But what does covenant mean; What does it mean to me?

Dear Ones,

The last 5 months I have learned so much from my experience amongst the 3 church collaborative of Maine, as your ministerial intern. Currently, I am learning how to integrate pastoral care skills alongside worship to see the care of the individual and the congregation as a whole.

 In my time here and now in my final semester of divinity school I have come to appreciate the place and purpose of covenant in our faith spaces. When I first joined a Unitarian Universalist church in 2018 I found the emphasis on covenant new and a bit of a mystery.  I came to recognize the repetition of these covenants as part of a spiritual practice of joining and engaging in community.  It is in my final semester that I am really exploring and coming to understand what covenant means for and to us each.

Oxford English dictionary defines covenant as follows,  

1. an agreement.

“there was a covenant between them that her name was never to be mentioned”

• LAW

a clause in a contract.

• THEOLOGY

an agreement which brings about a relationship of commitment between God and his people. The Jewish faith is based on the biblical covenants made with Abraham, Moses, and David.

 

But the definition provided here  did not inform what I know is at the heart of covenant in UU churches.  Synonyms of “promise”, “pledge”, “vow” included later with this definition expressed the emotional, spiritual component in this kind of agreement.

From my experience, yes, covenant is an agreement between people, but in their rarest form–with feelings exposed; markers of testament to the purpose and need for such powerful and yet delicate negotiation between human beings.  Covenant is us being authentically human and through agreements upholding expectations and granting grace.  This is a divine human spiritual contract. From this I now  appreciate why covenant remains such an integral piece of this faith, in upholding each of its 7 UU principles.

 

My hope is that this exploration of covenant has filled you with curiosity and reaffirmed the value of covenant in our shared faith, as it has for me.

With greatest blessings,

Vanessa