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The History of Grace Covenant Church
Grace
Covenant Church (formerly Beakleyville Baptist Church) had its beginnings in
1840. The Rev. Charles Beakley, a circuit-riding preacher from Philadelphia,
led several evangelistic services in the Angle family barn near East
Stroudsburg that year.
As a result of those meetings, twelve new converts were baptized and helped
organize Beakleyville Baptist Church, a part of the Philadelphia Baptist
Association (later the
American Baptist Churches in the USA). They had hoped
the area would become known as "Beakleyville," in honor of the
circuit-rider, but it eventually was made a part of East Stroudsburg.
Not satisfied to continue meeting in a barn, the members of this new
congregation embarked on building a meeting house, which was completed in
1844. The church experienced highs and lows over the years, almost closing
during the great depression. Fortunately, a local farmer-preacher was able
to fill the pulpit without pay during those lean times.
In the 1950's, as a reaction to the growing theological liberalism in the
American Baptist movement, Beakleyville formally withdrew from the
association, becoming independent. Unfortunately, sometime during the early
1900's, the church replaced the original Philadelphia Baptist Confession of
Faith with a much briefer, more ecumenical doctrinal statement.
In the 1990's, the church leadership decided it was time for a new building,
which they completed in 1996, just a few hundred yards from the original
building.
In 2003, the leadership of Beakleyville reclaimed their historic Baptist
roots by adopting the
London Baptist Confession of 1689 (very similar to the
Philadelphia Confession), and identifying the church as "Reformed Baptist."
On September 1, 2004, Beakleyville Baptist Church became Grace Covenant
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