Summary of Insights, Challenges and Experiments from Mission Summit Conversations (June 2013)

• Insights
  • Covenant involves power which when utilized intentionally across those in covenant builds trust. Trust includes behavior plus time.
  • Covenants must be “owned” by each group–not standardized.
• Challenges
  • Covenants are God’s building blocks of the church. How do make it more intentional? ( local church, regionally, nationally).
• Experiments
  • We were intrigued by a church that renews its covenant each year, with a 5-week intentional process. Each person is very clear about the covenant. Associational covenants are only as good as the mission. If there is not a clear and intriguing mission, it’s hard for people to commit to a meeting.

Summary of Insights, Challenges and Experiments from the Mission Table (November 2013)

• Insights
  • “Covenants” are a part of life at many levels—personal, local church, region, national, international.
  • All Covenants need clarity of accountability.
• Challenges
  • Covenants are spiritual and aid in mission alignment
• Experiments/Projects
  • Covenants need to be regularly remembered, reviewed, celebrated, reaffirmed and when appropriate-revised.

Read the full notes:

Mission Summit Conversations:

• Group 1 Learnings

Mission Table:

• Day 1

Views expressed are the sole opinion of conversation participants. They do not express the views of American Baptist Churches USA, or individual American Baptist churches. Conversation notes and summaries are shared to allow American Baptists and friends to easily review and use these Mission Summit Conversations and the Mission Table learnings as they wish.