Covenants from Other Unitarian Universalist Churches:

Love is the doctrine of this church,
The quest for truth is its sacrament,
And service is its prayer.
To dwell together in peace,
To seek knowledge in freedom,
To serve human need,
To the end that all souls shall grow in harmony with the Divine -
Thus, do we covenant with each other and with God

(Covenant, used at Grace Universalist in Lowell and First Parish of Chelmsford, among many others)

In the freedom of truth,
And the Spirit of Jesus,
We unite for the worship of God
And the service of all.

(All Souls Church of New York)

The purpose of this Church is to foster a continuing search for truth, a reverence for the life force, and respect for the preservation of the dignity of every person as each seeks fulfillment.

(Covenant of the First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati)

Given our long and distinguished history in Portland, we covenant together:

• To create a welcoming community of diverse individuals,
• To promote love, reason, and freedom in religion,
• To foster lifelong spiritual growth, and
• To act for social justice.

(Covenant of the UU Church of Portland, OR)

The Leading Principles of this Congregation shall be the free exercise of private judgment in all matters of belief. Members of the Congregation, while free to hold diverse beliefs concerning the nature of God, Humanity, and the Universe, are each committed to the preservation of personal integrity, the continuing search for truth through the use of critical inquiry, the democratic method in human relations and the obligation to work together with love for the greater good of all.

(Covenant, First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto)

We covenant with one another and do bind ourselves together.

We covenant with one another and do bind ourselves together in the presence of this religious community

• To express our deepest and most cherished convictions, as they are borne by each person to find a common vision for a better world;
• To seek the life of the spirit as it is known by each person, choosing with reverence its name;
• And to walk together in the way of truth and love, as it is shown to us and to all people, in word and in deed.

(Written by Michael W. Hennon, inspired by the Salem Covenant of 1629)

You have heard me say many times that Unitarian Universalism is a covenantal, rather than creedal, tradition. In other words, we focus on right relationship rather than right belief. A creed requires adherence to certain intellectual claims regarding the nature of humanity, the divine, the universe, or life after death. Faith as fact, rather than metaphor or story. Covenant asks us to name the ways in which we as individuals agree to come together in a community of faith and spirit. Covenant does not ask that we lay claim to certain beliefs to belong, but that we offer one another the opportunity to be together in a community that makes a positive difference in our own lives, and hopefully, in the lives of those in our larger world. A community where we are not bound by ultimate certitude but by a shared spirit, a shared commitment to be together in worship and service to what we trust is holy and sacred in our living, to one another, to those who have come before and those who will come after, and to a world in need of healing and hope, justice and peace. Creed binds us to what must be true. Covenant to what is possible. Creed cannot change or alter. Covenant can be renewed, revisited, refreshed, broken and re-entered into. It is not meant to be the last or ultimate word but the starting place, the touchstone, guiding words, and spiritual reminder for what brought us here in the first place.

In ancient and older times, when religion and law were one, covenants were legal as well as religious agreements. But since the de-establishment of church and state, and the exodus of the liberals from congregational churches to claim a separate and free faith, Unitarianism, covenant has evolved from being a legal agreement to a spiritual and religious one. Our legal agreement is found in our by-laws. But we are not simply a non-profit organization and or a civic society. We are a religious one. The word religion comes from the same root as ligament. It means to re-tie or re-bind. The word spiritual shares the same root as the word inspiration, and aspiration. It is about what gives us breath, or what animates our lives and our work. Covenant names the ways in which we wish to be in religious community; it describes and clarifies our spirit, our inspirations and our aspirations. It gives us a coherence upon which to build.

I know that community matters to this congregation because I heard it over and over again at the water communion last week. I also heard family, renewal, religious education, meaning, music, service to others, and spiritual growth. But community was the central theme. So, I return to the question I asked a couple years ago as we embarked on the all-church conferences with Larry Peers: what kind of community? What promises do we make to ourselves and one another in this community? What freedoms and what responsibilities do we cherish and commit to in order to allow us as individuals to grow and learn and connect and serve intellectually, spiritually, and lovingly, to be ourselves but also to be in community? What spirit binds us together in religious community when some of us believe in God and some don’t, and some in Goddess, and most don’t know and don’t really mind that they don’t know, because we are not bound by one image of the divine or the sacred? What binds us into religious community where some of us feel a deep affinity to Christianity, or to Judaism or to Buddhism or to paganism or to science and nature, while others are more interested in living a good and ethical life with no particular allegiance to any particular sacred tradition or special path because we are not bound by one set of sacred texts or scriptures or practices?

