Kevin Rogers
Kevin was raised in a Christian home in Upper Marlboro, Md. He points to his parents’ decision to join a church closer to home during his first year of high school as the catalyst for big changes in his spiritual life. He describes the summer break after his freshman year: “I began the summer eager to live for myself, craving love and respect from the world, but over the next three months I was confronted by the gospel in a number of contexts. God drew me to himself, and I came back to school in the fall distinctly different-eager to turn from sin, pursue holiness, and share the gospel with those around me.”
Kevin and his wife Jami met in college at Liberty University where they served on a campus ministry team together. They married in August, 2003, and shortly thereafter visited Covenant Life through the invitation of a friend. Kevin says they were immediately “affected by the kindness of the people, and the richness of the teaching.” He and Jami moved to the area the next spring and soon became Covenant Life members.
Although he had begun thinking about pastoral ministry not long after he graduated from high school, Kevin resolved to glorify God in a “normal” vocation after his pastor counseled, “If you can do anything else and be satisfied, do that!” But God provided an opportunity to receive training, care and confirmation of his pastoral call when Kevin was asked to join the Covenant Life staff as Ministry Teams Director in May 2007. After two years in that role, he accepted the invitation to attend Sovereign Grace Ministries Pastors College, graduating in 2010, and immediately joining the Covenant Life pastoral team.
Kevin serves college age singles and is passionate about seeing believers’ lives demonstrate the reality and power of the gospel.
He describes himself as a “loyal fan” of all the local sports teams-Terps, Redskins, Wizards, Capitals and the Nationals (yes, he means it when he says “loyal”).
Kevin and Jami have three children and live in Montgomery Village.
Ben Wikner
Ben and Erin Wikner first met Joshua Harris and were introduced to Sovereign Grace Ministries at the 2007 New Attitude conference (now called NEXT) held that year in Louisville, Ky. The dialogue at NEXT led to further correspondence and Ben’s acceptance of an invitation to begin serving as a pastoral intern at Covenant Life Church in January 2008. Later that year he attended the Sovereign Grace Pastors College, graduating in June 2009.
Ben was born in Korea, adopted, and raised in a Christian home in Iowa. God revealed himself to Ben at age 19 in such a way that he saw the Lord’s holiness and truth as undeniable. Ben realized that only in the gospel was he truly accepted and beloved. “Since then,” says Ben, “there’s been continued growth in learning how great the Father’s love is toward me as his adopted son.”
Ben holds a bachelor’s degree from Covenant College, and a Master of Divinity from Westminster Seminary. It was at Covenant College where he met Erin and first sensed a call to pastoral ministry.
Ben was ordained in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church as a church planter in February of 2000. He served in Temecula, Calif., for six years before taking a call to a Presbyterian church in Ohio. Two years later he moved his family of eight to Maryland.
Ben now serves with the Family Life team of pastors where his responsibilities include pastoral oversight for a number of Care Groups, teaching various classes and serving the pastoral team wherever he can. The aspects of ministry that Ben is most passionate about are faithfully preaching and teaching the Word, equipping believers for service, pastoral care and counsel, and helping widows and orphans.
In Ben and Erin’s view, “This past year God has more deeply shown us our sin and more profoundly applied to us his grace than we would have thought possible or necessary. In the midst of significant transition, we are growing in Christ and being equipped for greater fruitfulness in ministry. We are thrilled to be here at Covenant Life, and so thankful God has allowed us to serve in this church. It has already been a joy, and we look forward to many years of ministry here to come.”
The Wikners have six children ranging from 22 months to 13 years old and live in the Gaithersburg area.
Jamie LeachSchool Principal
At age 17, Jamie Leach was so intrigued by the witness of his newly born-again sister that he began asking questions. While visiting with her at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the fall of 1976, mutual friend Bo Lotinsky prayed with him, and Jamie received the free gift of salvation in Christ.
Jamie went on to earn a B.S. in Economics from Carnegie-Mellon and a Masters in Education from Temple University. His experience includes 11 years of work in summer camps, directing a Salvation Army community center in inner-city Philadelphia, teaching stints at public high schools in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and 18 years as teacher at Delaware County Christian School in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, where he taught chemistry, Bible, and math and coached wrestling.
