Church Covenants

I have been to several smaller Southern Baptist Churches in several states, ranging from Georgia to Missouri.  They all have a “church covenant” on the wall of their sanctuaries.  The larger churches do not.  Someone in our church requested that a copy of the Church Covenant be provided to all members of our church, here in Bakersfield, MO.  We, too, have a copy on the wall of our sanctuary.  In trying to reduce that to a letter-sized document, I went to the Internet to cut and paste a copy into MS Word.  When I found it, it was on the Baptist Board website which included a discussion regarding the use of Church Covenants today and historically.  Some are for it, and some are against it.  No surprise there.  It’s just that I am a pastor, and as such, thought I might share my thoughts on this topic, As I See It.

As I See It, Church Covenants are not used or emphasized much, even if they are posted on our walls.  We live in a society that does not like to be bound by rules – or cooperate according to rules.  We are increasingly independent.  Unfortunately, we are growing more independent of the Scriptures every day.  The fact that Church Covenants have fallen into disuse might indicate some of the problems we are having in our churches today.  For instance, many people choose churches and change churches all the time.  But they do not make “joining” a practice whereby when they move, they communicate to the new church that they were a member of the old church.  The practice of sending a “letter” indicating the characterization of membership between churches is declining as well.

I, for one, believe that Church Covenants are terrific for new believers just joining the church.  Here, in a single document, lies the basic practices of a believer.  This single summary gives a great outline of expected behavior without the need for deep Bible Study—that can come later.  It is a great way to jumpstart the re-churched as well as the unchurched, too.  The problem we face, however, lies in keeping the covenant up-to-date.  The ones we use are extremely antiquated in linguistic style as well as expectations.  Some of these expectations are above and beyond the Biblical mandates as well, and so easily reflect the legalism of churches a couple of generations ago. Nevertheless, teaching a young believer to give regularly to the church for the reasons stated is something I struggle to discuss, lest I appear to be “in it for the money” – but the money is still needed, and the blessing of giving is still Scriptural, as is the requirement.  This gives me a natural way to open the topic. 

There are other reasons why the covenant is a good thing.  However, it is a spring board for membership; it is NOT a replacement for genuine faith and personal/group Bible Study.

That’s it for Church Covenants As I See It. 

I value your opinions and comments.  Please post here or on Facebook.  Would love to hear from you on this matter.

 

Holler for Jesus,

Greg Yount

 

First Baptist Church of Bakersfield: http://tinyurl.com/weR4him