Covenant Community
A Covenant of Selfless Humility
We covenant to live in humility with one another realizing that our “attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus who . . . made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.” In humility, we acknowledge our own personal shortcomings as we follow God’s direction for the future of our church, whatever that may be. We covenant to consider what is best for our church as a whole as we seek to glorify God, not what may be best for us individually or for some small group in the church. In selflessness, we are willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of the Gospel (Philippians 2:5 – 11; Romans 7:14 – 19; 1 Corinthians 9:19 – 23).
A Covenant of Gracious Respect
We covenant to value each other as gifted by God and members of the Body of Christ. We will work to live in respectful relationship with one another, to clothe ourselves with the compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience that flow out of the abiding life in Christ. We covenant to offer our ideas and opinions with love, grace, and humility, letting our “conversations always be full of grace seasoned with salt”.
We covenant to only speak words both privately and publicly which build each other up and not tear each other down (1 Corinthians 12:12 – 23; Colossians 3:12; Ephesians 4:29).
A Covenant of Active Listening
We covenant to listen with an open mind to the constructive opinions, ideas, and concerns of others and respond with thoughtfulness and sensitivity recognizing that Christ has commanded each of us to be “quick to hear and slow to speak” (James 1:19)
A Covenant of Reconciliation & Grace
We accept disagreement, conflict, and evaluation as normal and natural. We covenant to deal with difficult issues in a gentle and loving way. Whenever any of us has a disagreement with or criticism of another, we will always go first to that person and communicate directly with them before involving others remembering the words of Christ who commanded us“to go and first be reconciled to your brother.” We will direct others to do the same. We covenant to extend the grace of God to one another, to acknowledge when we have done wrong, to seek forgiveness, and to “forgive each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven us.” (Matthew 5:23 – 24; Matthew 18:15 – 17; Ephesians 4:32)
A Covenant of Honor
We covenant to respect and honor those in leadership recognizing that Christ, as the Chief Shepherd, has committed to those in leadership the responsibility to shepherd the flock of God, exercising oversight; not lording it over those allotted to their charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. (1 Peter 5:1 – 3; Hebrews 13:17)