Leichhardt Uniting Church Covenant
Leichhardt Uniting Church participates in an annual covenanting process – annual, in recognition that life has seasons and LUC is a somewhat transient community. A covenant is a prayerful commitment and is an ancient and Biblical practice. A covenant also involves mutuality between two parties, e.g., between God and God’s people. In this instance, you are invited to commit to the life of LUC for the next year, as LUC commits to loving you, teaching you, nurturing you and building you up as a disciple of Jesus.
The annual covenant is separate to the Church’s sacraments of Baptism and Communion. We encourage all to prayerfully consider the ritual of Baptism (and Confirmation) as the Christian rite of initiation into the full Body of Christ, and we hold an Open Table policy for Communion – all are welcome, unconditionally. The LUC Covenant is about faithful participation in this community of faith for this next season.
This is not a requirement; it is an invitation: to commit to the life and mission of this community of faith for the next year, investing in the flourishing of this congregation, for the sake of all who may find safe community and grace here.
It may feel like covenanted members must fulfil all clauses of the covenant at all times – and we do hope that covenanted members take all clauses seriously. But we are inviting faithful participation – which means that individual decisions around what someone can or cannot do ought to be done faithfully and prayerfully, and in active communication with ministers and leaders at LUC. And in all things, your worth does not lie in the actions you do for LUC, or in the amount of money you offer, or in anything but your inherent belovedness.
There is also a practicality to our covenanting process; LUC understands that the people best suited to make decisions for the community are those covenanted to it – those who have “skin in the game”. So, at our congregational meetings, only covenanted members are eligible to vote, and eligible for election to Church Council and other church committees.
The covenant is as follows:
You are charged and commissioned, as a follower of Jesus, to be an intentional member of this community of faith at Leichhardt Uniting Church. In making these covenants, you are pledging in the name of the Trinity of Love, to keep the Faith, to do Justice, and to build Community.
As such, you are now called upon before God and your community, as an act of discipleship, to these commitments of covenant for the next year:
- to be faithful in participating in weekly worship at Leichhardt Uniting Church;
- to be active in witnessing to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God, in word and action;
- to be faithful in the giving of your time and gifts in mission;
- to be faithful in your attention to prayer and regular study of the Bible; and
- to be faithful in your generous financial support of LUC’s mission and ministry (leichhardtuniting.org.au/give).
You are also called to commit yourself:
- to faithfully pastorally care for one another;
- to actively keep LUC as a safe space for all people (leichhardtuniting.org.au/who-we-are);
- to actively commit to anti-racism (leichhardtuniting.org.au/antiracism);
- to actively affirm that LGBTIQA+ people are loved by God just as they are;
- to faithfully pray for and support your Ministry Team and leaders;
- to faithfully support & participate in the building up of our mission (particularly through participating in the life of the church, and in participation and voting in LUC General Meetings);
- to faithfully hold to the Basis of Union of the Uniting Church in Australia; and
- to faithfully attend to the life and witness of the Uniting Church in Australia.