Benefits of a Covenant for a Revolutionary Sunday School Class

According to Dictionary.com, a covenant is an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something specified. Revolutionary class leaders desire to accomplish much for the Kingdom and therefore have high expectations. One way to communicate those expecations is by developing, agreeing to, and signing a covenant.

Why are covenants needed? Covenants raise expectancy as well as focus energy and effort. With a covenant, many potential conflicts can be avoided since the covenant will be between all group members, including the teacher. In my experience, time taken to disucss the elements of the covenant is beneficial to the group even if the group does not agree to the terms. Getting some issues on the table can create momentum and progress even without a covenant, but even more is generated when the group is in agreement on all issues.

What are the steps a class can take to work together to develop a class covenant? I like the list on the Serendipity House website, in an article entitled, Covenanting: How to Get Your Group to Raise the Standard. Here are the steps:

1. Tell them what a covenant is.
2. Tell them what a covenant will do for the group.
3. Remind them what a small group [Sunday School class] is.
4. Tell them how an agreed upon covenant will affect them personally.
5. Discuss the covenant.
6. Give people time to consider the covenant (at least a week).
7. Commit to the covenant.

A great example of a small group covenant can be found on the New Covenant Community Church website. A men’s ministry small group sample covenant can be found on the Top Gun Men’s Ministry website. Andy Stanley’s church, Northpoint, encourages groups to sign a group covenant (read an article by Josh Hunt for more details). Search the web for “small group” covenant for more examples.

The Serendipity House article I mentioned above lists 10 areas to include in a class covenant:

• priotizing group attendance,
• participation by all encouraged,
• respect given for opinions and questions,
• confidentiality expected,
• life change worked toward,
• care and support permission given,
• accountability agreed to,
• empty chair to be filled,
• mission to reach out and multiply, and
• ministry by serving and giving.

Lead your group to raise their expectations, their standard by leading them to work on a class covenant. Let’s give God our best efforts. Let’s be revolutionaries!