[UPDATED] Apropos of the Puritain-esque document entitled "A Covenant for the Church of England," Mark Harris of Preludium has an intriguing suggestion:
… Let’s draw up a compact, as if we were agreeing to work together, rather than a covenant as if we were agreeing.
I like it!
UPDATE: Mark has more to say about this idea in a follow-up posting. He notes that each of us already has a covenant — the baptismal one — and that it’s compacts that churches are all about:
We already have a covenant, one which we refer to in the Episcopal Church as the Baptismal Covenant. […] Compacts can address common mission, tasks,
direction and purpose. Compacts can hold us accountable to one another.
[…] I would propose we think seriously about an
alternative to “Covenant” language. Perhaps compact might serve. Let’s
keep our Covenant with God, and compact with one another to get on with
the work we promised in that Covenant. [Emphasis added.]
OTHER BLOGGERS: Please consider helping to publicize Mark’s idea; it’s well worth injecting into the discussion.
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