After serving as an educator for almost 20 years, Jamie sensed a growing call to pastoral ministry. Through discussions with the youth pastor at his home church, Covenant Fellowship Church, God led Jamie to enter the Sovereign Grace Pastors College in the fall of 2005. He graduated in 2006 and returned to Covenant Fellowship where he led the youth ministry for two years. But he never lost his love for the classroom…and he dreamed of a position that would allow him to function both as pastor and teacher.
In early 2008 Jamie got a phone call from Covenant Life Church asking him to consider a pastoral position on the youth ministry team that involved serving as principal of Covenant Life School. In God’s providence, the timing and fit were perfect for both Jamie and Covenant Life.
Jamie and his wife Cindy have been married 26 years. He describes her as his “beautiful, very intelligent and talented wife without whom I can do nothing!” They have four children, ages 15 to 24.
Jamie’s extra-curricular interests include hunting, fishing, lifting weights, wrestling and the sciences.
Dave BrewerYouth Pastor
Dave is a 1998 graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a degree in secondary mathematics education. He began pastoral training as an intern in the youth ministry at Lord of Life Church in Indiana, Pa., one of the first churches in the Sovereign Grace Ministries family.
“I had the privilege of growing up in a Christian home where I was taught the gospel,” Dave says. “I made a profession of faith in Christ at a young age, and God continually revealed himself to me throughout my childhood. It was over a few years in college that God began to draw me in the direction of pastoral ministry.”
Dave was born in Silver Spring, Md., and grew up in Columbia, Md., where he graduated Hammond High School in 1994.
Lord of Life Church sent Dave here as part of the 1999-2000 class of the Pastors College, and he stayed in Maryland after graduating. He taught math for two years at Blake High School in Silver Spring, also coaching baseball and soccer, before being asked to join the Covenant Life pastoral team in 2002.
Dave, wife Jen, and their four children reside in the Gaithersburg area.
Gary RicucciDirector of Student Care
After working alongside C.J. Mahaney and other pastors at Covenant Life for many years, Gary transitioned in 2004 to a new role as Director of Student Care at the Pastors College. He comments, “What a privilege to have served with C.J. and the Covenant Life team, and now with C.J. and the Sovereign Grace staff… all the while maintaining close ties with both as part of Covenant Life Church!”
Under the direction of Jeff Purswell, Dean of the Pastors College, Gary is responsible for helping students to watch their lives as well as their doctrine (1 Timothy 4:16). He regularly meets with students, oversees special events, and provides pastoral counsel and care. He also leads monthly couples meetings in his home with his wife Betsy, who meets with students’ wives for additional care and fellowship.
Gary was saved as a young teen. And after a season of rebellion in the late 1960s, he graduated from Carson-Newman College in Tennessee in 1971 with a B.A. in Fine Arts. In 1973 Gary met C.J. Mahaney at a D.C. area teaching meeting called TAG (Take And Give). Here relationships formed that led to the founding of Covenant Life Church. Gary worked as an illustrator and built architectural models until 1974, when he went full-time as administrator, graphics designer, and counselor at TAG. He has been in full-time ministry ever since.
Covenant Life Church (then called “Gathering of Believers”) began in April 1977, an eventful year for Gary. He turned thirty in August, married the former Betsy Mahaney in October (but still considers himself on honeymoon!) and was ordained as a pastor on New Year’s Eve.
“Serving with the men and couples that we love and respect most, and providing pastoral care for couples, leaders and their families, especially when Betsy and I can serve together, is a humbling privilege to me,” says Gary. “Men in the Pastors College, with their wives and families, will go from here to different parts of the country and the world to build churches for the glory of God. It is hard to think of a higher honor than to play some small part in that.”
Crossway Books released the second edition of Gary and Betsy’s book on marriage, Love That Lasts: When Marriage Meets Grace
Gary and Betsy have two daughters and two sons. Their oldest daughter is married with one baby girl and another baby on the way. The whole family resides in Gaithersburg and attends Covenant Life Church.
Jeff PurswellDean of the Pastors College
Jeff has served as the Dean of the Pastors College of Sovereign Grace Ministries since 1998 and is a member of the Sovereign Grace Leadership Team. He also plays an important role at Covenant Life by preaching and providing theological support to the pastoral team.
