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By Dr. Bruce T. Marshall
October 16,, 2011
In the Hebrew scriptures, we hear that God came to regret having
created humankind. Everywhere He looked was wickedness and violence.
And so God resolved, “I will blot out from the earth the human
beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping
things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
Except: there was one man God admitted was truly righteous and
without blame. That was Noah. God decided to spare Noah and his
family and a representative pair of each animal on earth to be
gathered into an ark, so that when the waters of destruction came,
these survivors would live on to establish a new beginning.
After the flood, when Noah and his family and the animals of the ark
returned to dry land, God blessed them, gave them guidelines for
living, and pledged never again to send waters to destroy all life
on the earth. According to the story as told in the Hebrew
scriptures, God said, “I establish my covenant with you, that never
again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never
again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
A covenant is an agreement that is binding to all parties involved
in it. The term is used in various contexts. In international
relations, a covenant can be a treaty between nations that sets
forth mutual obligations. In finance, the word refers to a contract
between one who borrows and one who loans, setting forth the
conditions of that loan. In the Hebrew scriptures, also known as the
Old Testament, God makes a series of covenants with humanity in
general and with the Israelites in particular. In addition to
pledging not to destroy life with another great flood, God covenants
with the Israelites as His chosen people, a designation that brings
both benefits and obligations. In Christianity, the sacrifice of
Jesus is described as sealing a new covenant: a promise from God to
humanity that those who believe shall have eternal life.
Over time, the religious use of this term, covenant, evolved. It
came to be used to name an agreement not between God and humanity
but between and among people. What distinguished the religious use
of covenant from its secular versions was that it was not simply a
matter of, “If you do this, I’ll do that.” It was an agreement
through which people promised to do certain things, to live in a
certain way—in the sight of God. A religious covenant had God as its
witness. A marriage would be an example: it’s a commitment made by
two people in the sight of God and/or representing the highest
values to which they aspire.
It is in this usage of covenant that we find foundations for our
Unitarian Universalist congregations. We are religious communities
formed by the free choice of individuals who come together—in the
sight of God or in response to our highest values and aspirations—to
form a church. The understanding of our congregations as covenantal
communities has been with us for the over 400 years that we can
trace our roots.
The authors of The Cambridge Platform, the 1648 document that
established this form of church organization, drew upon a quotation
from the Book of Amos in the Hebrew scriptures, “Do two walk
together unless they have agreed to do so?” (Amos 3:3, New
International Version). The covenant to “walk together” along
spiritual pathways became the central act of creating congregations
in 1648, and it continues today. As free individuals we covenant to
form a church, guided by our highest values, hopes, and aspirations.
● ● ●
When I arrived at Davies over two years ago, I noticed that
sometimes people here didn’t treat each other as well as we might.
It was nothing overt; there wasn’t yelling and screaming; it’s just
that sometimes we could be a little abrupt, dismissive, impatient.
Maybe things got done without showing consideration or respect.
Sometimes we said things that could be hurtful. Sometimes we got
hurt by things that were said. The culture at Davies seemed prone to
give offense and to take offense.
I remember mentioning that in an early meeting of the Transition
Team, that is, the group of church members that serves as my
advisory committee. As I recall, they said “Yes, that does happen.”
And they gave examples of what they had experienced or what they had
observed. But as time went on, I didn’t notice it as much. Maybe our
behavior improved, or maybe I just got used to it.
It’s like in a family. Each family has standards of behavior, and
everybody who’s been around for awhile knows instinctively what they
are. You know how far you can go before causing serious harm—but
that “how far you can go” differs significantly from one family to
another. Some are reserved; some are more boisterous. In some
families, disagreements are right out there, arguments assume the
nature of entertainment or sport; in others, rarely is a voice
raised.
People coming in from the outside sense the culture governing the
interactions among those who constitute a family or a congregation.
