Umstead Park United Church of Christ Covenant

Beckoned to this place of belonging, we, of Umstead Park United Church of Christ, with body, mind, and spirit, gather to worship, serve, and proclaim God, unknowable mystery whose center is love, and Jesus the Christ, who makes this loving mystery known. 

With inarticulate words and unfinished lives, we yearn to further embody this holy love, shaping the future as partners with God, who dances and weeps with us along the way. 

We come together as travelers on a journey, each bringing our unique histories, traditions, and stories of faith, and we prayerfully establish this covenant, seeking: 

• A closer communion with God,
• A more intimate community with one another, and
• A committed, mutual relationship with the wider world.
  

On our path to a closer communion with God, we will:

• Look to the historical Jesus and the present Christ;
• Search the scriptures with open-minded thoughtfulness; taking the Bible seriously while knowing it cannot always be taken literally;
• Seek, in our quest for truth, the presence of the divine: in worship and prayer; in all of creation; in every person, sacred in worth; and in faiths and traditions other than our own; while always appreciating with awe the mysteries inherent in life.

In our efforts to walk more intimately in community, we will:

• Welcome fully persons of every race, religious background, age, ability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and economic condition, who each reflect the image of God;
• Establish a safe haven, free from the fear of judgment, where wounds are healed, differences are celebrated and inclusivity is intentional;
• Invite all to participate in the choices which shape us, sharing decisions equally and responsibly, and, in so doing, reclaim the constructive use of power;
• Embrace our common life, overflowing with compassion and liberal in love;
• Call forth and nurture our individual and collective creative gifts;
• Delight in humor and, through joyous celebration, savor the goodness of life.

With our steps toward a mutual relationship with the wider world, we will:

• Share freely of our wealth and resources;
• Recognize our identity as global citizens, intimately tied to and partnered with all of God's children in every land;
• Demonstrate our concern for neighbor through service and prophetic voice;
• Claim our inescapable connection with the sacred earth and all of creation;
• Live justice as the social expression of love, and peace as the present manifestation of the world to come.

This we know:

In our faithful sojourning

We do not walk alone. God is present with us.

We have not yet arrived. God continues to beckon.

We seek no destination. The sacred journey is our home.