As those who have been saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ, we joyfully covenant together to build up a church where:
- We grow in Christ (Ephesians 4:13), personally devoting ourselves to Bible study, prayer, and fellowship.
- We pray for our church leaders and one another (Ephesians 4:18).
- We protect the purity, unity, and peace of our congregation (Ephesians 2:14-17). We love one another and do not allow gossip or unwholesome talk to destroy our unity. We will not create divisiveness over the common areas of belief affirmed in our congregation’s belief statement (Proverbs 6:19).
- We care for each other, exercising affectionate and watchful care over one another (James 2:14-17).
- We devote ourselves to the Christian nurture of our children and elderly. We teach our children the faith, at home and in church (Deuteronomy 11:19). We care for our elderly, tending to their spiritual and physical needs (1 Timothy 5:3).
- We uphold marriage as a sacred covenant between one man and one woman (Matthew 19:1-12). Couples contemplating divorce are encouraged to seek counsel from the pastor prior to pursuing divorce.
- We joyfully participate in the privilege of weekly corporate worship (Hebrews 10:25). As stated in the Book of Order, those who do not attend a worship service for a period of two years, without unavoidable cause, may be dropped from membership (G-3.0204a).
- We build up our congregation. We each use our unique blend of gifts, talents, and skills for the building up of this local body (1 Corinthians 12). We participate in committee work, music ministry, church leadership, or other areas of ministry in our congregation.
- We cheerfully give an appropriate portion of our finances to support the Lord’s work through our congregation (2 Corinthians 9:6-7).
- We demonstrate and embody the Word of God (Ephesians 5:15-20) in our personal and public lives. We do not put one face on in church and another at home and in public, but strive to live holy, obedient lives in Christ (Matthew 28:20).
- We proclaim the gospel in word, deed, and life witness for the salvation of humanity (Romans 10:14).
- We commit ourselves to missions, generously giving from our weekly offerings to local and global missions. We volunteer time and energy to support our local mission partners. We search for ways to serve and save the lost (Luke 19:10), in need (Deuteronomy 15:7), and downtrodden (Proverbs 31:8-9), both locally and beyond.
- If we move from the area, we will join another church where we can demonstrate and embody God’s Word there too. We will inform Session when we move away.
With God’s help alone we make these promises. We pray to the Father, through the Son, according to the Holy Spirit, to transform our heads, touch our hearts, and move our hands, that the Word of God be embodied in and demonstrated through our congregation in Tioga County and beyond.
