Covenant Presbyterian Church sits nestled in the woods on Ga. Highway 314, overlooking a lake. Over 350 members call it their church home.

The congregation began in a store front in the late 1970s and built their current facility in 1982. Members come from not only Fayette County, but all the surrounding counties as well. They hope to begin construction soon on 16,000 sq. ft. of educational space and the next phase after that will be the addition of a fellowship hall.

The Philosophy of Ministry states that the purpose of Covenant Presbyterian Church is to help people joyfully know Jesus Christ, love Him more, and serve Him better. It carries out this purpose in a number of ways including World Missions. The pastor, the Rev. Dale B. Welden, and various members of the church, both youth and adult, have traveled to London, Croatia, India, Mexico, Pakistan, Romania, Russia and Jamaica in order to help people everywhere know Jesus Christ. The church also assists in establishing new congregations, such as Redemption Fellowship in Fayetteville and Carriage Lane in Peachtree City.

The Rev. Welden was born in Frankfort, Germany and reared in Missouri. During his senior year in high school, the pull of the ministry began to weigh heavily on his shoulders and he entered Missouri Baptist College, taking a double major in Behavioral Science and Bible. At Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Mo., he obtained his Masters in Divinity and is currently working on his doctorate. He has served churches in Pennsylvania and Georgia.

He met his wife, Connie at a high school youth group and they married in St. Louis in 1976. They are the parents of four children: Nathan, 18, and a freshman at Georgia Tech; Rachel, 16; Benjamin, 13 and Abigail, age 5.

The Rev. David Robinson serves as assistant pastor, Dennis Moreland is Youth Director, the Rev. Bob Edmiston is Small Group Coordinator, Sue Jakes is the Children's Coordinator and Sam Burch is the Director of Music.

Located at 819 Hwy. 314, Fayetteville, worship services are Sunday morning at 10:50 a.m., with Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. Sunday night groups meet at 6 p.m. and there are also small groups who meet on Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m.