Our History
History of Church of the Covenant OPC, Hackettstown, NJ
As we look back over the past 45+ years, we see the gracious unfolding of God’s plan in establishing a body of His people called Church of the Covenant Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC). We continue to rejoice in what God has done and will continue to do through us as we worship and serve our Lord Jesus Christ together.
The Lord gave birth to Church of the Covenant in chapters. In the Spring of 1980, several families gathered together with the mutual desire to see a Bible-believing Presbyterian church started in Hackettstown. There was sufficient interest to form a Bible study, and this group looked to the nearest Orthodox Presbyterian Church for help.
They contacted Calvary Community Church OPC in Harmony, NJ. In the Lord’s kind providence, Ron Pearce, a recent Westminster seminary graduate, was interning in Harmony. When Calvary’s elders received the request for help in leading the weekly Bible studies, they responded by sending Ron in September 1980. Along with his wife, Linda, Ron began attending the weekly Bible studies and prayer meetings, which God grew into a fruitful ministry for the next forty years.
The Lord blessed the work beyond expectations. Morning worship services began the joyous first Sunday of 1981, January 4, in one family’s living room, and just three months later, the congregation began setting up metal folding chairs in the basement of the local Masonic Lodge.
The Lord was giving birth to a viable work and the group decided it was time to become a chapel of the OPC and to call a pastor. The Lord led the congregation to unanimously vote to extend a call to Ron Pearce, who was finishing his internship at Calvary. Ron and Linda moved to Hackettstown as regular pulpit supply on June 1, 1981, and Pastor Ron was ordained November 6, 1981.
Within two years, God grew Church of the Covenant out of the Masonic Lodge and into rented space from the local Seventh Day Adventist church, where the congregation worshiped for many years, all while earnestly praying for a permanent home.
During that time, God continued to abundantly bless the congregation. We welcomed a dozen pastoral interns, and two of our own ruling elders left to pastor other churches. We called a Pastor of Evangelism who served for five years before moving on to his own pastorate and eventually missionary work in Uganda. In those early years, Church of the Covenant was also involved in helping to establish a daughter congregation in Stroudsburg and helped oversee another work in Sparta.
In October 1996, God provided a cornfield four miles from the center of town, and after much prayer and hard work we broke ground in March of 2000 with a service of praise at the edge of the cornfield. Once construction finished, the congregation moved into our home at 319 Blau Road in July 2001.
Since that time, Church of the Covenant has welcomed more interns and associate pastors. Pastor Jim Jordan was called as assistant pastor in January 2016, and then as associate pastor in October 2018. Pastor Pearce retired from full-time ministry on Resurrection Sunday, April 2022. Pastor Jordan accepted a call to the Uruguay mission field in December 2025, and our new pastor will be installed summer of 2026, Lord willing!
There has always been a desire that our sovereign God would be glorified in every endeavor of our congregation, for He has so abundantly blessed Church of the Covenant from its small beginnings. He continues His gracious work of sanctification in the members of Christ’s church. Come join us and add to the rich history and blessing that God has given us!
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed I have a beautiful inheritance.
Psalm 16:6
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