Covenant Life Church — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Kenneth A. "Ken" Aldrich (Senior Pastor, since 2011); Scott Mawhinney (Pastor of Discipleship and Mission, since 2006); Bob Dillard (Pastor)

Founded 1982

Denomination PCA

Service Times See website for current Sunday service times

Men's Ministry Yes

Kids Ministry Yes

Website covenantlifepca.com

Pastor Credentials Aldrich: PCA TE Suncoast Florida Presbytery (verified 01/23/25). Mawhinney: MDiv Reformed Theological Seminary (2001-2004); BA English/Secondary Education Dordt University; Professional Christian Coach certification; previously Life on Life Ministry Partner Development at Perimeter Church (Aug 2015-).

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)

PCA subscribes to Westminster Confession — Trinitarian Nicene orthodoxy.

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Westminster Confession Chapter 1 — inerrancy and sole authority of Scripture.

Strong

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Aldrich's bio notes 'discipling men thirsty for spiritual growth' as a personal priority.

Strong

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Westminster sola fide; Reformed soteriology.

Strong

Gender / Biblical Design

Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?

PCA requires male-only ordination per Westminster Standards and BCO; complementarian.

PCA complementarian — male teaching/ruling elders per Westminster Standards + Book of Church Order.

Strong

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Male teaching/ruling elders per PCA polity.

Strong

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Reformed expository preaching is PCA norm; Aldrich teaches Old Testament prophetic books.

Strong

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Sarasota-area PCA witness; Suncoast Florida Presbytery.

Strong

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

RED — current senior pastor and pastor of discipleship signed the 2020 Warhurst Protest (Kenneth Aldrich and Scott Mawhinney per warhornmedia.com PCA hall of infamy list). Both remain on staff as of 2026-05-07. Two-signer alignment within a single congregation is a stronger discernment signal than a single-pastor flag. Watch-item.

Caution

Accountability Structure

Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?

PCA polity provides session/presbytery/GA accountability.

Strong

Assessment

Covenant Life Church Sarasota is a confessional PCA congregation organized in 1982 within Suncoast Florida Presbytery. Senior Pastor Ken Aldrich (since 2011) and Pastor of Discipleship Scott Mawhinney (since 2006) both signed the 2020 Warhurst Protest. Two-signer alignment within the same congregation is a stronger discernment signal than a single-pastor flag. Doctrinal scores green per Westminster Confession; cultural score yellow as discernment flag.

#pca#warhurst-signer#needs-discernment#soft-progressive-flag#fl#florida#sarasota#suncoast-florida-presbytery#reformed#two-signer-congregation#reviewed-2026-05-07#complementarian

MOOP Engagement Tracker

How this church was personally verified by the MOOP directory team:

✓ Researched church website

Pastor Signatures & Affiliations [Soft-progressive signatures]

Public statement signatures and organizational affiliations of this church's named pastors. "People is policy" — these are evidence-weighted signals about doctrinal trajectory, not the sole determinant of any rating.

Warhurst Protest (2020)

Kenneth Aldrich, Scott Mawhinney

Source: warhornmedia.com — hover for details

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Both Kenneth Aldrich and Scott Mawhinney named on the December 2020 Warhurst Protest signer list; both remain on staff at Covenant Life Church Sarasota as of 2026-05-07. Aldrich is Senior Pastor (since 2011); Mawhinney is Pastor of Discipleship and Mission (since 2006). The Warhurst signer roster lists Aldrich under 'Covenant Life Church' and Mawhinney under 'Covenant Life Presbyterian Church' — same congregation, name variant. [2026-05-19] Phase 5b auto-merge: absorbed 1 dupe record (covenant-life-pca-sarasota-fl). Group key: "covenant life church @ 8490 mcintosh rd, sarasota, fl 34238".

These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.

[1] Live source covenantlifepca.com
[2] Live source covenantlifepca.com/our-team/
[3] Live source naparcsearch.com/pca/suncoast-florida
[4] Live source suncoastfl.org/churches.html
[5] Live source pcahistory.org/pca/succession/Florida.pdf
[6] Live source warhornmedia.com/2020/12/23/pca-hall-of-infamy-pastors-el…

Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.