A Reconciling Church on Belt Line Road
New Covenant United Methodist Church sits along North Belt Line Road in Sunnyvale, Texas, a small town east of Dallas surrounded by Mesquite, Garland, Balch Springs, and other communities the congregation has long called its own. The single-story campus, with a sanctuary, fellowship hall, education building, nursery, children's room, youth room, art room, media room, and playground, hosts a congregation that describes itself with uncommon clarity in a formal statement voted and posted by the church.
"We the community of New Covenant United Methodist Church, as a reconciling church that shares God through love and service, extend a special welcome to all people," the statement begins. It goes on to declare the church "open, loving, and affirming to each and every person regardless of race, culture, age, gender, gender-identity, marital status, sexual orientation, ability or socioeconomic status," and to add: "Because God's love in Jesus Christ has broken down the walls that divide us, we seek to love in a way that unites us." Acknowledging that "throughout the church's history there has been discrimination and exclusivity," the congregation says it values "progressive theological teaching, discourse and compelling worship" and wants to be a church "that strives to be different."
Within The United Methodist Church's North Texas Conference, New Covenant is one of the congregations that has formally identified as reconciling, a posture that shapes not only how the church welcomes visitors but the way its pastor frames the gospel. The church's motto comes straight from Matthew 22:37: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." Everything visitors will encounter (the worship service, the children's programs, the food pantry housed in the building, the pumpkin patch each fall) ties back to that center.
Sunday Mornings in Sunnyvale
A typical Sunday at New Covenant UMC begins at 8:15 a.m., when members of the Covenant Chorus gather in the sanctuary for choir rehearsal. Sarah Reed, who has directed church choirs for twenty-nine years, leads the rehearsal and stays through the morning service, where she also directs the Praise Team and a handbell choir that performs seasonally. By 9:30 a.m. the congregation settles in for the in-person and online worship service, one service broadcast both in the room and on Facebook Live so that members who cannot be present can still worship with the church. Cathy Wheeler, the pianist since 2001, plays for both the traditional and contemporary expressions of the service, with Sydney Barber supporting from a second piano or accompanying soloists.
After the service ends, the building stays busy. At 10:45 a.m. Sunday School opens for every age. Children in kindergarten through fifth grade meet in room 2; sixth through eighth graders head upstairs to the Education Building; ninth and tenth graders gather in room 7. Two adult options meet at the same hour. The Modern Day Bible Study Class, led by Jeff Browning and Marcia Matus, works through scripture together. The Christian Believer Class, a parallel small-group study rooted in classic Christian teaching, runs in a separate classroom. Childcare is provided during both the 9:30 service and the 10:45 Sunday School hour, so parents with younger children can move between the two without juggling little ones.
Visitors who prefer to plan ahead can settle into the schedule knowing that everything wraps up by late morning and that the same single worship service serves both those who attend in person and those joining from home. Services are also archived to YouTube, and a weekly written message from the pastor extends the teaching beyond Sunday morning.
Pastor Penny Mitchell's Welcome
Senior Pastor Penny Mitchell arrived at New Covenant UMC on July 1, 2023, after two other senior pastorates in the North Texas Conference. She has served as a full-time United Methodist pastor since 2011, was ordained an elder in 2014, and graduated from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University with a Master of Divinity in 2010. Before answering the call to ministry she spent twenty years teaching early childhood and elementary students in private and public schools, an experience she says sharpened her gifts for preaching, pastoral care, and missions.
Mitchell grew up in Houston and has lived in North Texas for thirty-five years. In her free time she takes walks, spends time with her dog Bentley, reads, paints watercolors, draws, does puzzles, and heads to the beach. The scripture that has shaped her ministry is Jeremiah 29:11-12: "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you." She frames her role as proclaiming "the Gospel of God's inclusive love for all people" and planting "seeds of hope that God can use to transform lives."
First-time guests can meet her on Sunday. Prayer requests, too, can be submitted confidentially through the church's online form, and the staff says every request will be kept confidential unless a visitor asks for it to be shared publicly.
The Covenant Chorus and Two Pianists
Music is woven through nearly every gathering at New Covenant. Sarah Reed has been the Director of Music Ministries for more than twenty years and also serves the church in its front office. Her earliest solo, she remembers, was "Away in a Manger" in a third-grade Christmas program; she went on to study voice and music education at SMU, direct church choirs for nearly three decades, and teach elementary music for fifteen years. She leads the non-traditional service choir, directs the Covenant Chorus, and rehearses and conducts the handbell choir for seasonal presentations such as Easter and Christmas. A Longview native and Pine Tree High School graduate, Sarah has been married to Mike for more than forty years and has three grown children and five grandchildren.
Cathy Wheeler has shared the piano bench at New Covenant since 2001, when she and her husband moved to Sunnyvale. She plays for both the traditional and contemporary services and brings a steady, generational memory of the congregation; her own children grew up in the Sunnyvale community. Sydney Barber joined as a second pianist. Trained at the University of North Texas as both pianist and vocal pedagogue, Sydney has worked across the Dallas-Fort Worth area as music director, accompanist, conductor, and arranger, and he also composes and publishes piano and vocal arrangements. Together the three form the musical backbone of New Covenant's worship, a blend of traditional hymns and contemporary songs, supported by choir, handbells, and a praise team. The Covenant Chorus welcomes new members.
