Excerpts from the work of local historians.
The Covert Baptist Church enjoys a rich heritage, a history of God's blessing and faithfulness, and a hopeful future for ministry in the Finger Lakes region. The story of Covert Baptist truly is a testament to the faithfulness and grace of God for over 200 years. We recognize the hand of God has been greatly felt upon the ministry at Covert Baptist and we desire that we might remain "a vessel meet for the master's use" (II Tim. 2:21). We do not boast of our own works, but magnify God for the glorious works He has done in our midst over the last two centuries of grace.
"The Covert Baptist Church was constituted February 16, 1803 being known at first as
the Baptist Church of Ovid and Hector." This was the first Baptist church in the County and it was
originally located at the Thomas' settlement, three miles north of Trumansburg. There were twenty-eight
constituent members. Minor Thomas was called and ordained as their first pastor. "During his pastorate,
the old church at Covert was often filled in summer while a congregation of several hundred gathered
about the open doors and windows outside the church." On March 9, 1805, the name of the church was
changed to the Second Baptist church of Ovid. "As the sparsely settled area grew, additional meeting
places were needed. In 1809,
meetings were held one half of the time at the home church in Thomas' settlement, one fourth of the time
at Samuel Hanley's in hector and one fourth of the time at Peach Orchard or other stations. The words
'Mother Church of Seneca Baptist Association' on a NYS Historical Marker near the Old Baptist Church,
hint at the effectiveness of the Baptist movement at the time and Minor Thomas' important contributions."
The following is their first Confession of Faith and Covenant:
"We, a number of Baptist brethren in the towns of Ovid and Hector-holding the Doctrine of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Eternal and Personal Election to holiness here, and Eternal Life hereafter-the total depravity of all mankind by Adam's Transgression-Redemption by the Blood of Christ, and free justefycation by his imputed Righteousness, Efficacious and Irresistable Grace in Regeneration-final perseverance of saints in Grace-Water Baptism by Immersion on a Profession of Repentance toward God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ-and the Punishment of the wicked in as unlimited a sense as the happiness of the Righteous. Do in the Sperit of the Gosple Covenant to walk together henceforth in Christian Union-in the bond and fellowship of the Gosple-Covenanting with each other that in all things, as far as the Holy Sperit makes plain and enables us, we will walk according to the Blessed word of God the holy Scriptures, both in faith and practice-in watching and prayer-in public and private worship, and in the order and Discipline of the Church, in taking care of the poor, and in maintaining of the Ministry, and in every other thing that shall appear to be duty. Praying the Lord to Guide us by Unerring Wisdom-protect us by Almighty power, and preserve us by Sovreign Grace, to whome by Glory, Amen."
"By 1818, when Minor Thomas and many of his church families moved to Fayette County, Indiana, new Baptist churches had been established in Bennettsburg, Ulysses, Mecklenburg, Enfield, and three in Hector. Additional churches were formed in Trumansburg and Farmer (now called Interlaken) in 1819, Peach Orchard and another in Ulysses in 1820, Rushford (Allegheny County), and Lodi in 1821, twelve in all."
In 1821, the church united with the Seneca Baptist Association. The church today has declared itself independent.
"The church has lost many of its most faithful members by death, and has been weakened by the removal of others, but there are Workers and Queens in the old hive yet, and although the season for swarming my be over, the Master will find faithful laborers in the church in Covert, and with honey out of the rock will he satisfy them…There [is] honey in the old hive yet, and the workers [have] not all departed."
Visit the Interlaken Historical Society's Covert Baptist Church Web Site