Covenants
In the Bible, God made alliances with God's people. These alliances are called covenants. They were like a contract, with rights and obligations on both sides “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” “Go to the land that I will show you, and I will make your descendants more numerous than the stars.” But covenants are more than contracts. They describe a loving, ommitted relationship, and create a bond like a strong and fruitful friendship. God writes the covenant on the human heart. When we join the church, we do so by affirming a covenant. We agree to belong. Just as the people of Israel were established as God’s people through covenants, so the church comes into being when free people agree to be bound to God in Christ, and to each other in love, faith and ministry. We promise to be pilgrims in the company of other pilgrims on the road of grace. We declare that we will remain open to the Spirit’s leading and committed to each other by ties of faith, hope and love.The Covenant of First Church in Cambridge, Congregational (UCC) - 1630
We who are now brought together
and united into one Church
under the Lord Jesus Christ, our Head,
in such sort as becometh all those
whom He hath redeemed and sanctified to himself,
do solemnly and religiously,
as in His most holy presence,
promise and bind ourselves to walk in all our ways
according to the rule of the Gospel,
and in all sincere conformity to His holy ordinances
and in mutual love and respect each to other,
so near as God shall give us grace.
This covenant was used in 1630 by the church gathered at Charlestown, Massachusetts. It is typical of 17th century Puritan church covenants. The first few generations of members of First Church may well have used such a covenant, but the original covenant of the congregation is unknown. This one was adopted in 1872, around the same time as our current meeting house was completed.
The Covenant Testimony - 1990
We believe that our covenant with God and each other calls us
- To love God with all that we are, and our close and distant neighbors as ourselves;
- To seek peace through justice and equity for all people;
- To engage in nonviolent resistance to evil;
- To respect and preserve God's earth;
- To foster community across every barrier and division;
- To attend to God's unfolding and reconciling Word;
- To support each other in our frailties and strengths, that we may embody the love that overcomes fear and death.
This we testify, confessing always our reliance on God's grace in Christ, and on the power of the Holy Spirit.
This testimony was composed and adopted in 1990 as a “gloss” on our ancient covenant, and as a way to be more explicit about the commitment of our congregation to justice, reconciliation, peace, and the integrity of all creation.