Saint Andrews-Covenant Presbyterian Church

St. Andrews-Covenant Presbyterian Church is part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and The Presbytery of Coastal Carolina.  It was formed on June 1, 1944 as a merger of two existing congregations.  It was the combination of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church formerly located at Fourth and Campbell Streets in Wilmington with The Church of the Covenant located in our present church building at 15^th and Market Streets.  The congregations of both churches were merged.  Members of the new church on June 1, 1944 thus became Charter Members of the new congregation.  The officers (Elders, Deacons, and Trustees) of both churches retained their offices in the merged church.  Elder Walter P. Sprunt was named as the first Clerk of Session for the new church.  Neither church had any debt. The assets of both were combined.  The St. Andrews church building was sold and the new church continued to use the buildings of the former Church of the Covenant.  The pastors of both churches agreed to resign.  The Reverend Dr. Frederick White Lewis then came out of retirement to serve as the first pastor of the new church from June 1, 1944 to the end of September 1945.  He was succeeded in the pastorate by The Reverend Dr. Eugene D. Witherspoon (1945-1958), The Reverend Edward G. Connette (1958-1973), The Reverend Archie McKee (1975-1986), The Reverend Dr. Robert F. Bardin (1987-1996), and The Reverend Steven Earl Hein (1998-    ). Read the rest of this entry »

The tower chimes were a gift to the Church of the Covenant from Dr. James Sprunt and Mr. William Sprunt in December 1923. These brothers had previously contributed the funds to build the original church building including the tower. The gift of the tower chimes is commemorated in the church narthex by a bronze plaque dedicated to the memory of Alexander Sprunt and Jane Dalziel Sprunt, their parents. The plaque reads as follows:

In the sacred name of the

FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT

These Tower Chimes

ARE REVERENTLY DEDICATED

TO THE MEMORY OF

ALEXANDER SPRUNT

AND HIS WIFE

JANE DALZIEL SPRUNT

BY TWO DEVOTED SONS

—

A.D. 1924

The system was installed in January 1924 by J.C. Deagan, Inc. of Chicago, IL. It cost approximately $9,000. It consisted of sixteen tubular bells tuned chromatically from E to G, an octave and a minor third, and were operated electrically from a small keyboard in the choir loft beside the organ console. Technically speaking our tower chimes are not a “carillon” since those by definition have 23 tubular bells and the tower chimes at St. Andrews-Covenant have only 16 bells.  Read the rest of this entry »

Sprunt Memorial Window

The stained glass window which the congregation sees as they face the pulpit in the sanctuary was a gift (along with the original sanctuary, chapel and parlor) of Dr. James Sprunt and Mr. William H. Sprunt in honor of their parents Alexander Sprunt and Jane Dalziel Sprunt.  This window was part of the original construction of the Church of the Covenant in 1917.  The inscription at the base of the window is flanked at the ends by scrolls.  In the three central sections is a memorial inscription based on 2 Timothy 4: 7-8.

WHO FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT, WHO FINISHED THEIR COURSE, WHO KEPT THE FAITH, HENCEFORTH THERE IS LAID UP FOR THEM A CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

IN MEMORY OF ALEXANDER SPRUNT BORN 28^TH SEPTEMBER 1815 DIED 11^TH APRIL 1884 AND OF HIS WIFE JANE DALZIEL BORN 26^TH SEPTEMBER 1823 DIED 2 JULY 1892

WHICH THE LORD THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE SHALL GIVE THEM AT THAT DAY AND NOT TO THEM ONLY BUT UNTO ALL THEM ALSO THAT LOVE HIS APPEARING

The scene depicted in the window is the source of the name of the Church of the Covenant,  which was merged with St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in 1944 to become St. Andrews-Covenant Presbyterian Church.  The scene is the signing of the National Covenant on February 28, 1638 at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh by Scottish Presbyterian “Barons, Nobles, Gentlemen, Burgesses, Ministers, and Commons”, subsequently called Covenanters.  Read the rest of this entry »