A Tradition of Worship
Lower School students gather for Chapel on Mondays and Wednesdays. Monday Chapel includes prayer and discussion, while Wednesday Chapel features singing, Scripture reading, The Lord’s Prayer, and school-wide memory verses led by fifth-grade students. Each week, students explore what it means to live out Covenant’s “Being Third” philosophy. Wednesday Chapel also includes music from the fifth-grade choir and yearly performances by Upper School Band and Choir Ensembles.
Middle School Chapel
Every Wednesday, Middle School students gather for Chapel, a time to worship together, engage with Scripture, and hear from members of the Covenant community. Chapel includes Scripture readings, historic Christian creeds, personal testimonies, and a message from the Chaplain, a teacher, or a member of the community.
Upper School Morning Prayer
The entire Upper School gathers daily for Morning Prayer, a time to orient ourselves toward God and begin our day in prayer. Student chaplains lead a simple liturgy of prayer, song, Scripture, and silence. Through this daily practice, we align our hearts and minds with God’s purposes and remember that all learning and labor are undertaken in dependence upon Him.
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Bryan Verbrugge
Hickory Chaplain
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Read Bryan's Bio
The son of a Navy man, Bryan Verbrugge grew up around the world. He attended Geneva College in western Pennsylvania, studying youth ministry and education, and played college soccer. After starting at The Covenant School in 1996, Bryan took three years off to study theology, earning an M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary before returning to Covenant.
Now, he serves the school as Upper School Chaplain, Theology Department Chairman, and senior Theology teacher. He also coaches the Varsity Boys Soccer team. Bryan and his wife, KC, have four children.
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Abby Remein
Co-Middle School Chaplain
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Read Abby's Bio
A call into college campus ministry brought Abby Remein from her home state of North Carolina to Virginia, where she worked with fraternity and sorority students with Greek InterVarsity at James Madison University after college. She finds that middle schoolers and college students have a lot in common: their curiosity (and fun!) is unmatched as they seek to understand who they are and who God is as they navigate the world around them.
Having grown up in Raleigh, NC, Abby attended a Christian school similar to Covenant and understands the blessings and challenges of being a student in such a community. Since the age of 10, Abby has journeyed deeper into life with the Triune God. Working at Covenant for almost 10 years continues to allow her to share her love for speaking life to God's image bearers as we continue our journey into His Story.
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Jonah Hamilton
Co-Middle School Chaplain
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Read Jonah's Bio
Jonah was born and raised in southern California and moved to Virginia in 2023 after receiving his degree in Theology from Biola University. While in college, he mentored students who led Christian clubs in public schools to encourage them in their faith and help them share the Gospel with their peers. Having grown up a Christian, Jonah’s faith benefited from reading the works of Christians who had gone before. The fiction of C.S. Lewis and Tolkien, the accounts of saints’ lives from ages past, and the theological works of Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Athanasius all provided a model for Christian virtues and answered questions he had about the faith.
Jonah taught History at Regents School of Charlottesville for three years before joining Covenant to teach Middle School Theology. He has attended All Saints’ Anglican Church since 2023 after it quickly became a home away from home for him. He is excited to help students begin to understand their Bibles and the God who made them in his role both as a teacher and co-chaplain with Ms. Remein.
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Matt Johnson
Lower School Chaplain
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Read Matt's Bio
Matt Johnson grew up in a small town in northern Arkansas and enlisted in the Marine Corps out of high school. While serving in the Marine Corps, Matt found a love of teaching as a firearms and close quarters battle instructor. After surrendering his life to Jesus a few months before leaving the Marine Corps, he worked in security for several years before attending PVCC and UVA and later becoming a teacher at The Covenant School.
His greatest joy in life is learning and teaching God’s Word to students and helping others recognize and discover God’s love for them and the plans He has for them, even as children.
