On April 27th,  our Wednesday night Bible Study will center around Covenant churches. Recently, one of our members was telling me about one of his family members who was helping start a new church.  The new church would not only be Southern Baptist –  it would also be a “Covenant” church. I asked what he meant by “covenant” – since most Baptist churches have the “Church Covenant” in their Bylaws.  He said that what this new church meant by “covenant” is an accountable / enforceable covenant.  A covenant that you must agree with and sign every year in order to be a member of the church.

I did a little research and discovered that a growing number of Baptist churches have these covenants.   In these covenants, you agree that as a member of this church you will acknowledge that you are a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ, that you have received “believers baptism”, and that you are in agreement with the beliefs of the church. Then you pledge that you will cooperate with the leadership of the church without division or dissension, that you will attend church regularly, that you will support the church financially, that you will use your spiritual gifts & talents faithfully, that you will display the fruit of the spirit joyfully, and should you fail to keep the vows of this covenant – you agree to accept the discipline of the church willingly and patiently. 

This covenant is renewable annually on the first Sunday of the Calendar year (some churches choose other dates).  Anyone may attend church meetings, but only those who have signed this covenant are considered members. Only members are allowed  -to vote in church business meetings, -to see financial statements, and -to be eligible for church leadership positions.

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