What is a Church Covenant?

What is a church covenant? Before we answer that, we need to answer "What is a covenant in the first place?" A covenant is a set of promises made between two parties that define how they will strive to live in relationship with one another. At the beginning of a marriage, for instance, couples exchange vows with each another to state clearly what they understand their marriage to mean. Imagine a couple being 10 years into a marriage and just learning that they were never on the same page about loving only each other. In all relationships, clarity is our friend. At Trenton Baptist Church, we recognize that the culture we live in today requires more clarity about who we are and what we believe the Bible to teach, not less. As a result, our church family has joined with countless Protestant churches over the past 500+ years to make explicit promises to each other. This is what a Church Covenant is. It clarifies what we mean by "church member." Further, we regularly remind one another of these promises because we know that we are "prone to wander." Below, you will find what our church has agreed reflects key biblical teachings. We are not here attempting to add to Scripture, but rather to summarize and condense what the Bible teaches for easy memory.

Our Church Covenant

Preamble

We the members of Trenton Baptist Church, Inc. desire to make certain promises to one another through covenant church membership in order to preserve among ourselves the faith once for all delivered to the saints. This covenant is a summary of those promises and expectations we believe the Bible to teach about church membership and the ethical principles that should govern our lives together. It represents an overview of the biblical lifestyle we will strive to live out among one another.


Covenant


Having been brought by God’s grace to repent of our sin and to believe in the Lord Jesus as our only hope of salvation, and having joined together with this local church on the basis of our shared relationship with Jesus Christ, and having been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we joyfully covenant together with this body and with God, asking for his help to carry out this covenant.


We will remember the Gospel, keeping it before us daily, reminding one another of its truth in our words and in our deeds, and we will seek to apply it to all of our lives. We will further seek to engage in sharing the Gospel through the ministry of our church and through personal evangelism (Matt. 28:18-20; 2 Cor. 5:11; Heb. 2:1; 2 Peter 3:1).


We will pursue cheerful sacrifice concerning our finances, time, and gifts toward the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel to all nations (Mark 12:41-44; 2 Cor. 8-9).


We will pursue peace, insofar as it depends upon us, seeking to be reconciled to our fellow church member and to our neighbor. Prizing the unity of the church, we will refrain from stirring division by gossip, slander, agitation, or any other means. When we sin against others, we will repent without excuse, seeking forgiveness from those we have wronged. When we are wronged, we will trust God’s justice and seek to extend full forgiveness as quickly as possible. If we should see a fellow professing Christian wandering from Christ, we will exercise a humble and affectionate care toward them through warning, because we know that the end of unrepentant sin is eternal, spiritual death (Matt. 3:8; 5:24; Rom. 12:18, 16:17-18; 2 Cor 7:9-11; Eph. 4:3, 4:26, 4:32; Col. 3:13; Heb. 3:13; Jas. 1:14-15).


We will not neglect to gather regularly, but rather believing that the congregation is meant for our spiritual good, we will obey God through the discipline of church attendance. We will support and treasure the preaching of the whole counsel of God’s Word. We will celebrate the proper observance of Baptism and of the Lord’s Supper. We will strive, when necessary, to pursue biblically mandated church discipline for the spiritual health of our brothers and sisters, motivated always by love and with the goal of restoration (Isa. 66:2; Matt. 18:15-20; Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 20:26-27; 1 Cor 11:17-34; 2 Cor 2:5-11; Gal. 6:1; 2 Tim. 4:2; Tit. 3:10; Heb. 10:24-25; Jas. 5:19-20).


We will strive to walk in purity in our public and private lives, denying ungodliness and worldly passions. We will joyfully embrace the biblical vision for human sexuality as existing between a man and a woman in Christian marriage. We thus turn away from all forms of Biblical sexual immorality, remaining chaste in singleness and faithful in marriage, refusing pre-marital cohabitation and establishing our family households only at the time of marriage. We will flee from drunkenness, impure speech, self-serving, and any other action that would put a stumbling block in the way of our fellow church members and those outside of Christ (Gen. 2:24; John 4:4-30; 2 Cor. 2:15-17; Eph. 5:31; Rom. 14:13-23; 1 Cor. 6:18-20, Gal. 5:18-21; Eph. 4:29; Heb. 13:4; Jas. 3:15-16; Tit. 2:11-12).


We will diligently train our children in the instruction of the Lord, praying for and trusting in, however, the grace of God to lead them to repentance and faith. We will engage in family and private devotions. We will likewise come alongside our fellow members, aiding them and encouraging them as they shepherd their children toward Christ (Deut. 6:4-9; Ps. 1:2, 46:10; Prov. 22:6; Mark 1:35-38; 1 Cor. 4:15; Eph. 6:4; Tit. 2:1-8).


Maintaining a high view of covenant church membership, we will, when we no longer gather regularly with this church, seek to join quickly with another church of similar faith and practice, where we may carry out the spirit of this covenant and of God’s Word. Until that time, we will understand ourselves to remain under the spiritual oversight of Trenton Baptist Church (Matt. 16:19; Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 5:12-13, 12:21-26; Heb. 10:24-25, 13:17).