Jeff’s pre-ministry experience combines a degree in Economics and English Literature with a decade in the corporate banking world. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois (M.Div., 1998), where as a student he taught Greek as a teaching fellow in the New Testament department and worked as a teaching assistant in systematic theology for Wayne Grudem. Jeff is also known for his work as editor of Bible Doctrine, an abridgment of Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from The Catholic University of America.
Jeff resides in the Gaithersburg area with his wife, Julie, and their two sons, Samuel and Benjamin.
C. J. MahaneyPresident, Sovereign Grace Ministries
C.J. Mahaney leads Sovereign Grace Ministries in its mission to establish and support local churches. After 27 years of pastoring Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Md., C.J. handed the senior pastor role to Joshua Harris on September 18, 2004, allowing C.J. to devote his full attention to Sovereign Grace. He serves on the Council of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals and on the board of The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.
C.J.‘s books include Humility: True Greatness; Living the Cross-Centered Life; and Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God: What Every Christian Husband Needs to Know. He also contributed to Dear Timothy: Letters on Pastoral Ministry, and to two additional volumes in the Foundations for the Family Series (Crossway).
He has also edited or coauthored four books in the Pursuit of Godliness book series, published by Sovereign Grace Ministries: Why Small Groups?, This Great Salvation, How Can I Change?, and Disciplines for Life.
C.J. and his wife, Carolyn, have three married daughters and one son. They make their home in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Bob Kauflin
Bob Kauflin serves as a pastor and worship leader at Covenant Life Church and directs worship and music development for Sovereign Grace Ministries.
As a piano performance major at Temple University in the ‘70s he helped to found the Christian band GLAD. He left GLAD in 1984, and after a year joined the staff of what is now Sovereign Grace Church in Fairfax, Virginia. In 1991 he and his family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, to help launch a new church—what is now CrossWay Community Church. Bob received the call in 1997 to relocate to Gaithersburg and lead the Music and Worship Ministry of Covenant Life Church.
Bob plays a multi-faceted role today by training pastors and worship leaders in the theology and practicals of worship, leading corporate worship at various events, and overseeing the recording projects of Sovereign Grace Ministries. He also blogs on “worship, music, and more” at worshipmatters.com. Most recently he has written a book called Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God, available through Crossway Books.
Bob and his wife Julie have six children, four of whom are married. The family lives in Montgomery Village, Md.
Mark Mitchell
“I love exploring ways to impact our community with the love of Christ,” says Mark, who has overseen Outreach since 2007. Priorities include Introducing God, Mercy Ministries (e.g., Prison, Soup Kitchen, Wounded Warriors and Good Samaritan Advocates), Guest-Related Ministries (including Starting Point, Guest Reception, and Guest Follow Up) and Ministry Teams.
Born in Los Angeles to Jamaican parents, Mark responded to the gospel at age 8 in Tampa, Fla., which became home after family moves that took him from the Bronx, N.Y., to Port Antonio, Jamaica.
The precocious youth graduated high school as class valedictorian two weeks after turning 16. Mark went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from University of Florida (1988) and Georgia Tech (’90). In God’s plan, he put aside a rewarding, science-based career to answer the call to pastoral ministry.
In 1993, newly married and 25, Mark embarked on more than two years of evaluation by serving our Singles Ministry while working full time. “I began to realize that my ‘passion’ for my job was diminishing, and my passion for serving in the church was growing,” he recalls.
Mark joined our pastoral team in April 1996. He taught and led Singles Ministry until 2002, when he took on oversight of Mercy Ministries. He gradually became more involved in the Alpha ministry (now Introducing God), teaching sessions and eventually assuming its full leadership in 2004. In 2007, he became the Outreach Pastor, with responsibility for all Outreach Ministries.
“By God’s incredible grace, I have the privilege of serving alongside men and women who provoke me by their passion to reach those around them who don’t know Christ. Their words and their deeds honor the gospel we cherish. Their joy-filled love and sacrificial service is an example I’m eager to follow.”
Mark, wife Terri, and their two sons reside in the Gaithersburg area. Their adult daughter, still a member at Covenant Life, lives in Bowie, Md.
