History of Covenant Chapel

God has clearly established Covenant Chapel for the purpose of building and being an authentic, Biblical community, carrying out the ministry of Jesus.

In 1989, Tom Ryan was on the staff of Colonial Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Missouri. After much prayer and soul-searching, Tom and his wife, Pam, felt Jesus leading them to be part of developing a new church to minister to Southern Kansas City. After receiving the recommendation of a church consultant, the senior pastor and elders of Colonial Presbyterian blessed the idea of planting a new church.

That summer, Tom and Pam asked six other couples to form a steering committee and the work was begun. The church was organized as a mission church of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church under the guidance of Dr. Andrew Jumper, pastor of Central Presbyterian Church in St. Louis.

A series of evening organizational meetings were held in September of that year. The first public worship service was held on Sunday, October 15, 1989, at Shawnee Mission South High School with 340 forty adults and 60 children in attendance.

Then to Now...

September 15, 1991 - the church moves to the old Blue Valley Middle School (69 highway and 151st St.) It would meet there for the next four-and-a-half years.

April 4, 1993 -  the congregation votes to pursue the purchase of roughly 20 acres of land located at 133rd and Kenneth Road in Leawood, Kansas. The contract was finally executed and the deal closed on March 7, 1994. The land was paid off by the end of 1994.

February 3, 1996 - the church moves to The Barstow School (115th and State Line). This would be the church's last temporary home.

May 17, 1998 - After several years of discussions and negotiations with city and local officials, Covenant Chapel hosts a groundbreaking ceremony on its land.

February 28, 1999 - the frist Sunday services are held at Covenant Chapel's newly completed building at 133rd and Kenneth Road.

October, 2004 - Covenant Chapel opens building two, providing new church offices, high school and middle school facilities, and a permanent home for South Leawood Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).

August 1, 2007 - Following nearly 20 years of foreign missions experience in Eastern Europe, Dave Robinson joins as a co-pastor alongside founding pastor Tom Ryan.

August 1, 2008 - after months of prayer and thought, and in obedience to God, founding pastor Tom Ryan decides to leave Covenant Chapel. Dave Robinson continues as senior pastor.