July 12, 2024

Freedom, Unity, and Responsibility:
A Covenant Resource Paper

At the recent annual meeting of the Covenant Church, a proposed position paper was approved by the assembly. (For more about this meeting in general, see Aaron Nilson’s offering below.) I had seen early drafts of this paper as prior versions were sent to the ministerium. We had opportunities to discuss and offer feedback on these drafts, and revisit it when revisions were made. The version posted on the Covenant website still identifies it as a “draft”, though I am fairly certain it is the document that was approved. For most of the delegates, though, this was the first time they had seen this document. 

The impetus of this paper was to explore a core value of the Covenant, that of agreeing to disagree on matters of differing interpretations of scripture. It acknowledges that it is written in a very polarized season in our denomination, particularly over issues of human sexuality. However, this paper does not address that or any other issues directly. Instead, this was a paper making the case for reaffirming and clarifying our understanding of unity within diversity and the responsibilities we all bear to make this happen.

Over the decades of our existence as a denomination, we have negotiated issues such as the rise of fundamentalism, the ecumenical movement, reconsidering infant initiation in theology and practice, issues of women in ministry, the rise of contemporary worship, and becoming a multi-ethnic denomination, to name a few. We have lost some clergy and churches in some of these challenges by not being “narrow enough,” even as we have attracted churches and pastors from other traditions by our wide embrace.

But the culture has shifted, and the “radical middle” is a lonely place to be these days. “Either/or” is more common, and more commonly expected, than our traditional Covenant “both/and” approach in many areas of life, especially in faith traditions. But this document gives me hope that we are not moving past our heritage but are revisiting it and considering what living into this position looks like in the current season we as a congregation—and we as a denomination—find ourselves in. I pray the conversation this document has begun bears fruit in the current and future life of our denomination, even as it has—I believe—born fruit in our congregation.

With audacious hope,

~ Pastor Todd