Covenant Life Church

Covenant Life Church had its roots in a citywide charismatic prayer meeting called Take and Give (TAG) which ran from 1970 to 1979.

Mahaney became the main teachers with Jim Orban (eventual son-in-law of Lydia Little) leading worship and a number of other young people taking on other leadership responsibilities as the group grew.

In 1977 a small group of people (55 at the first meeting, many of whom were TAG attendees) began to gather in the basement of a suburban Maryland home.

It then shifted to a decentralized model with separate groups meeting in College Park, Gaithersburg, Silver Spring, and Wheaton.

It expanded to its current size and unique worship space in 2002 under the planning of Dennis Kowal Architects of Somerville, New Jersey.

Despite a formal reconciliation process mediated by Ambassadors of Reconciliation, in December 2012 members of Covenant Life Church voted to end their formal association with Sovereign Grace Ministries, citing numerous differences, but especially noting differences on issues related to church polity.

[5] In 2014, a civil lawsuit against Covenant Life Church and Sovereign Grace Ministries alleging a cover-up of child sexual abuse was dismissed in Maryland.

[6] In January 2015 Joshua Harris announced plans to step down as lead pastor and pursue formal graduate theological studies at Regent College in Vancouver, BC.

[7] He stated in an interview that "the isolation of Covenant Life, and of a small cluster of churches of which it was a part, may have fed leadership mistakes, including the decision of pastors — himself among them — to handle a child sexual abuse case internally instead of going to police.

Outside leaders and church members were invited to help resolve differences related to preaching and polity, but in July the elders and Pastor Smyth decided to part ways.

Covenant Life has over 25 years sent out 13 church plants to many cities in the U.S. and a few abroad, including Cleveland (1982), Chicago, San Diego, Mexico, Texas, and the Philippines (1983-1984).