We are together only to be the church of God in Christ. We are not here by chance, but God through grace is making of us a fellowship to embody and to express the Spirit of Christ.

In this fellowship, “there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for all of us are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Therefore, we reject any status in this fellowship in terms of church office, possessions, education, race, age, gender, sexual orientation, mental ability, physical ability, or other distinctions.

As a member of such a fellowship, I intend to live under the following commitments:

  • I will gather regularly with the church to worship God, share the good news, and continually examine its implications for my life.
  • I will study the Bible, meditate, and pray so that I will more fully experience the presence of God.
  • I will also be sensitive to God’s message as it comes to me from persons, history, the arts, nature, current happenings in the world, and other sources.
  • I will be responsible to God through the creative use of all my income and possessions. I will give systematically and even sacrificially to the financial support of our church’s ministry.
  • I will discover and affirm the gifts God has given me and use them in God’s service; I will evoke, affirm, and celebrate the gifts God has given to others.
  • I will intentionally give myself as Christ’s servant through participation in His mission in the world.
  • I will offer to know and love my sisters and brothers in this fellowship, and I am willing to be known and loved by them.
  • With God’s help and the help of my brothers and sisters in this fellowship, I make this covenant.

Adopted 1974, Revised 1997

The Covenant hangs as a large banner on the left front wall of the sanctuary at Oakhurst Baptist Church, but is much more than wall art.  Members explain their actions and the activities of the church in terms of the covenant in conversations frequently. Not so much in Sunday School or worship, but while sharing meals together. I have attended Oakhurst for the past 9 or 10 weeks and have gone out to lunch after church with members 7 or 8 times. Someone has referenced the covenant in conversation at least 4 or 5 times over this period, which is amazing for a statement that was adopted in 1974 and revised in 1997.  The covenant is a living, breathing commitment at Oakhurst Baptist Church.

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