“I’m not interested in a pretty covenant with all the right words that sits dusty on a shelf. Give me a covenant with smudge marks, and coffee stains, and marked out words and added words and tear stains. Give me a covenant that makes us stretch for a lifetime and into the next generation.”
—Rev. Tandi Rogers
Unitarian Universalism is a covenantal religion, meaning that we join together in an ever-evolving covenant rather than a creed or statement of belief. Each congregation makes its own covenant and each team makes its own as well.
As our many teams are beginning their adventures together in this program year, I strongly urge you to make a covenant together. If you need any starter covenant ideas, feel free to reach out to me. Take the time in your first meetings to talk about what your guidelines are for being together and then reaffirm them at the beginning of every meeting. This isn’t just to make sure that the meeting goes well; it is also an affirmation that it is covenant that holds us together.
Covenants aren’t for when times are easy—they are best used when we are at our most human, messy and vulnerable. They are the tools that help us call each other back into relationship and they are the roadmap for how to get there. Many of us find that our relationships are stronger after we’ve had to do some work in re-establishing our covenant; we’ve done the work and prioritized the relationship.
I love being in relationship with you all,
Rev. Christine