Elder Covenant

God: In all things our ultimate commitment is to God. We recognize that we can never be the leaders God has called us to be if our highest aspiration is to please anyone else. Only by acknowledging God as our Father, Jesus as our Lord and Savior and the Holy Spirit as our guide can we faithfully lead this church. Therefore… We commit ourselves to PERSONAL SPIRITUAL GROWTH, that we may “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). We pledge to be committed to daily Bible study and prayer that we may continually seek to understand God’s will for ourselves and this church. We commit ourselves to lead this church by PERSONAL EXAMPLE. We recognize that we cannot lead others to be or to do what we ourselves are not willing to be or to do (1 Peter 5:3). When we fail in our example we will repent, seeking to honor God’s holiness rather than justify our sin. We commit ourselves to the MISSION OF THIS CHURCH to the world. God has blessed us that we might bless others. We are obligated to freely share both the spiritual and material blessings that we have freely received from God. So we must always regard ourselves as “ambassadors of Christ” to this community and the world.

This Church: As elders of this church God has laid upon us the task of being responsible for the spiritual health of this body. Thus we must strive in all of our actions and decisions to glorify God, build up the body and guard ourselves from those things which will divert our focus from this responsibility. Therefore… We commit ourselves to SUPPORT the activities and ministries of this church. This begins with our attendance at those times when the entire church is assembled and at our Sunday Gatherings. We will continually seek ways to build up those who minister at this church. We commit ourselves to PASTORAL CARE. We resolve to involve and equip others to help us care for the spiritual needs of our community. We recognize that this involves challenge as well as comfort, teaching as well as listening and discipline as well as encouragement. We commit ourselves to UNITY AND RECONCILIATION in this church and to shun divisiveness. To this end we pledge to deal with any personal dispute, whether among ourselves or others in this church, according to the practice of reconciliation that Jesus calls us to as his disciples (Matt. 18:15-17). 

Each Other:

We serve God and this church as a group of elders, not as individuals. This means that though each one must be faithful to his convictions, we must work together to effectively and faithfully lead this church. In this way we model among ourselves the way God calls us to regard one another as members of Christ’s body. Therefore… We commit ourselves to MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY. We pledge to hold each other responsible for the commitments we make, particularly as a group. We will respect and maintain the confidentiality that is necessary to our work. Any and all things discussed in our Elder meetings will stay only between us as Elders, only making public, decisions which affect the church body as a whole. This confidentiality includes spouses. We commit ourselves to MUTUAL ENCOURAGEMENT. We resolve to support each other in all decisions made by this group. In conflict and disagreement our focus will be on finding solutions rather than assessing blame. We commit ourselves to MUTUAL RESPECT. We resolve to seek and respect each other’s input in every discussion and be quick to listen and slow to speak. We commit ourselves to the FUTURE OF THIS CHURCH. We will maintain our commitment to reconciliation and unity in this church. In every situation we will “make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

Contact Pastor Dennis at dennis@celebratethejourney.org.