Rev. Charles Coverdale is Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Riverhead, NY where he has served for the past 36 years. Formerly he served for 7 years as the Pastor of the historic Pond Creek Baptist Church in Providence Rhode Island.

Rev. Coverdale is the father of 2 children, the grandfather of 8, and the great-grandfather of 3, and resides with his wife, Shirley, in Aquebogue, NY. He is a multi-faceted individual who has made major contributions to the life of his local community as well as having contributed positively on the county, state, national, and international levels.

​Rev. Coverdale was formerly an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Simmons College in Boston and Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts. He also taught at Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusettes. He served as an Adjunct Professor at the American University in Washington D.C. and taught at the Harvard Divinity School Center for the Study of Values in Public Life. The Reverend has also founded 3 non-profit organizations: the Family Community Life Center, the Open Arms Care Center, and FBC Housing Corporation.

Rev. Coverdale is best known in Suffolk County for his pursuit of the vision given to him by God to develop the Family Community Life Center. FCLC is a community-based agency, which through social, educational, recreational, and cultural programs, promotes quality family life and a greater sense of community.

FCLC allows the diverse cultural elements of the community, as well as the disparate socio-economic groups, break down barriers that perpetuate Long Island's status as one of the most segregated suburbs in the country. He is looking to expand the vision for FCLC and build affordable housing to accommodate working families in the community.

Rev. Coverdale serves on numerous boards and committees, representing the community and charitable concerns and causes. Some of the capacities in which he has served include the Commissioner of Human Rights for Suffolk County, President of the Long Island Council of Churches, Protestant Chaplain to the Suffolk County Correctional Facilities, Member of the Suffolk County Martin Luther King Jr., Commission, National Vice President of the Community Reinvestment Network, and as a member of the East End Arts Council, the American Baptist Churches of Metro NY, the National Institute for Community Empowerment, the Organization for a New Equality, the Urban League of Long Island, the Center for Remembrance and Understanding, the Peconic Bay Medical Center, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP Diamond Life Member, and serves as a University Trustee for Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. In 2006, Rev. Coverdale was elected as President of the Long Island Organizing Network. Since October 2008, Rev. Coverdale has served on the Leadership Council of the Harvard Divinity School.