They’ll notice how people treat each other, for better and for
worse. One family who recently joined Davies cited as a reason: they
like how we treat the children of the congregation. I remember
another person saying that when she moved to this area, she visited
several UU congregations. She chose to commit herself to Davies, she
said, because of the warmth of the welcome she received: the welcome
seemed genuine. Others have had different experiences. Their
interactions have not been so positive.
A religious covenant has content. It is not just an agreement to
“walk together.” It’s about how we walk together; it’s about how our
highest values and aspirations are expressed in the everyday
interactions of the congregation. You know what is probably the main
complaint against churches or congregations of any kind: it is that
the behavior of the people doesn’t go with the values they proclaim.
Maybe they speak of love in church but then in the parking lot after
the service, somebody cuts you off in the race to get out of there.
That’s a reason to create a covenant statement. It takes the values
under which we gather and considers what these have to say about how
we are with each other. It is to consider the implications of those
values for everyday practice and then put that into words. The
result is an expression of what we want to be; it gives us a point
of reference; it gives us something to aspire to.
For a covenant statement is not purely descriptive. It doesn’t just
state what there is. Rather, it is aspirational. It expresses what
we aspire to be. Let’s return to the example of a wedding. Yesterday
I officiated at a very nice wedding, outside, under a big oak tree,
at the home where the groom and his siblings grew up. The bride and
groom chose their own vows.
They said to each other, “I choose you as you are now...” “I will
honor your dreams and goals and help you fulfill them.” “I will seek
to be open, and honest, and gentle with you.” “With faith in you and
in our abiding love, I pledge to share my life with you as...your
partner, lover, and friend.”
If this turns out to be a long and happy marriage—and I have every
reason to believe that it will—this man and woman will not be open,
honest, and gentle every moment of their lives together. I can
predict that with confidence. They will sometimes neglect each
other’s dreams and goals. They will sometimes feel apart from each
other; they will sometimes find it difficult to accept each other as
they are. They will sometimes find it difficult to accept
themselves, as they are.
So I hope that they might occasionally return to those vows, shared
on a lovely October afternoon way back in the year 2011. And
remember: Oh yes, this is what we pledged to each other. This is the
content of the covenant we made: the promise we made to walk
together, guided by our highest hopes and values and aspirations.
● ● ●
A covenant is a vow. It is a promise to be in relationship with each
other, and it seeks to identify the nature of the life we wish to
share.
With that in mind, let’s consider some covenants used in Unitarian
Universalist congregations—ways of giving content to the vow we make
that creates this church. I’ll start with what is probably the best
known and widely used of Unitarian Universalist covenants. It has
origins on the Unitarian side of our tradition, first appearing in
the 1890s and credited to a Unitarian minister, James Vila Blake. To
this day, it is part of the regular worship service in many UU
congregations.
Love is the spirit of this church,
and service its law.
This is our great covenant:
To dwell together in peace,
To seek the truth in love,
And to help one another.
So what is that saying about the nature of the vows that unite us as
a congregation? That we will seek to guide our actions with love and
that service is an expectation for each of us. We can’t promise that
we will always live up to these ideals because we won’t. We are
human beings. Our interactions are complex, and we all have flaws.
But this is what we aim for: “to dwell together in peace, to seek
the truth in love, and to help one another.”
Here’s another covenant, more recently adopted by a congregation in
Norwell, Massachusetts:
In the bonds of fellowship and love, we unite,
To cultivate reverence,
To promote spiritual growth and ethical commitment,
To minister to each other’s needs and to those of humanity,
To celebrate the sacred moments of life’s passage,
And to honor the holiness at the heart of being.
“To honor the holiness at the heart of being.” That in itself is an
aspiration that could consume a lifetime. We’ll often fall short in
everyday busyness, and in the stresses and strains of existence. So
it helps to have that intention out there, reminding us of who we
seek to be and how we seek to live.
Some covenants are short; others are long. We are, after all,
Unitarian Universalists. We can get kind of wordy. Here’s one of the
long variety.
