Founded in 1916 in uptown Charlotte as First Reformed Church, Holy Covenant is a member of the United Church of Christ (UCC) — one of the United States’ traditional Protestant denominations born of the merger of four historic American communities of faith. In fact, we trace our heritage in the US as far back as the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock. These Congregationalists, and the many people who followed them, sought the liberty to believe and worship God as their conscience dictated. Several hundred years later, the UCC continues to believe that God is still speaking to God’s people — and we continue to build on our tradition of being The First to celebrate and honor the gifts of all of God’s people: women, people of color, LGBTQ and more.
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Rev. Cheri Dennis
Interim Pastor
Cheri earned her Master of Divinity at Union Presbyterian Seminary – Charlotte in April, 2019. Prior to becoming a pastor, she spent 33 years in the accounting field, retiring from Paul Simon Co., a retail clothing store in Charlotte, in 2017. She has many years of experience as a volunteer for and with the church including singing in the choir, playing handbells, piano and guitar, serving as a lay minister, worship leader, Sunday School teacher and Stephen Minister. She continues to serve as a short-term mission team leader with MOST Ministries. In the community, she has been active with Habitat for Humanity and Mecklenburg Ministries. She is currently a member of Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice and a volunteer chaplain for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department.
She and her husband Keith have been married for 47 years. They have two children and four grandchildren, son Nathan & wife Lindsay, grandchildren Adrianne and Evan, and daughter Mary, and grandchildren Troy and Ava.
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Mr. Jon Weddell
Minister of Music
Ms. Dawn Simmons
Executive Assistant
The support staff and “keeper of all things necessary, unnecessary, and questionable”, Dawn has served Holy Covenant since 2009. Dawn earned a BSB in Finance from University of Phoenix, and is multi-talented in organizing church financial resources, coordinating vendors and schedules, creating outgoing communications on various media, and overall managing church administrative activities. She’s helpful with dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s as a final step in many church projects and processes. To members, she is willing to “be the bridge” to keep people connected and to get them where they need to go. Dawn is often the first point of contact for people who are new to the church, and is an advocate and champion of both the UCC and Holy Covenant’s mission for equality and inclusion.
Dawn has a soft spot in her heart for animals of all kind, loves to garden and has taken an interest in supporting pollinators of various types. She’s committed to recycling and repurposing everything she can, and connects people and things with those in need within our community. Her husband Jimmy and son Kyle will vouch for that!