About

Embracing God | Growing People | Experiencing Revival | Pursuing Reconciliation

About us

Our core values are the underlying principles that guide us in making decisions, determining priorities, setting goals, allocating resources, and carrying our mission to empower disciples and extend God’s kingdom. They are the defining characteristics of Covenant Church of Pittsburgh and are drawn from the Bible.

Learn more about Covenant

Core values

Our core values are the underlying principles that guide us in making decisions, determining priorities, setting goals, allocating resources, and.

Revival stories

Revival Stories are stories of transformation, a change in the way you think or a moment when God was so present you have to tell people about it. Check out just a few of the many Revival Stories from right here at Covenant Church of Pittsburgh. Then consider sharing your own below.

Meet the team

Bishop Joseph & Pastor Barbara Garlington

Bishop Joseph & Pastor Barbara Garlington

Founding Pastors
Pastors Bill & Pastor Lynne Themelaras

Apostle Bill & Pastor Lynne Themelaras

Senior Pastors

Dr. Dan Ecker

Senior Associate Pastor

Clarence Grant

Pastor / Minister of Music

Denise Bell

Director of Student Ministries

Will Jackson

Director of Christian Education /

Youth Minister

Tom Mitchell

Pastor / Director of Community Affairs & Prison Ministries

Cass McCollum

Director of Operations & Finance

Robin Godfrey

Finance Assistant / Human Resources

George Furlow

Pastor / Director of Music & Fine Arts Department

Anthony Maggio

Media / Video Production

Jacob Williams

Graphic Designer

Benita Lumberger-Stout

Pastor / Assistant to the Founding Pastors

Sandra Pierce

Assistant to the Founding Pastors

Dana Williams

Facilities

Contact a Staff Member

Covenant Church of Pittsburgh

2110 Andrews Dr Pittsburgh, PA 15221
Bishop Joseph & Pastor Barbara Garlington

Bishop Joseph & Pastor Barbara Garlington

Founding Pastors

Bishop Joseph L. Garlington, Sr. is the presiding pastor of Covenant Church of Pittsburgh, a large multi-racial, a cross-cultural Christian community which he and his wife Barbara founded in 1971. Covenant Church of Pittsburgh has been a model for racial healing and reconciliation for more than forty-eight years. Through the auspices and energy of Covenant Church, they launched Reconciliation! an international network of churches and ministries for which he is the Presiding Bishop. As the Senior Pastor and visionary of Covenant Church, a ministry located in the heart of Wilkinsburg, he launched an outreach in the late 1980s to recover Horner, an abandoned junior high school which was located one city block from their worship center. This initiative has now become Hosanna House, a world-class, award-winning community center, enjoying partnerships with government, businesses, financial institutions, foundations, and churches. This and other numerous outreaches to the local and international community have positioned Bishop Garlington as a recognized leader in the faith-based community. Bishop Garlington served from 2000 to 2018 as president of Building United of Southwest Pennsylvania, an ecumenical coalition of bishops and clergy in the southwestern and western Pennsylvania corridor. Through the synergy of this partnership with local and financial institutions and foundations, they saw genuine fruit from President George W. Bush’s faith-based initiative which provides home-ownership for low and middle-income families. Bishop Garlington is an accomplished musician, recording artist, author, and scholar whose life and work has touched countless thousands throughout the world through radio and TV. He is a popular speaker at national and international conferences. He is internationally recognized in the religious community for his work and ministry in many churches in South Africa where he has traveled since 1979. Bishop Garlington consults for pastors, churches, and organizations that are eager to develop similar models of racial reconciliation and healing as they have at Covenant Church of Pittsburgh. He has been married to Barbara Williams Garlington for more than forty-eight years. They share life with seven grown children, thirteen grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Pastors Bill & Pastor Lynne Themelaras

Apostle Bill & Pastor Lynne Themelaras

Senior Pastors

Bill and Lynne Themelaras were high school sweethearts who married after college and soon began the adventure of full-time ministry. Now, twenty-six years later, they live in Westerville, OH with their three amazing children and the family dog. Bill serves the greater church as a prophetic apostle. He serves as Senior Leader for both Oasis City Church, Westerville, OH and Covenant Church of Pittsburgh, in Pittsburgh, PA.

Bill is gifted as an organizational leader with a heart to raise up team ministry within the church. Bill has a passion for worship, preaching and ministering to people. He enjoys movies, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and is a “foodie”.

Bill also serves as the President of Reconciliation! Ministries International, a network of five-fold ministries participating in the revival, renewal, restoration, and reformation of the church. This network is founded and chaired by Bishop Joseph Garlington, Sr.

Lynne has a Masters Degree in Psychology. She is the Restore Pastor overseeing several ministry areas including Restore, the inner healing ministries of Oasis City Church and Covenant Church of Pittsburgh. She enjoys health and fitness, reading, and Starbucks coffee.

Together Bill and Lynne desire to see lives transformed and to help people embrace their God-created identity.