Robin Boisvert
Robin’s duties include teaching, preaching and leading the Senior Saints Ministry He became a Christian at the age of 22, and has served as a pastor since 1976. He recalls: “I met a Christian family in 1972 who exemplified the love of Christ in their relationships with one another. Their example was compelling and hearing the gospel from them led me to trust in Christ.”
In 1976 he began to serve as an associate pastor at Christ Church of Washington. In 1977 he married Clara. They have four children.
Robin joined Covenant Life in 1979. He was ordained here in 1981 and was the first principal of Covenant Life School. In 1982, he and Clara were sent to plant a church in Lancaster, Pa., where he served as senior pastor. They returned to Covenant Life in 1990 and have been serving here ever since.
Robin grew up in Silver Spring, Md. He has a B.A. in Biblical Studies from Geneva College and is a graduate of its Center for Urban Theological Studies in Philadelphia. He is nearing completion of an M.A.R. degree from Reformed Theological Seminary.
Robin and Clara take greatest joy in their growing family of four children and (currently) seven grandchildren.
Joe Lee
When Joe Lee’s second-grade Sunday-school teacher asked him why he was going to heaven, Joe answered, “Because my dad is the senior pastor of the church!”
Sensing the opportunity, Joe’s teacher took him aside and explained the gospel again. At that point, says Joe, “God’s Spirit illuminated the truth of the gospel to my heart and allowed me to see that I was a sinner in need of a Savior.”
Joe grew up in Northern Virginia attending Korean Central Presbyterian Church, where his father was a pastor for 26 years. We are grateful to Joe’s father and the church for sending Joe to us with their blessing.
While in high school, Joe felt called to ministry but gave up that desire after hearing discouraging stories from pastors. He received a B.S. from Virginia Tech in 1996 and became a computer network engineer.
At Celebration East (a regional conference for Sovereign Grace churches; no longer being held) in 1998, Joe’s desire was re-ignited when he heard Tab Trainor, then a student at what is now Sovereign Grace Pastors College, speak with joy and excitement about ministry. The Lord led Joe to the Pastors College in 1999-2000, and he joined the Covenant Life pastoral staff in July 2002. Today, he oversees numerous care groups and assists with premarital counseling.
Joe says he is “most passionate about helping the care group leaders lead their groups into deeper biblical fellowship with God and with one another.”
Joe and his wife Esther have four children.
Don DeVries
God used the persistent witness of his mother and two crusades, one live (Nicky Cruz) and one he watched on TV (Billy Graham), to bring Don to faith in Christ at age 14. “And for nearly four decades,” he recounts, “I have been held and carried and nurtured and sustained by the amazing grace of God.”
Don sensed a call to serve God’s people in the summer of 1974 when he was 16 years old. He says, “I remember sitting alone one evening on the beach in North Carolina, telling the Lord that I wanted to give away my life for the Kingdom of God.” That evening began a process of prayer and pursuit that culminated in June 1998 with Don’s acceptance into the Sovereign Grace Ministries Pastors College.
The DeVries family had come to Covenant Life in 1994. They were drawn in by C.J. Mahaney’s humility and his passionate proclamation of God’s Word. After a few Sundays, they began attending the New Member’s Class (now Starting Point) where the Lord confirmed in their hearts that they’d found a church home.
His year at Pastors College completed, Don stepped into pastoral ministry at Covenant Life in July of 1999. In December of the same year, he accepted an assignment as Senior Pastor to plant a Sovereign Grace church in the Cleveland, Ohio area. He and his family faithfully served the Cleveland church for 7 ½ years and then received a call in April 2007 to return to Gaithersburg to be a part of Covenant Life’s Family Life team. He and his family relocated in August 2007.
Don’s role at Covenant life involves overseeing care groups, discipleship training and leadership development, pre-marital training, counseling and teaching in various contexts (Sunday Classes, Starting Point, etc.). Don also serves on the board of governing elders and is working with other pastors to integrate Bible studies into the fabric of Covenant Life. He shares: “I love caring for people. I enjoy teaching and discipleship. And I love to see how God’s Word changes hearts and lives.”
Don holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a minor in Mathematics from Oral Roberts University. His hobbies include reading, playing guitar, and spending time with his family, especially time with Trisha, his wife.
