We are people whom Jesus has set free. We belong not to ourselves, but to the one who has given us freedom.
We praise the one who sacrificed himself to set us free from our enslavement to sin.
Being led, as we believe, by the Holy Spirit, and in order to use our freedom responsibly, we do most solemnly enter into covenant with one another under God:
We shall make over and over the earliest Christian confession, "Jesus is Lord."
We shall be faithful in proclaiming the good news of Jesus, in praying for our church and others, in studying God's word, in practicing Christian stewardship, and in nurturing the church. We shall love, accept, and affirm one another. There will be no friendless person in our midst. The doors of our church shall be open as wide as the love of Jesus.
We shall be especially concerned about our families, that there shall be right relationships with God, that there shall be a faithful love between husband and wife, and that our children shall be wanted, loved, and cared for.
Knowing that we are dependent upon the church, which is the body of Christ, we promise to stay in active fellowship with our church and to participate in its services and ministries. We also promise that if we move away, we shall transfer our membership to a church in that place so that we may continue to serve our Lord. The building is not the church; we are the church. We shall be the church in the world! We shall go into the world as ministers of Jesus. We shall speak the reconciling word and do the reconciling deed, so that all may know how to become friends with God.
We shall reach across barriers, keep open communication, and care for people in the way that Jesus has cared for us. We shall seek economic and social justice for all people. In our fellowship, there shall be no possibility of racial prejudice or any other condition that may de-mean or cheapen human life.
We who have been so richly blessed will share our affluence with the poor, hungry, and starving of the world.
We shall be the careful keepers of the good earth, passing it unspoiled to those who come after us.
We shall do and say those things that make for peace in a world where the threat of war falls like an ominous shadow.
We recognize that our bodies are a holy temple, the home of God's Holy Spirit, and we will keep them holy and pleasing to God. We will live in such a way that everyone can see Jesus in us. Through our lives, they will recognize him as the one who loves them, the one who would save them, and the one who cannot give them up.
Amen.