that in mind, New Covenant is currently affiliated with two Christian networks: Elim Fellowship and Global Awakenings.
Elim Fellowship (based in Lima, NY) shares our Spirit-filled view of worship and ministry. Although, Elim does not interfere with our local ministry or congregational government, it does provide us with an important spiritual safety net, pastoral care, mutual accountability, and ministry resources.
In 2005, New Covenant also became affiliated with Global Awakenings, a network of Spirit-filled churches led by Randy Clark.
The Mission1000 Project
is a three-year initiative to inspire, impact & transform the lives of
1,000 unchurched people
in our community.
We're focusing our efforts on reaching families since families represent the most vulnerable segment of suburban life. Over the next three years, our plan is to strategically launch a handful of new ministries and enhance many of our existing ministries to more effectively fulfill Jesus' calling to transform lives in our own backyard.
NC 101
New Covenant 101 is a class that is designed to help you learn more about our church, discover ministry options, ask questions, and/or become a member of New Covenant. You can stop by the Hospitality Desk for more info.
Inside the Church
