The Covenant

Once a Covenant Discipleship group has formed and the members have agreed on a day and time to meet, the first task is to write a covenant of discipleship. The covenant will serve as the agenda for the weekly meetings. The covenant follows the pattern of the General Rule of Discipleship:

To witness to Jesus Christ in the world and to follow his teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

This will focus the covenant on all the teachings of Jesus rather than on the strengths or preferences of the group members.

The covenant has three essential sections:

  1. A preamble
  2. Clauses covering particular acts of compassion, justice, worship and devotion everyone in the group is willing and able to do.
  3. A conclusion

You will find sample covenants, preambles, clauses, and conclusions here:Samples. Several points about these sample clauses are worth noting. First, while they are arranged according to the categories of the General Rule of Discipleship, not all of them can be clearly defined as acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion. Indeed, in many instances there is considerable overlap and duplication.

This illustrates an important principle of the General Rule of Discipleship, and of Christian discipleship: We should not get caught up in method for its own sake. It is far more important to have clauses that are meaningful and relevant to the Christian life than to have clauses that are neatly classified. When we walk with Christ, we are on a journey with a real person; and while the teachings of Jesus give us important guidelines, our discipleship will always be relational and, therefore, full of surprises.

Another point worth noting is that a number of clauses illustrate ways in which the ongoing accountability of Covenant Discipleship groups deepen the insight and conviction of its members. This is reflected in clauses that become more specific and challenging either in the frequency or by the directness with which the clause identifies particular practices. Some of the examples indicate this development. This is not an expression of over achievement but merely an indication that grace is at work in the lives of the group members as they chew on the solid food of the gospel.

One final word, these examples are included in the hope that they can assist you in writing your covenant. They are certainly not meant as rigid rules for your discipleship or that of you group. Together you must develop your own covenant, which Christ as the model for discipleship; and the Holy Spirit as your guide.


The Preamble

The preamble states the nature and purpose of the covenant. It makes clear the covenant is not a set of rigid regulations but rather a shaping of Christian discipleship in response to God’s grace. The writing of the preamble often raises significant points of faith and practice, so it is important to encourage members to express opinions freely as the preamble is developed.

You may write your own preamble or use one of the samples found here:Samples. If you use one of the sample preambles, feel free to change the wording to fit your context. If you choose to write your own preamble, the process may take several weeks. But it is important to avoid getting caught up in discussions around minor details.

Because writing the preamble is typically the most difficult part of covenant writing, I suggest you write your covenant clauses first. The process of discussing and coming to consensus on the clauses helps the group get to know one another. It is good preparation for the work involved in writing the preamble.


The Clauses

Although there is no hard and fast rule, covenants typically contain eight to ten clauses. Groups should limit themselves to no more than 10 clauses. This will assure that all group members will be able to give their account of each clause within the allotted hour meeting time. A good guideline to follow is to make sure that your covenant fits on one side of one 8½ X 11 inch piece of paper (1" margins, 12 point font).

The clauses reflect the teachings of Jesus Christ as summarized in the General Rule of Discipleship. The most important guiding principle for the group as you write the clauses is to limit them to works of piety (acts of compassion and justice) and works of mercy (acts of worship and devotion) that everyone is willing and able to do and to include as regular practices of each persons’ discipleship.

A helpful principle to keep in mind as you begin to write your clauses is: "Begin where you are, not where you think you should be." A common mistake new groups make is to fill their covenant with acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion they think they should be doing. For example, some members of the group may be of a mind that faithful disciples of Jesus Christ should pray and read the Bible for at least two hours every day, just like John Wesley. However, the likely reality is that daily prayer and Bible reading itself will be a challenge for many in the group. Committing to two hours of prayer and Bible reading every day is likely more than most group members are willing and able to do. They will come to meeting after meeting and admit to their peers that they did not keep that clause. If the covenant has several similar clauses that are beyond the willingness and ability of most of the group members, some will begin to feel guilty, some will feel like failures in discipleship. These disciples will conclude that this Covenant Discipleship process is just too hard and they will quit. To prevent this from happening it’s important to resist the temptation to fill the new covenant with clauses that members are not actually willing and able to incorporate into their practice of discipleship. It’s okay to include in your covenant works of piety and mercy that are already part of your regular practice. The difference now will be that the Covenant Discipleship group will help one another be more dependable disciples.