We covenant with each other, promising our goodwill and honest
effort, pledging our care and support to one another and to our
church community, challenging one another to live in accord with our
Unitarian Universalist principles.
With this common purpose as our source, we covenant:
• to welcome all who come to us with acceptance and respect for the
differences among us;
• to practice patience and speak the truth directly and with
compassion;
• to reflect carefully about the potential results of our words and
actions before we speak or act;
• to keep our discussions to topics and issues rather than
personalities;
• to acknowledge that we may not always agree with the group
decisions, but we will support and participate in decision-making
processes that are collaborative and democratic;
• to seek to resolve disagreements to our mutual satisfaction and
ask for help when needed;
• to speak directly to those with whom we have disagreements;
• to facilitate direct communication between parties in conflict,
when appropriate;
• to act with loving kindness, seeking to promote justice, equity,
and compassion;
• to speak out with loving kindness when we witness disrespectful
interactions;
• to understand that building our beloved community requires
learning and practice.
This covenant strikes me as a list of frailties to which the
congregation is subject, stated positively. Such as, we covenant to
practice patience because, well, sometimes we are impatient. Or, we
covenant “to reflect carefully about the potential results of our
words and actions before we speak or act.” Sounds like maybe that’s
not happened a few times.
● ● ●
You have probably noticed the half sheet of blue paper in your order
of service with the heading, “Thoughts for a Davies covenant (that
is, how shall we be with each other?)
I would like here this morning to begin considering what vows we
would have at the heart of the commitment we make to each other in
this congregation. And to ask you to write down whatever words or
phrases or sentences or vows that come to mind. Maybe you have been
at Davies a long time—forever. Maybe you’ve just started coming in
the last few weeks or months. Maybe this is your first Sunday, and
you walk into this. Doesn’t matter: we need the perspectives of all.
To get us started, some questions for reflection:
In the covenants that I read, what words or phrases stand out? Which
of those would you like to see in a Davies covenant? And what’s
missing from those that I read?
When have you felt proud to be Davies, when the congregation lived
up to or surpassed what you had hoped it would be? That tells
something of how your values might align with those of Davies.
When have you felt disappointed here at Davies? Disappointment is a
negative experience but underlying is a positive value. Sometimes we
don’t really know what’s important to us until something falls
short.
Are there particular words you would use to describe how we should
be together in community? Or phrases? Or a vow? What do we commit to
each other? How shall we walk together in this congregation?
Anything that comes to you: write it down. We’re gathering raw
materials here. No need to include your name—just words, thoughts,
phrases, sentences that occur to you as central to what you hope for
and expect from this congregation. During the final hymn, we’ll
collect these and from that we’ll have a start to this process of
creating a congregational covenant. (Or, if you need to mull on this
awhile, return one of these blue sheets to my mailbox in the church
office.)
For now, anybody want to share something out loud—something they
think ought to go into our congregational covenant?
(Congregational comment.)
Over the next weeks and months, we are going to engage in a
covenanting process for Davies, with the result being our own
covenant. To be honest, I’m not yet sure what this process will look
like, but we’ve made a start today. I do want to make sure that we
have wide participation. Participation from those who are very
active here at Davies and those who are not so active. Participation
from those who spend Sunday mornings in this part of the building
and participation from those who spend Sunday mornings in the other
part of the building. Participation from grown ups, from youth, from
children. All of us who are part of Davies, I hope, will participate
as we create the covenant that expresses how we seek to be as we
walk together.
● ● ●
In a wedding, sometimes the couple memorizes their vows and says
them to each other. But usually not. Almost never does the couple
actually memorize their vows. So I say them in short phrases for
each to repeat after me. Let’s conclude by repeating after me, the
1890s covenant that I think still articulates who we aspire to be as
Unitarian Universalists.
Love is the spirit of this church,
and service its law.
This is our great covenant:
To dwell together in peace,
To seek the truth in love,
And to help one another.
● ● ●
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