Don, Trisha, their oldest son David and his wife Hannah, their two granddaughters, and their youngest son, Ben, reside in the Gaithersburg area.
Braden Greer
Born in upstate N.Y. to parents who know and love Christ, Braden relocated to Md. after college in 2001. Later that year, he met his much better half, and he and Christy were married a year later in 2002. They have 3 children—2 daughters and a son.
After many years of resisting faith and obedience to Christ, Braden was overwhelmed by the grace of God in his mercy and forgiveness in 2000. Christ has changed everything.
He has been on staff as a pastor since 2006 after graduating from the Sovereign Grace Pastor’s college.
Matthew Maka
Matthew left a position as senior pastor of a church in East Brunswick, N.J., to move his family to Gaithersburg and become part of Covenant Life. He joined the pastoral team after graduating from our Pastors College in May 2005. Matt was born and raised in Flanders, N.J.
Matthew grew up attending Bethlehem Church in Randolph, N.J., and was an active member of the youth ministry there. He says, “I heard the gospel as a child from faithful, believing parents. God used their faithful witness to draw me to Himself at a young age. What a miracle to be a child of God.”
Matthew first sensed a calling to pastoral ministry in 1988, at age 19. He decided to attend Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., where he received a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies in 1992. He later studied at Alliance Theological Seminary in Nyack, N.Y.
He served as a youth pastor in Long Valley, N.J., from 1996 to 2000, then as senior pastor in East Brunswick until he joined Covenant Life in 2002.
Matt’s first encounter with Sovereign Grace Ministries was a seminar that was part of a Joshua Harris “True Love Tour.” “The gospel centered teaching and Spirit-filled, doctrinally rich worship were like nothing I had ever experienced before,” says Matt. Several years of relationship building followed with Covenant Life pastors like Jeff Purswell and Bob Kauflin. Matt states, “Throughout this process my view of my sin, the church, and the Savior was radically altered.”
Matthew says he is most passionate about “serving the people of Covenant Life. What a joy to care for such humble people who desire to serve and love the Savior with all of their lives.”
Matthew and his wife Elsabeth were married June 20, 1992. They have three daughters and a son. Matthew enjoys beach vacations and playing with the children. Other interests and hobbies include fishing, hunting and woodworking.
Adam Malcolm
Adam first visited Covenant Life as a non-believer in early 1998, when he and his wife, Linda, attended a marriage retreat in hopes of repairing a marriage that was “not healthy.” The couple found “love and acceptance,” Adam recalls, and began to attend the Sunday meeting.
Linda had recently become a Christian, and Adam came to Christ while attending the church’s Alpha class that same summer.
Adam was born October 17, 1962, in DeLand, Fla., and grew up in Columbia, Md. He has an undergraduate degree in Management and 20 years of experience in information technology, including senior management.
In 2002, pastor Kenneth Maresco began to help Adam evaluate whether he was called to pastoral ministry. “Over the next year and a half,” Adam says, “I was placed in positions of serving—greeting team, care group, Christian Service Brigade—where God appeared to be bringing fruit in my leadership.”
After graduating from the Pastors College, Adam joined the pastoral team in June 2005. His current responsibilities include overseeing 15 care groups mostly composed of parents with at least one child in high school to college-aged children.
Adam and Linda, who were married October 6, 1984, moved to Gaithersburg from Frederick in 2004. They have four children, two of which are adult members at Covenant Life, and enjoy the outdoors, amusement parks, golf and rooting for our favorite sporting teams together.
Adam says he is most passionate about “seeing God reconcile, transform and build strong marriages and families through the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Erik Sheffer
Erik Sheffer says he and his wife Jerusha “had a conviction that it was time to stake our claim” in a Sovereign Grace church. With degrees in tow (he an M.A. in Counseling; she an M.Div.), the couple left Boston and Gordon Conwell Seminary and moved to Maryland in May of 2002. They initially ruled out Covenant Life because of its large size, but “Providence and wise counsel” soon overrode their reluctance, says Erik.
