Our Worship

As the name suggests, Christ Covenant is a church based on covenant with and commitment to Christ. Here are some of the ways our worship and church structure seek to honor this covenant.

First of all, our worship is centered around covenant renewal. This does not imply that our covenant with God is on a week-long cycle and will switch off if we don't recharge the battery. Rather, we renew our covenant with God through worship much like a husband and wife would renew their covenant by sharing a meal together. This renewal involves confession, consecration, and communion. We confess our sins to God, we dedicate our lives to him, and we share the Lord's Supper.

To honor the fact that we are renewing the covenant with our Lord, our worship is conducted with reverence and a level of formality. There are roughly two different types of churches today: those that are "feelings oriented," perhaps dubbing themselves as "seeker sensitive," and those that are "truth oriented." The second kind, of which our church is one, could be viewed as insincere, insensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit, and even seeker hostile. But God requires reverence from us, and the fact that our service is pre-planned with a service bulletin and a sermon outline does not mean that it is in some way insincere. The other thing to keep in mind is that truth oriented does not mean brain oriented. The truth ought to be manifest in our entire body, and we represent this by using different postures throughout our worship: kneeling to confess our sins, raising our hands in praise, standing to receive the gospel reading, and sitting during the Lord's Supper.

Church membership itself is also viewed as a covenant, but not a covenant as binding as a marriage. That is to say, transferring from one church to another is perfectly acceptable, providing it is not in an attitude of schism. We do maintain a formal roster of the congregation and its leaders. This is because obedience to the leaders is not possible without knowing who they are, and it also provides a measure of accountability.

Finally, we believe that not only believers but also their children of all ages, including the newborn and the unborn, are members of the covenant. "This promise is for you and your children." Consequently, they are to be made welcome in covenant renewal, and should also receive the mark of the covenant in baptism. We welcome them in our services and at the Lord's Table. When God made his covenant with Abraham, he made it with him and with his children after him, and so we view the children as participants with us in this covenant. This is not because we get to decide this, but because Christ has called them to himself.