Bob Henderson
Senior Minister, Head of Staff
Bob's ministry has focused on the centrality of worship, on pastoral care, and on vibrant mission programs.
He is interested in creating and leading dynamic worship that is faithful to Reformed Theology. "With the dawn of the new millennium, the church stands at a critical juncture in her history,” Bob says. “Certainly I believe the problems plaguing our world - economic disparity, racial injustice, oppression, the list goes on - find their only true hope in the gospel. Yet in our pluralistic world of competing claims, we have the unique opportunity to convey the particularity of the Christian message through language and symbols that bridge the gap between the sacred and the secular.”
Bob came to Covenant from Westminster Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, N.C., where he served as senior pastor 1993 to 2008. Prior to Westminster, Bob was associate pastor of the Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Stone Mountain, Ga., from 1988-1993. Bob's family moved to Winston-Salem when he was 12 years old, and he graduated from Reynolds High School in 1980. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in economics and religion from Furman University, he received his Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and was ordained March 12, 1989. In 1996, he was awarded his Doctor of Ministry degree from Columbia Theological Seminary.
Bob loves to see people grow in their personal faith. He has witnessed this particularly on mission trips and in local mission programs. Bob has participated in three trips to Kenya, including one with his family as part of a sabbatical in 2005. In addition, Bob has organized mission teams to Haiti, Mexico, and Appalachia, and his congregation initiated an innovative partnership with an underprivileged neighborhood in Greensboro. "An active, hands-on passion for mission proceeds from both vibrant worship and deliberate cultivation of the spiritual life,” he says. “Activities and assets that tangibly extend the love of God to our needy world lend a concrete expression to the liberating gospel of Jesus Christ.”
He is interested in creating and leading dynamic worship that is faithful to Reformed Theology. "With the dawn of the new millennium, the church stands at a critical juncture in her history,” Bob says. “Certainly I believe the problems plaguing our world - economic disparity, racial injustice, oppression, the list goes on - find their only true hope in the gospel. Yet in our pluralistic world of competing claims, we have the unique opportunity to convey the particularity of the Christian message through language and symbols that bridge the gap between the sacred and the secular.”
Bob came to Covenant from Westminster Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, N.C., where he served as senior pastor 1993 to 2008. Prior to Westminster, Bob was associate pastor of the Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Stone Mountain, Ga., from 1988-1993. Bob's family moved to Winston-Salem when he was 12 years old, and he graduated from Reynolds High School in 1980. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in economics and religion from Furman University, he received his Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and was ordained March 12, 1989. In 1996, he was awarded his Doctor of Ministry degree from Columbia Theological Seminary.
Bob loves to see people grow in their personal faith. He has witnessed this particularly on mission trips and in local mission programs. Bob has participated in three trips to Kenya, including one with his family as part of a sabbatical in 2005. In addition, Bob has organized mission teams to Haiti, Mexico, and Appalachia, and his congregation initiated an innovative partnership with an underprivileged neighborhood in Greensboro. "An active, hands-on passion for mission proceeds from both vibrant worship and deliberate cultivation of the spiritual life,” he says. “Activities and assets that tangibly extend the love of God to our needy world lend a concrete expression to the liberating gospel of Jesus Christ.”
- Bob explains what makes a Presbyterian church a Presbyterian church.
- He identifies the core principles of Presbyterianism, including the priesthood of all believers, that God alone is lord of the conscious, and faith in public life.
- He answers what it means to be a confessional church.
- He discusses whether and how minority views are protected and honored in the Presbyterian church.