Erik’s involvement at Covenant Life Church ramped up quickly in the summer of 2002 when he took a job as manager of the Audio and Bookstore ministries. In 2004 Erik was asked to oversee all of the church’s ministry teams and leaders. At the same time he led a few Beta groups and a Care Group from 2004 to 2005. Over time, however, the Lord began to make it clear that his role in the church was to change drastically.
“I realized more and more, only through the help of many, that God [was] calling me to pastor his people. Sadly, it was a long road. I didn’t heed God’s call because of sin—fear of man, unbelief, etc. But through God’s grace and the care of many people, I am here today,” Erik says. Erik studied faithfully with the Sovereign Grace Pastors College class of 2006 and joined the Covenant Life pastoral staff in June.
Erik, and the other pastors in the Family Life ministry, oversees care groups, leads discipleship groups, counsels, and develops new resource materials for the ministry. He says he is most passionate about “building with and caring for God’s people,” as well as discipleship, counseling and studying God’s Word.
Erik and his wife Jerusha married in 2000 and have five children—Karis, Jotham, Mercia, Jedidiah and Titus. Erik enjoys spending time with his family, the beach, games, reading, and basketball. The family resides in Damascus, Md.
Jon Smith
Jon Smith is a graduate of UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.
His passion is helping college students to know, enjoy and give their lives for the cause of Christ in this world. He is responsible for leading OneU at The University of Maryland.
If you need to find Jon chances are he’s on campus talking to students about Jesus, reading a good book, or spending time with his family.
Jon and his wife Jenni have three sons, Carson, Chase (Chase went to be with God shortly after he was born), Miller, and a daughter, Jade. Jon and Jenni spend their time loving Jesus together, hanging out with friends, trying to stay healthy through CrossFit, and occasionally throwing the lacrosse ball around (and yes, Jenni throws better than Jon).
Corby Megorden
Corby Megorden and his wife, Vilma, first visited Covenant Life Church in November of 1990. “As C.J. Mahaney preached the gospel, we clearly understood our need for a Savior and God’s gracious provision of Jesus as our Savior,” says Corby.
A 1979 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy (where he played ice hockey), Corby earned an M.S. from the University of Maryland in 1992. He served seven years active duty and 15 years in the Naval Reserves, retiring with the rank of captain. While pursuing a successful career in the corporate world, Corby began serving in the biblical counseling ministry at Covenant Life as a volunteer.
After the pastors asked him to consider pastoral ministry, Corby went through a two-year process of evaluation, prayer, and seeking counsel, entering the Pastors College in 2001 at age 43. Upon graduation in 2002, he joined the pastoral staff as an administrator.
Corby says he loves “the opportunity to serve the pastoral team behind the scenes… [and] to release them to exercise their gifts in their ministry areas.”
Corby and Vilma have two daughters and reside in the Gaithersburg area.
Isaac HydoskiTeam Leader
At the age of 16 Isaac’s life was changed forever when he sat down and read a simple letter from a friend that explained the good news of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Soon thereafter, he began to be discipled by members of Covenant Life, and he has been here ever since.
After earning a degree in visual arts from UMBC, Isaac worked for a handful of years as a freelance photographer, but his true passion was for the church. Several years of serving as a small group leader in the singles ministry gave Isaac a love for discipling singles and helping them to apply the gospel in a way that defines their lives, their work, and friendships.
He was invited to attend the Pastors College and graduated in 2001 (during which time his wife served him heroically by putting food on the table while he studied!). He then began working with the singles team as a pastoral intern and then a pastor. “Hydro” says what he loves most about pastoring in the singles ministry is, “equipping men to lead, and helping all believers grow in maturity in Christ through the application of God’s Word into the details of their lives.”
When work is done for the day, Hydro enjoys dating his beautiful wife Kelly, roughhousing with his two boys KJ and Tate, and trying to make his daughter Ella laugh. He prays each of them will one day be God-fearing, gospel-loving, church-builders someday like their momma and dada.
Grant Layman
Grant Layman grew up in Sarasota, Fla., and was raised by “God-fearing parents who modeled the Christian life and love for the local church,” he recounts. Grant says he can remember “having an awareness of God’s claim on his life and a desire to serve him at an early age.”