If we don’t need shared beliefs or scriptures, then why do we need a shared covenant? Can’t we do without? Well, we have for a long time, at least without an intentional or conscious covenant, and I imagine we probably could go on without as well. I know also that because of the long and strong history of individual rights and freedom in our tradition, any talk of a shared anything is considered by some an anathema, or at least, a puzzling request. Yet, every thing we do is grounded in covenant. We are joined in fellowship with our other UUA congregations by the covenant of our purposes and principles. At my installation, we shared a covenant of how we are to be in relationship, congregation and minister. We shared in a covenant this morning with Robyn, Oswalt, and Diego. We do ask things of one another: to pledge our time, talent and treasure; to be here on Sunday morning; to participate in the education and spiritual development of our children and ourselves; to bear witness to the joys and sorrows of one another’s lives; to be here for one another in times of trouble; to mourn and remember when one of us has died; to commit to certain values regarding human rights and human interaction, and the care of the creation and our earth. As a community of individuals who have gathered together to affirm and promote and practice our Unitarian Universalist purposes and principles and the cause of free liberal religion, we are making requests one of another all the time, whether it is to come here on Sundays, to sing in the choir, to volunteer in RE or at a fundraising breakfast, to pledge, to serve on a committee, to sign a petition regarding an issue reflective of our faith and values; to make meals or send a card, to honor our different and shared experiences of life and spiritual growth. To make a request and to accept or decline a request or ask for further conversation regarding it, puts us in a vulnerable spot. To make a request is to ask for a promise. To accept a request is to commit to one. To refuse or to ask for further conversation is to admit that one is not ready or invested in this particular promise. Certain things are needed for us to make, accept, decline, and talk about our requests, our promises to one another: trust, respect, caring, a willingness to listen well and courage to speak one’s truth; a shared understanding of certain commitments and goals to which we aspire together, as well as respect and understanding for the ideas and perspectives that are different. A covenant offers us coherence: intentional and concrete expressions of how we wish to be or walk together on sacred ground, in community, and in which we can ground our worship, our service and work, and our requests of and commitments to one another, to the community as a whole and the values which matter to us. It names the spirit of this place.

Covenant does not define the end all and be all of who we are and what we believe. Rather, it offers us a foundation, a spirit, in which to ground our community, a place to return to when we need clarity or a reminder of why we are here, what purpose this community serves, what commitments we share. Things are wonderful here right now. There is life and energy and growth. We are stable financially and with regard to membership, staff and programming. But things can happen and have happened over the 350 plus years in the life of this church. We run into difficult financial times. The minister leaves, or is asked to. A sacred trust is betrayed. There is a split over an important issue. This year, we will need to talk about being a growing congregation and how to deal with this: how welcoming do we want to be? How much do we want to reach out? How much growth are we really willing to accommodate? What does it all mean? Why does it make us anxious?

What do we need to offer one another, in what spirit do we need to pledge to walk together, in order to be and sustain and grow as a religious and spiritual community, both when things are going well and when things are not. How do we, to adapt from Howard Thurman, "keep before us the moments of our High Resolve, that in good times or in tempests, we may not forget that to which our individual lives and our shared community life are committed?"

In April 2006, at our all-church conference, we came up with a list of commitments on which we could agree. They are printed on the back of the cover of your order of worship. The conference and these commitments were a first step in considering a congregational covenant. As you could tell from the ones read earlier in the service, congregational covenants, like all things Unitarian Universalist, can vary. Some speak more to the head while others speak more to the heart. Some are short and simple, others are long and detailed. Some are more focused on behavior and action, while others emphasize the underlying philosophy and spirituality.

If we decide to create a covenant or not, I believe, matters less than engaging in the conversation about walking together as a Unitarian Universalist community of faith. What requests do we need to make and accept from one another? What is the spirit in which we want to worship, to learn and teach, to give and receive care from one another, to work for the values and ideals of our faith, to welcome, nurture, empower and serve others, to live meaningful lives, to make this world a more just, more peaceful, more healing place? How do we want nurture and empower our own, each other’s and this community’s spiritual passions and yearnings? How do we want to make real and alive, what is true and beautiful and sacred to us? How do we want to honor and celebrate, them? A covenant will not define the answers to these questions, nor should it. It will not offer us the truth or the way. But it can reflect back to us our shared understanding of what this community means to us; what requests it makes of us and we make of it; and the larger truth, purpose and spirit in which we ground our being. It can offer us a touchstone, a coherence, in ordinary times, in the times of joy when we welcome new members or new children or celebrate our youth’s coming of age, in times of struggle and sorrow, when we mourn and remember what has been lost, and in times of indecision, difficulty, disagreement, and even betrayal, so that we can remember what really matters to us.

I would like to ask you now to reflect on what you see as the spirit of this church and what your covenant is with this congregation. I have given you each an index card and I would ask that you write your answers to these two questions. I want you to take this card with you and put it somewhere safe and where you can see it. As the year goes along, we will return to this and to your answers.