Hey there!  We are so glad that you are exploring and learning about this amazing church in the Indian Orchard Neighborhood of Springfield, MA. 

Orchard Covenant believes in relationship over rules,  we believe in community and compassion,  and we believe in Jesus! 

If you are looking for a church home,  we hope that you might find it here.

If you don’t know what you are looking for, that is ok too!  We are a place that can handle the mess of real people. 

Whatever you are searching for, we would love to be part of journey.  You can watch us online,  you connect with us via email and phone,  or you can join us on Sunday Morning or at one of our events on the calendar page.  

We hope to hear from you soon!

Rev. Tamara Ravelo

Pastor / Orchard Covenant Church

Tamara F. Ravelo’s roots are the Quechan Indigenous Nation (pronounced Kwuh-tsan), where she proudly represents her Indigenous culture. Tamara’s grandmother, whose English name was Denise Dugan, and who was also an Indigenous boarding school survivor bears great influence on Tamara’s life and ministry today. Denise, a praying woman, and a gifted seer in the land, first introduced Tamara to the medicine wheel when they were sitting together on the corner wall of Pipa Market located on their reservation. From this long-held curiosity around medicine with her grandmother, Tamara would go on to learn the medicine for the soul. The kind of medicine that would come through preaching, teaching, and Indigenous ceremonial healing practices that have the power to transform those who experience it.

Making full proof of her ministry and professional life, Tamara has an earned master’s in business (MBA), is a Yale University MDiv graduate where she was bestowed the Charles S. Mersick award, a prize for effective public address, especially in preaching. She acquired her accredited diploma for congregational ministry from Andover-Newton Theological Seminary and is a current PhD student at NAITTS an Indigenous Learning Community. Then, through the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) ordaining ecclesiastical body, she is endorsed for public ministry. As of June 2025, Tamara will be the first Indigenous woman ordained in the ECC in its 140-year existence making history.  If you didn’t know, Tamara loves prayer and creating spaces for others to heal; however, that healing may come.

In her other life, she is a business administration guru and communications strategenious, specializing in marketing, branding, graphic design, web, publications, and other forms of media. Tamara doesn’t do it alone; she is wonderfully loved and supported by her husband, the esquire Pastor Michael Ravelo, her daughter Stephanie, plus her two grand-dogs, Koa and Louie.