Church Covenant


Our Church Covenant is equal parts promise, summary of expectations, ethical statement, and biblical standard. We summarize how we promise to live together in the covenant. It forms the ethics, or the moral principles, of our worldview and holds out a biblical standard by which we live.

We use our covenant in two key ways today. We require all new members to sign it before joining the church. We also reaffirm our commitment to the covenant at all members meetings and before taking communion, when we stand as a body and recommit ourselves to it. By featuring the covenant in our life together, we strive to protect ourselves from individual and corporate sin. 

We who have been called, as we trust, by the grace of God, do in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily and jointly separate ourselves from the world and give ourselves to the Lord who has promised to receive us and be our God. We are no longer our own. With God as our witness, we promise to walk together, by the power of the Holy Spirit, as a church of Jesus Christ in love for the Lord and for one another. We solemnly and joyfully covenant together…


To pursue the Lord Jesus through regular devotions in the Scriptures, prayer, fellowship, and spiritual disciplines.


To submit to the authority of the Scriptures as the final word on all issues. (Psa 119; 2 Tim 3:14-17)


To regularly participate in the life of GBC by attending and engaging in weekly worship. (Heb 10:23-25)


To work and pray for the unity of the Holy Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph 4:1-3)


To joyfully and reverently steward the time, talents, and treasures God has entrusted to us. (Matt 25:14-30; 1 Peter 4:10-11)


To serve those within and outside the church in word, action, and generosity. (John 13:12-17)


To hold all convictions and Christian freedoms in humility. (Rom 14; 1 Cor 8-9)


To use our words to build up one another and glorify God rather than speaking lies, deceit, slander, or gossip. (Eph 4:29)


To follow the guidance of Scriptures regarding the covenant of marriage, raising of children, or singleness. (Deut 6; Eph 5:22-33; 1 Cor 7:1-17)


To openly submit to the loving discipline of the church. (Matt 18:15-20; 1 Cor 5:9-13; Heb 12:5-11)


To willingly work under the guidance and authority of the elders of the church. (Heb 13:17; 1 Peter 5:5)


To pray for and proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth in whatever means the Lord enables. (Matt 28:18-20; 2 Cor 5:16-21)


We will, when we move from this place, as soon as possible, unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this Covenant and the principles of God’s Word.