Janet and Wyatt Davis, who are in their second year as co-directors, typify the diversity of the class. He grew up Baptist, and she had been a member of the Church of Christ and the Presbyterian church.

Only a third or so of the class, which averages 35 on Sundays, grew up Baptist, and some come from no church backgrounds.

The Davises joined the class after it was suggested in the Welcome Center. “They took us to it, and we joined,” she said. “We didn’t shop around; we just landed.”

Mark and Geri McKenzie, who have been members of Covenant Class about five years, joined because they felt an affinity with its class members. “Many of them are couples we’ve known since we first joined the church in 1992,” he said.

Charles Yarbrough is lead teacher. His wife, Judy, who is a doctoral student in theology, provides research at the beginning of each unit and occasionally teaches. Yarbrough likes a balance of lecture and discussion, personalizing the message through small groups. The class uses the Smith & Helwys Uniform Series.

“The class is open to new ways of doing things, such as small prayer groups,” Mark McKenzie said. And once a quarter, members give a personal testimony or lead the class in some other way. One presentation featured the Davises, with her singing and him playing guitar.

Another Sunday the class’s prayer leader, Raylan Loggins, who had become interested in John Coltrane’s music, introduced the class to “A Love Supreme,” a suite of four songs composed by Coltrane.

“It was a culmination of his Christian experience after his heroin addiction,” explained Loggins, who played a recording of the instrumental jazz suite and gave a dramatic reading of the poem Coltrane wrote to accompany it.

Covenant Class, which mainly draws couple in their 30s, also creates a feeling of a faith family.

“People have commented about how the class is very comfortable and open about mentioning their problems during prayer time,” Janet Davis said. “We feel safe about sharing. People are not trying to glean information but are genuinely trying to help each other.”

“Bible study is important, and fellowship is just as important,” Wyatt Davis added. The class has quarterly dinners at four restaurants, with the groups chosen by a drawing. Then everyone gathers at someone’s home for dessert.

Members enjoy occasional game nights in Fellowship Hall, a Christmas party, a girls’ night out and a guys’ night out, and dinner after church once every month or two.

The class especially enjoys missions projects that their children can participate in. For example, they built bookshelves for Avance, a non-profit organization, and did a painting project at the Wilkinson Center.

Loggins and his wife, Melody, helped form the class in 1997 with 12 couples from a class that had outgrown its room. “The class has grown beyond our wildest expectations,” he said.

“We have talented people and people who care about each other, but at the bottom of it all, it’s been a tremendous triumph of the Holy Spirit at work.”