Our History
In 2005 Pastor Mervyn Hammond Jr., the senior pastor of Faith Covenant Christian Center (FCCC) in Junction City, Kansas, felt God’s call to relocate to St. Charles County Missouri to establish FCCC-St. Charles. His wife Rose, his parents, his oldest son Michael Sr. (the church’s associate pastor), several family members, and a handful of families in the congregation answered God’s call to go with him to establish the new work.
Pastor Hammond already knew the ministry’s call was to make disciples and develop leaders. However it was apparent that God was using his previous leadership training and experience serving two predominantly white congregations to increase his vision; and to better prepare him to bring people and churches of different cultural and ethnic groups, worship styles, theological views, and traditions together.
Pastor Hammond longed for local congregations and the larger church to embody a “Kingdom” perspective on racial reconciliation that is based upon the finished work of Jesus Christ. He envisioned a separate ministry which would also equip people for Christian leadership in the community and the marketplace; and others for pastoral ministry and church planting. After prayer and consultation with fellow pastors and leaders Faith Covenant Ministries (FCM) was established; with Pastor Mervyn as the Founder and Chief Servant and his son Pastor Michael the co-founder and Deputy Chief Servant.
In addition to writing a book (to be released in the near future) the ministry has been involved in mentoring relationships with other pastors and churches; with various leadership training events, with music ministry endeavors- including writing and recording, as well as community outreach. Faith Covenant Ministries is a member of the St. Charles Community Council, and is active in the Tri-County Continuum of Care.
When Mervyn, now a bishop, passed away in March of 2014. Pastor Michael became the ministry’s new President and Chief Servant. Under his leadership the ministry was formally incorporated and obtained its 501 (c) (3) status.
Our Founder
The Reverend Bishop Mervyn Hammond Jr. graduated from Junction City High School and accepted his call to ministry at the age of 18. Mervyn received a ministerial license to preach at Second Missionary Baptist Church and was active in music ministry through singing, playing piano and organ and directing various choirs. He married his wife Rose in 1974 and they were blessed with nine children. He graduated from Kansas State University in 1988 with a Bachelors of Arts in Secondary Education with an emphasis in social studies. He taught History and Economics at Northwest High School (Wichita, KS) and Junction City High School (Junction City, KS) from 1988 to 1996. Mervyn continued serving in various pastoral and music ministry positions during this time and was ordained in the Church of God (Anderson, IN) while serving as associate pastor at Pawnee Avenue Church of God in Wichita, KS.
In 1994 he accepted the call to become the Senior Pastor at the First Church of God (which later became Faith Covenant Christian Center) in Junction City, KS, and served this congregation for ten years. Mervyn also served as Vice Chairman of the Interstate Association of the Church of God made up of churches in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and the Oklahoma panhandles.
In 2005 Mervyn relocated to St. Charles, Missouri to plant Faith Covenant Christian Center- St. Charles, MO as well as Faith Covenant Ministries. These moves would establish ministries separate from his Church of God (Anderson) roots.
Pastor Hammond’s call to apostolic ministry was recognized by Archbishop Dr. Will Boyd, PhD; the founder and metropolitan Archbishop of Zion Ministries International. Though Faith Covenant Ministries would remain autonomous, Dr. Boyd consecrated Pastor Mervyn to serve in Zion Ministries and to become part of the ministry’s Council of Bishops.
In October of 2010, his eldest son (Michael) succeeded him as Senior Pastor of Faith Covenant Christian Center, as he responded to God’s call to a larger mission field. Until his death, Bishop Mervyn served as Founder & Overseer of Faith Covenant Ministries and as the Chief Advisor to the Metropolitan Archbishop of Zion Ministries International.
Our President & Chief Servant
Rev. Michael Hammond, Sr. is the oldest of his 9 siblings. He has been preaching since 1997; was ordained in the Church of God (Anderson, IN) in 2001, and took his first pastoral ministry position in 2002. He served alongside his father, the late Bishop Mervyn Hammond Jr., first as youth pastor and then as associate pastor of Faith Covenant Christian Center in Junction City, Kansas. Michael continued serving with his father, relocating in 2005 to plant Faith Covenant Christian Center- St. Charles, Missouri. He became the acting senior pastor of Faith Covenant- St. Charles in 2010 and was officially installed as senior pastor in 2011. He co-founded Faith Covenant Ministries with his father and became the ministry’s president and chief servant following his father’s death in 2014.
Michael is passionate about Kingdom leadership and equipping leaders in the Body of Christ. His desire is to see people become disciples and mature leaders who lead well in their families, in congregations, in the marketplace and in their communities; and who produce other leaders.
Pastor Michael studied at Kansas State University before completing his bachelor’s degree at Mid-America Christian University. He went on to do Masters work studying ministry, theology and leadership at Asbury Theological Seminary. He served nearly 6 years as the Family Self-Sufficiency Coordinator for one of the Section 8 Housing authorities in St. Charles County. He has also served on St. Charles County’s Workforce Investment Board and the Workforce’s Youth Council. Pastor Michael is a member of the Tri-County (St. Charles, Lincoln & Warren) Continuum of Care. For two years he served as chairman of the Continuum’s Emergency Weather Response Committee, leading the team that works with churches and facilitates the opening of Warming Centers for those experiencing homelessness during the winter.
Michael and his wife Tara were married in 2000, have five children and are advocates of homeschooling.
Our Board of Directors
President: Pastor Michael Hammond Sr.
Chief Servant, Faith Covenant Ministries
Founding Board Secretary: Rev. Dr. Donald Moore
Counseling Support Manager for Responsive Ed
http://responsiveed.com/
Founding Board Treasurer: Ms. Jessica Hammond
Accounts Payable & Patient Trusts Bookkeeper at NHC Healthcare
http://nhccare.com/
Board Member: Rev. Adam Robidou
Lead Pastor, Hope Community Church
http://hopecommchurch.com/
Board Member: Rev. Eric Malone
Senior Pastor, New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church
http://njmbcsalina.com/
Founding Board Member: Rev. Dr. Stan Rone
Senior Pastor, The Worship Center
http://twc24.org/
Founding Board Member Emeritus: (The Late) Rev. Kit Tabor
Founding Pastor, New Life Covenant Church
http://newlifecovenant.org/