Children, Youth, and the Pumpkin Patch
Sunday School for children and youth runs at 10:45 a.m. on Sundays, with childcare provided during the 9:30 worship service. Angie Kelly coordinates the children's ministry, and Cindy and Dale Wolfe lead the youth program, which extends beyond Sunday morning into Wednesday evenings. J.A.M. (Jesus And Me) meets from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesdays for students who want a midweek gathering with fellowship, games, and teaching. Sunday School is open to all ages, including adults, and the building's upstairs rooms hold separate classes for older youth while younger children meet downstairs.
Each fall the church's Pumpkin Patch fundraiser turns the grounds into a community hub. Now in its sixth year, the patch has become a tradition that returns each autumn with pumpkins, pecans, and fall photos. Visitors can stop in Mondays through Fridays from 1:00 to 7:00 p.m., Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., or Sundays from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m., and the patch stays open daily through Halloween. Money raised supports the church's youth, children, music, worship, and mission work. Partner organizations the Pumpkin Patch highlights include Project Transformation, AIDS Dallas, and Sharing Life Outreach. What began as a fundraiser has become, in the church's own words, "a community outreach." Families return year after year for free fall photos, and the patch tags each one on Facebook with the hashtag #ncumcpp.
Adult Classes and a Thursday Game Table
Beyond Sunday School, several adult small groups give members ways to learn, serve, and enjoy one another's company throughout the week. The Modern Day Bible Study Class meets Sundays from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. under Jeff Browning and Marcia Matus. The Christian Believer Class gathers in the same Sunday-morning slot, focused on a study of the doctrinal heritage of the Christian faith that has long been a staple of Methodist small-group life. On Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m., the Christian Believer Study meets to go deeper into the same material.
On Monday mornings at 10:00 a.m., the Yarnbirds gather to crochet and knit handmade items that are donated to shelters in the area. Every third Thursday, the Sew What's friendship quilt group assembles a quilt to be given away. A long-running fellowship group plays cards and dominoes on Thursday afternoons (Mexican Train, Five Crowns, and whatever else the table can learn), meeting for lunch first in the Mesquite area before settling in to play. From four to twelve people show up depending on the week, and the group is open even to non-members looking for friends.
Periodic Game Days, fellowship meals, and other group activities round out a calendar that treats connection as an essential part of discipleship. Adult ministries are coordinated through the church, and members can plug in at whatever pace fits their week.
Breakfasts at Austin Street, Quilts for Shelters
New Covenant UMC is known for the way its faith spills out into surrounding cities. The church prepares and serves breakfast quarterly at the Austin Street Shelter in downtown Dallas in coordination with St. Stephen UMC; volunteers serve an average of four hundred adults each time and often collect and donate clothing alongside the meal. The church's adult Sunday School classes rotate cooking a homemade meal for the residents of Ewing House, an AIDS residence housing approximately thirty to thirty-five people, on the third Wednesday of each month, and then stay to share the meal and visit.
Volunteers also help intake donated goods at Sharing Life, a Mesquite-area community outreach program. The Sew What's quilters and the Yarnbirds knitters and crocheters keep a steady supply of handmade quilts and other items flowing to local shelters. The church building itself houses the local food pantry, and its facilities are open at little or no cost to non-church community groups for meetings and programs, which the church counts as part of its stewardship, alongside maintaining a space where any marriage can be celebrated, regardless of the couple's background. Sanctuary use for weddings requires both Trustees and Pastor approval, with separate wedding and funeral policies on file.
These ministries are funded in part by the Pumpkin Patch fundraiser and sustained by regular tithes and offerings. Donations can be given online through the church's secure giving portal, by mail to the Sunnyvale address, or by phone at (972) 226-1092 with a credit card. New Covenant UMC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization as a recognized congregation of The United Methodist Church.
Visiting New Covenant UMC
New Covenant UMC is at 3032 North Belt Line Road in Sunnyvale, Texas 75182. The church's simple, warm welcome begins before visitors even step inside: the "Come as you are" approach runs throughout the congregation. On any given Sunday, members may wear their Sunday best or shorts and a T-shirt. No one will be asked to stand up, introduce themselves, or be singled out as a guest. Children are welcome in the worship service, and the sound of a crying baby is treated as a sign of a growing congregation.
Anyone curious about the Christian faith, returning to church after time away, or simply looking for a friendly place to explore can drop in on a Sunday morning. The worship service begins at 9:30 a.m. and is followed by Sunday School at 10:45 a.m. For those who cannot attend in person, services are livestreamed on Facebook. The Church Center app lets members keep up with the calendar, give online, and check in on Sundays. A prayer request form and an Ask the Pastor feature extend the same welcome throughout the week.
Anyone who would like a place to serve, to sing, to study, or simply to belong will find one waiting at New Covenant United Methodist Church.