Purpose:
The purpose of this church covenant is to provide a verbal and visual reminder of a spiritually healthy church membership. A church covenant is a promise – a promise made to God, to a local church, and to one’s self. While our statement of faith is a good summary of what we believe, our church covenant is a summary of how we agree to live – more importantly, it is a summary of how God would have us live.
A church covenant does not include every explicit command regarding obedience, but it does give a general summary of what it means to live as a disciple of Christ. The purpose of a church covenant is to give meaning to the commitments of church membership and is the understanding that church membership involves being held accountable to live in a manner consistent with our common understanding of Scripture.1
Church Covenant:
Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God and divine grace to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and to submit fully to Him, and on the profession of our faith, having submitted to believers baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God, and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into [renew our] covenant with one another, as one body in Christ.
We pledge to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together on a regular basis. We will witness to our faith by remaining active in attendance and fellowship.
We pledge by the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love, to strive for the advancement of this church and God’s kingdom, in knowledge, holiness and comfort; to place the welfare of this local body above our individual rights in priority and practice.
We pledge to promote our church’s prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.
We also pledge to maintain family and personal devotions; to educate our children in the Christian faith; to seek the salvation of our family and friends; to walk carefully in the world; to be honest and just in our dealings, denying ungodliness and lusts, knowing our behavior must reflect the holiness of our Savior and the integrity of this local body; to avoid all gossip and misuse of social media,backbiting, and unrighteous anger; to seek God’s help in not being mastered by any intoxicating substance; or jeopardize our own or another’s faith; and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Savior.
We further pledge to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember each other in prayer; to help each other in sickness and distress; to rejoice in each other’s happiness and endeavor with tenderness and sympathy to bear each other’s burdens and sorrows; to cultivate Christian compassion and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation, remembering the command of our Savior to secure it without delay.
We finally pledge that when we remove from this place we will, as soon as possible, unite with some other church, where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.
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1 Adapted from... https://www.9marks.org/article/membership-matters-what-our-church-covenant/.