The elders at Grace Church have initiated a Church Covenant. A Covenant might be a new concept to you. Basically, a covenant is an agreement. It is a promise. A church covenant is an agreement that a church member makes to the members of the church.
While church covenants were once a common, they are far less common today. We thought that bringing in a covenant would be beneficial to our membership. Our covenant is a reminder of the things that we promise to do for each other. We would like each member of the church to read and affirm the covenant each year. I don't think that our new covenant makes new requirements for us. Instead, our covenant spells out plainly some of the expectations that any church has and calls us to live up to these standards.
Here is a copy of the covenant that we are proposing for Grace Church of Old Bridge.
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?created&¬e_id=125984020802653&id=115387825183043
I welcome any feedback regarding the wording of the covenant or questions about how the covenant will actually function.
A church covenant is not something that is of God at all. it is of men, my friend, and the early synagogue would have no part of it. Gentile churches started using them out of fear as people looked to other churches and groups to fellowship with. Any church that requires ANYONE to adhere to or sign a "church covenant" is in direct contradiction to God's Word. Allegiance to God only, nothing man - made.
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