The word covenant is not used much these days. It comes to us from the biblical narrative. We use it in a way that is consistent with that ancient text.

To covenant with someone means to bind oneself to another for unconditional mutual support. The bible tells the story of the covenant making God who has chosen to be bound to the Creation. This means that human beings find the meaning of life in relationship with the divine covenant partner.

Individuals live out this covenant with God in how they live with other people. Jesus taught that love of God can never be separated from love of neighbor. It is in loving ones neighbor (living in faithful covenant with one's neighbor) that we learn what it means to both love God and be loved by God.

Some people think of their lives as something independent of other people. They think that one's life is one's own, that life is somehow self-generated. People work hard to be self-sufficient. They shy away from asking for help because they fear it will look as if they are dependant on others. They may fear looking weak, or perhaps, they may fear that there may be no one there to help them.

When in our mission statement we describe ourselves as a "covenant community" we are confessing that God has created us to live in covenant relationship with God and with our neighbor. We need one another.

For us freedom does not mean the ability to avoid responsibility for other people. For us freedom means having the power to take responsibility for one another. This kind of freedom is a quality of covenant relationship.

We have all grown up in our highly individualistic and fragmented society and we recognize that the challenge of living as a covenant community requires that we must relearn the disciplines and habits of community building. We find insight to come together in the ancient wisdom of the covenant community we read about in Scripture. We find our inspiration in the Holy Spirit (who is God in our midst) who moves among us to empower us to be faithful in our love and support of one another.

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