Covenant of Belonging
Invitation
If in this community of faith you have found a
sense of belonging and are ready to claim your home here, if you wish to join
with us in the movement toward a different world, a better existence for all, we
offer to you the opportunity to affirm that you belong and to be affirmed in
that sense of belonging.
I ask that if you are present in this space that
you come forward. If you have found belonging through technology, I ask that
you put your name and geographic location either in the comments section of
your screen, or text this information to the phone number at the bottom of the
video.
{{Church Office Text Number at the bottom of the screen}}
Opening
Sentences
We have all come to this community seeking
belonging and a connectedness that is sustainable through a God that unites us all.
We are remain in this community as those who seek to follow the two great
commandments:
Love
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
mind.’
Love
your neighbor as yourself.’
We share in the common desire to share the gifts
with which we’ve been blessed, and We
journey together as a family while working together for God's realm of justice,
equity, grace, and extravagant love.
Belonging is feeling a sense of
connectedness. Connectedness is built
through our service together, devotion to God and one another, and by developing
love for one another and for the stranger. Trust is developed through times of
tension; this trust is dynamic and strengthens our spiritual tendons and
muscles. We find grace in disappointment and forgiveness, and practice all of
this in our families and in our communities. And through this all, we are reminded that as
the body of Christ we are the church – not just a building that we drive by during
the week, but connected to one another as something that symbolizes and points
to—something greater than itself.
Friends, today you are not joining “the church”
-- the institution -- the way that you would join the health club or the
Rotary. There are no contracts to be
signed, and few tangible benefits of being a member. Instead you are
covenanting with others in this quest for God’s kin-dom on earth as it is in
heaven.
Questions
of the candidates:
Q:
Do you desire to claim your place in this community of belonging?
A: I
do
Q: Will you, as best as you are able, follow the
teaching of Jesus – to love God and neighbor, to resist the forces of
oppression, injustice, and hatred; to share love and kindness; to live with
compassion and humility; and to share the extravagant grace you’ve been given?
I will with the help of God.
Q:
Do you promise, according to the grace and gifts given to you, to support the
mission and vision of this community, to respect and reach out to others within
the congregation, to share in worship, and to nurture love of God and love of
neighbor in the world?
I will, with the help of God.
Q:
Will you lovingly challenge this community to be the best version of itself and
to live up to the things we say we believe?
I will, relying upon God’s grace.
Q: Will you allow yourself to grow in faith and
witness, and to be changed, shaped, and transformed by this community, living
into your identity as a beloved child of God?
I will with the help of God.
Questions
of the Community of Faith
Do
you reaffirm your place in this community of belonging?
A: I
do
Q: Will you be faithful to these people as they endeavor
to walk with our community of faith?
We promise our faithful companionship to
our siblings in Christ.
Q:
Will you lovingly challenge these siblings to be the best version of themselves
and to live up to the things they say they believe?
I will, relying upon God’s grace.
Q: Will you allow yourself to grow, and to be
changed, shaped, and transformed by these new siblings, living into your
identity as a beloved child of God?
I will with the help of God.
Let
us unite with all those who, in the words of the Prophet Micah wish to “do
justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God.”
We trust in God, who calls
us to transform ourselves and the world; in Jesus, who offers us new life and
redemption; and in the Holy Spirit, who provides comfort, connection and
inspiration.
Prayer
Let
us pray.
O God, we are grateful for having been gathered into this community
of faith, one part of Christ’s Body. We
thank you for everyone in our community and rejoice in the inclusion of these
new siblings today. Together may we live
in the Spirit, building one another up in love, sharing in the life and worship
of this church, and serving the world with justice and peace. Together we say:
Amen.
Welcome
And Reception (all
who are able please stand)
Beloved,
let us greet our siblings in this family of faith as we offer the hand of
Christian love and welcome them into the company of this community of faith.
Thanks be to God!
This liturgy was written by Rev. Carly
Stucklen Sather, in conversation with the writings of Rev. Elizabeth Dilly, Rev.
Ellen Jennings, Allison Purdie, and others in the United Church of Christ
Clergy (+MIDs) Facebook Group. Please
adapt, edit, and use as you’d like.
