Covenanting is at the heart of the practice of Unitarian Universalism. Our religious ancestors created our tradition as a faith community bound not by allegiance to a particular creed — that is, specific beliefs — but rather by faithfulness to a covenant — that is, a set of mutual promises to each other and to something greater than ourselves.
Over time, the practice of covenant in many congregations has been reduced to behavioral covenants and used as a way to monitor behavior between individuals. This leaves out so many important aspects of covenant: our commitments to Spirit, Justice, Love, Earth; our commitments to ancestors and our generations to come; our commitments to other UU congregations who are part of our Association.
Spiritual Leadership calls us to remember that covenant is a practice, not a product. There are ways of practicing covenant that are multidimensional and liberating, and which help us learn skills needed to contribute to liberation in the world.
"Covenanting" Posts From Our Tending to Spiritual Leadership Blog
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5.
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by Wren Bellavance-Grace |September is County Fair season in much of New England. In our UU congregations, September is also Ingathering time; water communion time; returning-to-church-time after far-flung summers laden with small jars of water from our travels and foot-long zucchinis from overflowing gardens....Filed in: Binding to Tradition, Centering Gifts, , Doing Our Inner Work, Faithful Risking -
by Meck Groot |A congregational board member called to ask what their church might do about their building. Like so many New England churches, theirs is old, labyrinthine, mostly inaccessible, and larger than they need now....Filed in: Centering Gifts, , Doing Our Inner Work, Faithful Risking -
by Erica Baron |As we have engaged UUs around New England in reflecting on living in covenant, we on regional staff have noticed an assumption so foundational that it is often revealed in storytelling but rarely said directly. That is: We can be either in covenant or in conflict, but not both at the same time.... -
by New England Region of the UUA |We understand covenants as being an attempt to make promises together that are grounded in a shared understanding of something unenforceable but to which we want, collectively, to be faithful or obedient. However, lots of other stuff can tend to creep into our covenants, too... -
by Erica Baron |So, friends, let’s practice together. I invite you to engage in some reflection about whether and how you are bringing that individualism into your practice of covenant and what a deeper practice of covenant can make possible for us.