Fellowship of Presbyterians
FOP’s covenant posted on website
By Paula R. Kincaid, The Layman, January 25, 2012
ORLANDO, Fla. –Paul Detterman, administrative assistant of the Fellowship of Presbyterians, took a few moments Friday afternoon to discuss the FOP’s Covenant that participants were given and asked to sign earlier in the meeting.
“This covenant,” he said, “says because my life is not my own, because it was bought with a price, I will live differently; because my church is not my own and then there are promises I make; and because the earth is the Lord’s, there are promises that we make. But I also hope that you have read it all the way to the bottom of the back page because the last item is the scary part. By signing this covenant you agree to allow other people signing this covenant to mess with you — to get in your face and say you got it, or say brother or sister we’ve got to work on that.”
“This covenant is an important moment,” Detterman said. “We ask that you consider signing this covenant.”
He said that the covenant states that “I will stand for Jesus Christ, whether I am in the Presbyterian Church (USA), the FOP or the ECO.”
The FOP website states that “We at the Covenanting Conference in Orlando are making a covenant together, to live as God created us to be.”
The covenant reads:
I. Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2: 9-11)
· Because Jesus Christ is Lord, I will seek to be subject to Him in all areas of my life: (Matthew 22: 37-40)
II. You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6: 19b-20)
Because my life is not my own …
• I will take responsibility for my thoughts and actions: (I Timothy 6:11b-12)
• I will make the glory and enjoyment of God my focus: (Westminster Larger Catechism, Q-1)
• I will, relying on the Holy Spirit, rejoice in the Lord at all times: (Philippians 4:4-7)
• Scripture will be my final authority in all decisions, choices and actions: (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
III. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. (Acts 20:28)
Because the church is not my own …
• I will actively support, pray for, and encourage the ordained leaders of my congregation, serving when called in accordance with my spiritual gifts: (Hebrews 13:7)
• I will fulfill my part of the baptismal covenant, nurturing children and those new in the faith: (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)
• I will hold my personal preferences lightly and guard the good of the whole: (Philippians 2:1-4)
IV. The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it; the world, and all who live in it … (Psalm 24:1)
Because the world is not my own …
• I will commit to a Biblical tithe of my assets, joyfully giving additional offerings whenever and wherever possible to support the work of the gospel and the welfare of God’s people. (2 Chronicles 31:12)
• I will consider my tithes and gifts as an expression of gratitude to the One who has been extravagantly generous toward me: (Psalm 116:12, 17)
• I will be a faithful steward of God’s creation. I will treat the creation as a gift to be cared for and used in ways which honor and glorify the Creator: (Genesis 2:15)
• I will behold the creation as a “theater of God’s glory,” praising God for every reminder of His presence and love: (Psalm 119:1)
• I will honor the sanctity of human life above the claims of human freedom: (Psalm 8:4-5)
• I will treat others with respect, honoring the image of God in them, however broken. I will seek God’s peace and Biblical reconciliation in all times and places: (1 Peter 2:17)
• I will sacrificially provide for the needs of the poor and the oppressed, the neglected and the abused, the widow and the orphan: (Isaiah 58:6-7)
V. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5: 22-23)
Because the Holy Spirit nurtures new and fruitful lives …
• I will yield to the work of the Spirit in my life so that I will transformed from the inside out: (Romans 12:1-2)
• I will pray that God’s transforming work in my life will serve Him: (Ephesians 2:10)
• I will set my gaze upon Jesus so that I may become what I behold, for the good of the church and the glory of God: (2 Corinthians 3:18)
VI. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Because I do not journey through this life alone, but in the company of others and under a great cloud of witnesses …
• I will be an encourager of my brothers and sisters: (Hebrews 3:13)
• I will gather regularly with my brothers and sisters, hearing the word of God, participating in the sacraments and preparing to be sent into God’s world: (Hebrews 10:24-25)
• I will give others who sign this covenant permission to both nurture and admonish me: (Proverbs 1:5).