Towson

  United Methodist Church

    501 Hampton Lane

    (Beltway Exit 27B & Dulaney Valley Road)                                  email: towsonumc@towsonumc.org

    Towson, Maryland 21286             410-823-6511                         Elevator is available to access all 3 floors!

.

2008

Hello Everyone,

I have been thinking about covenant a good bit lately; it has been a large part of many of the ministries that are starting again this Fall. In our Safe Sanctuaries
training, we sign a covenant to do all we can to keep our children and youth safe. In Christian Connections classes, covenant can be a way to organize how the group works together in love. In Confirmation, covenant is how we clarify the youths’ and the teachers’ expectations for the class. In all these areas, the covenant serves as a way to formally state those “rules” which groups follow. Every group, regardless of size or purpose, has rules. Sometimes those rules are formal, written statements, and sometimes they are unspoken understandings. Some groups’ rules are strict, and some groups’ rules are extremely loose. Yet every group must have some expectations about members’ behavior and the meaning of the group in order to function at all. A covenant is a way to allow each group member the opportunity to discuss, adjust, and finally agree upon the way that group will organize.

Yet, a covenant is much more than a simple agreement on a set of rules. Covenant is a word with sacred meaning. God made a covenant with persons and groups to form relationships. For example, God made a covenant with Noah (and all creation) that never again would a flood destroy the earth. The sign of that covenant is the rainbow. God made a covenant with Abraham, and affirmed that covenant with Abraham’s son and grandson, to give them land and descendants and blessing. Indeed, through them all people are blessed. Their part of the covenant was to follow God and be loyal to God alone. The sign of the covenant was circumcision. God also made covenants with Moses and the Hebrew people and with David. We think of the new covenant when we describe the relationship we have with God through Jesus Christ. Covenant is a holy agreement which we make with one another in the presence of God and which we make ourselves with God. The rules of a group established in a covenant here in a ministry of the church are based on God’s expectations for how we treat one another: in love, in mercy, in forgiveness, in justice, in trust, in kindness, in generosity, in humility. That is the difference between how a group at church functions and how a group elsewhere functions: we are God’s family and we look to God for how we covenant to work together! May God bless each group here at TUMC and guide us as we work together to fulfill God’s will.

2008 CONFIRMATION CLASS:  Michael Cummings, Andrew Howell, Brandon Goss, Christie Davison, Rachel Mayhew, Caroline Green.  Confirmation was held during the Worship Service June 15, 2008...CONGRATULATIONS!

Click here to go back to the Pastors' Page