Covenant Baptist Church welcomes new pastor
The Rev. Charles Barnhart is the new pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Uniontown. Born in Stamford, Connecticut, on Jan. 5, 1936, Rev. Barnhart is a 1954 graduate of Stamford High School. He graduated from Nyack College in New York in 1959 with a bachelor’s degree in education and did post-graduate study at the King’s College in New York in 1960.
He served 12 years on the board of governors at Northwest Baptist Theological College and Seminary in both Vancouver and Langley, British Columbia. He lectured at Reformed Episcopal Seminary Philadelphia and Lancaster Bible College.
Rev. Barnhart is married to the former Carol Eloise Molitor on June 8, 1957. They had three children, Victoria, Vanessa and Jeremy.
In his resume, Rev. Barnhart noted, “I received a call to ministry at age 16 in the context of my conversion and in an atmosphere of powerful revival in the spring of 1952. From my conversion to Christ until my first formal pastorate, I was engaged continually in street evangelism and personal witness as well as teaching and preaching throughout the areas of Stamford and New York City. I was called to serve as interim pastor at the Bible Fellowship of Brookside Chapel in Norwalk, Connecticut in June 1960 and in fact continued to pastor there for the next five years through 1965. During my years in Norwalk, I conducted a live radio ministry on WNLK as well as leading Stamford Youth For Christ.
“We moved to Paradise, Pa., January 1966 to minister at Paradise Baptist Church where I was ordained and involved in the formation of the Reformed Baptist Association. At one point, I was the chairman of the RBA. During that time, the church more than doubled and the Lord blessed but our terminally ill daughter took a turn for the worse and we moved to Emmaus, Pa., where I took a job in order to help pay the enormous medical bills. Vicki went to be with the Lord in 1979. During this time, I engaged in preaching throughout the New England states, New Jersey, Mississippi, at churches and conferences, retreats and camps with much blessing. We also were involved in church planting and oversight.’
Rev. Barnhart and his family immigrated to Canada in February 1980 where he became pastor of Edson Baptist Church in Edson, Alberta, for the next 16 and a half years.
“The ministry there also experienced much growth and blessing and included a Christian school under my oversight (K-12). (Carol taught there as well.),’ he wrote in his resume. “While there, I served as first vice president and then president of the regional fellowship in Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, vice chairman of the National Board of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada. This is when I served 12 years of the Board of Governors at Northwest Baptist Theological College and Seminary. I served as one of the hospital chaplains and my son and I were on the advisory board of he royal Canadian Mounted Police.
“After some months of itinerant ministry throughout western Canada, we moved to Victoria, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island to serve as the senior pastor of Friendship Baptist Church (Baptist General Conference). We went to two services and experienced significant blessings from God during my year and a half as interim pastor. I filled several pulpits in the Victoria area and then on Gabriola Island, just north of Victoria.’
Rev. Barnhart moved to Uniontown in May to begin full-time pastor of Covenant Baptist Church on 148 Union St.
He said, “The church is part of a growing movement of churches committed to the historic reformed faith proclaiming the biblical teaching on God’s sovereign Grace.’