Covenant Presbyterian Church, PCA

Our pastor is the Reverend Chip Vining, who has been our senior pastor since July 2005.  Prior to his arrival in Hendersonville, he was an assistant pastor with Spring Cypress Presbyterian Church (PCA), located in a NW suburb of Houston, Texas for twelve years where during his ministry there he served as Director of Ministries to Children, Youth, and their Families, and later served as Principal of Schools in their Christian school  and early childhood ministries.  Pastor Chip has extensive teaching experience having taught various age groups in schools like:  Mt. Salus Christian School (Clinton, MS), Hinds Community College (Raymond, MS), and Spring Cypress Presbyterian Schools (Spring, TX).  He has also taught youth and adults in the Christian Education programs of Providence Presbyterian Church (Clinton, MS) and Spring Cypress Presbyterian Church (Spring, TX). 

Pastor Chip was born and raised in Tampa, Florida, and is a graduate of the University of Florida (BS) and Reformed Theological Seminary (MA).  His passion is to preach the Word of God and to love God's people.  He and his wife Karen have two children, Jonathan (14) and Elisabeth (11) who attend Hendersonville Christian School.

Pastor Chip has a servant's heart and serves his community well.  He currently serves as secretary for the Henderson County Ministerial Association (an Evangelical association of pastors and para-church leaders), as chairman of the board for Hendersonville Christian School, and as the chairman of the Reformed University Ministries Committee for the Western Carolina Presbytery which oversees the Reformed University Fellowships (RUF) at Appalachian State University and Western Carolina University.  In the recent past, he has served as the International Director for the Hendersonville Rotary Club as well as serving on the advisory board of the Inter Faith Chaplaincy Association at Pardee Hospital.

Ryan graduated from Texas A&M with a marketing degree, but knew his real calling was the ministry. So, a year after graduating he moved with his wife, Kristen, to North Carolina to pursure his Masters of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary- Charlotte. He graduated in May of 2010 and is now gladly working for Covenant as the Assistant Pastor.

Ryan has been working with different youth ministries since he was in high school and is happy to be overseeing the youth ministry at Covenant. They recently decided to name it Roots Youth Ministry based on the scrpiture Ephesians 3: 17-18. In addition to working with the youth, Ryan is also teaching a class on sunday mornings, organizing the young families' ministry, collaborating with the missions community, and occasionally preaching.

His wife, Kristen, comes along with him from Baylor University, graduating with a studio art degree.  She previously served as the Girls Ministry Director for the youth ministry at Grace Community Church in Mills River, but is now happy to simply hold the title 'mom'.

They have a son, Knox Paul Thompson,  who was born May 18th, 2010. 

Ryan has a passion for seeing families lead their home in worshipping the Lord together.  Bringing Christ to the dinner table is a great way for real gospel transformation to begin.  Just look at the following passage:

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
 

Pastor Don has served as interim and assistant to the pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church, collectively, for the past ten years.  He has served as a missionary to Eritrea, East Africa, and had pastorates in Ft. Lauderdale and Harmony, New Jersey.  He is a graduate of Calvin College (BA), Florida Atlantic University (M.Ed.), and Westminster Theological Seminary (M.Div.).  Don and his wife Jeanette have five children; one has gone on before them to heaven; and the others living in Johnson City, Tennessee; Panama Beach, Florida; Hope Sound, Florida; and Santiago, Chile.  They have eleven grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

Lynn Moore, born in Greenville, South Carolina, earned Bachelor and Masters Degrees from Furman University, graduate degrees in Counseling from Western Carolina University and a PhD in Leadership and School Administration from the University of South Carolina.

She directed school choirs at West Henderson High School, Rugby Middle School, and church choirs in Martinsville, Virginia and Hendersonville, North Carolina.   She performed with various choral groups in Virginia and North Carolina, with Robert Shaw, and is currently singing with the Carolina Concert Choir.

Lynn serves as a board member of the Historic Johnson Farm, the Carolina Concert Choir, and as Dean of the WNC School for Laity.  She delights in spending time with her husband, Mike, their children and granddaughters.