To return to the illustration of including a clause that says "We will pray and read our Bible two hours each day." A more practical way of reaching the goal of regular daily prayer and Bible reading is a clause like this: "We will pray and read our Bible every day." This wording leaves it up to each person to decide how much time they spend each day in prayer and Bible reading. Begin where you are, not where you think you should be.

The covenant clauses must reflect the balanced discipleship contained in the General Rule of Discipleship. This means the group needs to identify particular acts of compassion, justice, worship and devotion everyone is willing and able to include in their practice of discipleship. It is essential that the covenant is written in a way that helps the group to follow all the teachings of Jesus. Our natural inclination is to emphasize our preferences and strengths and to neglect the teachings of Jesus that may lead to embarrassment or suffering. We’d rather stick to practices that suit our temperament than do things that move us outside our comfort zone. However, when we commit to following Jesus in the world, we need to understand that he will take us to places and to people who will be outside our comfort zone. He does this because when we follow Jesus into places and the company of people who challenge us our hearts become more open to grace and its power to form our character more and more into the character of Jesus. We also need to always remember that Christ goes with us to places like the homeless shelter, hospital, nursing home, jail, soup kitchen, etc., etc. In fact, he is there waiting for us.

Making the commitment to regularly engage in acts of compassion and justice (works of mercy) is the first step to removing the blockage to grace and allowing grace to flow into and through you. It is the first step to becoming the people Jesus describes in Matthew 5:13-16, "salt of the earth" and "light of the world."

Groups are strongly encouraged to place the clauses in their covenant in the same order given by the General Rule of Discipleship. This means that the first clauses will be the acts of compassion; followed by the acts of justice; followed by the acts of worship; followed by the acts of devotion. One reason for this is that all groups have the most difficulty with practicing acts of justice. Their natural unease with this important part of the covenant causes them to deal with it last and place it at the end of the clauses. Scripture makes very clear that justice is central to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is why it is placed near the top of the clauses when the order of the General Rule of Discipleship is followed. Acts of compassion and justice are together because they are closely related to one another. They describe in practical terms what John Wesley called "works of mercy." They are the "holy habits" Christians take on to follow Jesus’ command to "love your neighbor as yourself."

Following the "works of mercy" are the "holy habits" Wesley called "works of piety:" acts of worship and devotion. They are the practices that equip Christians to follow Jesus’ first commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength."

The order is not intended to indicate that any of the practices are more important than the others. Rather, it is a practical reality that "loving your neighbor as yourself" with acts of compassion and acts of justice is much more challenging and difficult than loving God through acts of worship and acts of devotion. Therefore, Covenant Discipleship groups are strongly encouraged to begin their weekly accountability with the more challenging parts of the covenant; the parts that some in the group would just as well skip.


The Conclusion

The covenant conclusion is a short statement reaffirming the nature and purpose of the covenant. It expresses the intent of the group to shape their lives according to the covenant and reaffirms their dependence upon grace. Covenant Discipleship groups are not striving to maintain standards of performance. They are seeking to follow the teachings of Jesus in their daily lives under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The covenant conclusion should be no more than a sentence or two in length. Some groups word it in the form of a prayer that can be used as the closing prayer for the weekly meeting. Here’s an example: Open my eyes to your presence, O God, that I may see the sorrows and joys of your creatures. Open my ears to your will, O God, that I may have the strength to keep this covenant. Open my heart and my hands in mercy, O God, that I may receive mercy when I fail. Amen.

When the group has written its covenant each member is given a copy. All members sign and date the covenant. The completed covenant is then brought to every meeting. Some groups reduce their covenant to a small laminated card, making it convenient to carry in a pocket or wallet.

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