Grant accepted an invitation in 1980 at age 19 to move to the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., to live with his sister, Carolyn, and her husband, C.J. Mahaney. C.J. was then the senior pastor of Gathering of Believers, the precursor to what is now Covenant Life Church. Grant says the personal care and training he received by living in C.J. and Carolyn’s home for five years was invaluable preparation for ministry.
While serving in his initial position with the church as assistant administrator, Grant’s interest in vocational ministry grew stronger. After a few years of prayer, counsel, training, and evaluation, Grant was asked by the pastors to establish a youth ministry in 1983. That same year is when he met Karin Tammaru, the girl of his dreams, and they married two years later on May 11, 1985. The following year Grant was ordained into ministry.
Over the years Grant helped to build a unique kind of youth ministry where the role of parents is every bit as important as that of the kids. He states, “I had a passion to see the next generation cultivate a love for the Lord and the local church. I wanted to encourage all of our parents to embrace this privilege and responsibility to train the next generation.”
In 2006 Grant assumed additional responsibilities in his role as Executive Pastor including oversight of Sunday meetings and the various teams that support these and other meetings (Worship, Discovery Land, Production, Communication, and Ministry Teams), as well as other strategic initiatives. At that time Dave Brewer assumed leadership of the Youth Ministry and the 10:31 team of pastors.
Grant and his family share a love for sports and the outdoors. He enjoys riding the family four-wheeler and dirt bikes with his kids.
Grant, his wife Karin, and their four children reside in Montgomery Village, Md.
Kenneth Maresco
“I grew up in a Catholic family in New York City,” Kenneth recalls. “When I was a freshman in college, on spring break, an aunt in Florida shared the gospel with me. By God’s grace, when I returned to college, I was converted.”
Kenneth received a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in 1982, and then worked for two years as a corporate advertising and marketing manager.
Kenneth has been a part of Covenant Life since 1985. From 1985 to 1990 he served as part of what would become Sovereign Grace Ministries.
He attended the School of Ministry, predecessor to the Sovereign Grace Ministries Pastors College, in 1990-91, and then joined the pastoral team in July 1991. He served at different times with the Singles, Married Couples, College and International ministries. Evangelism and outreach ministries became Kenneth’s primary focus in 1997, among them the burgeoning Alpha program on the basics of the Christian faith (Covenant Life now holds a course called “Introducing God”).
In November 2004, Kenneth stepped into a larger role as one of two executive pastors. He is responsible for overseeing the pastoral ministries of Covenant Life Church, as well as leading the church in leadership training and church planting.
He also serves our sister church in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, that was planted out of Covenant Life in 2003, and he is directly involved in our church’s mission to spread the gospel to unreached peoples.
“My heart is most passionate about seeing the lost reached through church planting and evangelism as well as equipping men and, in particular, pastors to fulfill God’s purpose for their lives,” Kenneth says.
“I grew up in the Bronx, but am a Mets fan,” notes Kenneth, whose other hobbies and interests include a passionate pursuit of his wife Valori, golfing with his sons, and reading.
Kenneth and Valori have five sons and one daughter-in-law and reside in Montgomery Village.
Joshua HarrisSenior Pastor
Joshua Harris has served as senior pastor of Covenant Life since 2004. His primary responsibilities are to provide vision and direction for the church through preaching God’s Word and leadership of the pastoral team.
Joshua grew up outside Portland, Ore. Raised in a Christian home, he gave his life to Christ as a teenager. At age 17, God began to stir in him a desire to call his generation to passionate commitment to Jesus. Following in his father’s footsteps, he began speaking at youth conferences and publishing a magazine for teens. His first book about honoring God in relationships and romance became a surprise best-seller.
Through the teaching and friendship of C.J. Mahaney, Josh was challenged to see the central role of the local church in God’s plan. Joshua moved to Covenant Life to receive on-the-job training and mentoring from C.J. and the other pastors. He fell in love with church, met and fell in love with his wife Shannon, and felt the Lord confirm his call to pastoral ministry. He served as a youth intern under Grant Layman, then as executive pastor, and eventually became Senior Pastor when C.J. transitioned to full-time leadership of Sovereign Grace Ministries.
Joshua is the author of several books including his latest, Dug Down Deep: Unearthing What I Believe and Why It Matters.
Joshua and Shannon have three children and live five miles from the church.