Covenant Agreement

At our CBOQ Assembly in June 2008, a motion proposing adoption of Covenant Agreements between member Churches and Convention and between member Associations and Convention was approved.

In July 2008 a letter with a copy of the covenant agreement was sent to each member church from our Executive Minister, Ken Bellous, with an invitation to consider affirming the covenant.

If your church/association has not yet responded to this invitation, we would encourage you to review the covenant, communicate it to your congregation or constituency and consider affirming it. If you choose to affirm the covenant agreement in one of your upcoming business meetings, please inform the Convention so that there is a record of your action (by mail or email to exec@baptist.ca).

Further information follows which we hope will give you a better understanding of the purpose, context and implications of affirming the covenant agreement for your church or association.

Purpose of affirming our covenant together

The covenant agreements are based on the vision, mission, core values and mandate for the Convention as approved by its Assembly. While identifying the nature of the commitment of the Convention to its Members and vice versa, they also define the unique relationship that exists as we associate together as Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec.

Giving expression to a covenantal relationship will help improve our understanding of the values and purposes that bind us together and the ways in which we relate together and support each other. It is a way that we as members can take a voluntary step to affirm our understanding of and support for our membership in Convention, and also the means for confirming Convention’s role and responsibilities for its members. It is a positive step which will help us understand each other better and work together more effectively.

As a convention of churches, we voluntarily work together through:

Participating in the joint decisions and actions of our Assembly
Sharing our financial resources and talents for ministry and mission within our two provinces
Contributing to joint projects and partnerships
Transforming Leaders

- Encouraging and connecting pastoral leaders - clusters, cohorts
- New Pastor Orientation – helping initiate leaders
- Leader resources – Personal Growth Plan, educational modules
- Development – coaching, mentoring
- Equipping – workshops, retreats
- Support mechanisms – accreditation process, pension plan, medical benefits, LTD, EAP

Transforming Churches

- Youth programs and resources – curriculum, Avalanche/Blizzard retreats, leader resources
- Barnabas Initiatives – encouraging transformative partnerships
- Visioning and assessing tools – Transforming Communities, NCD assessments
- Support for church processes – treasurers, pastoral search, crises
- Identity and connection
- Equipping – workshops, seminars, consultations
- Stewardship education resources – Building Financially Healthy Churches seminars

Transforming Communities

- New church starts
- Outreach to new people groups
- Justice issues – advocacy, public affairs
- Compassion ministries – (eg. Matthew House, Friendship House)

But sometimes we misunderstand the nature of our relationship, have different ideas about what it means to be members of our Convention, or neglect attention to our responsibilities in sharing and participating in our work together. By not having a common understanding of what our membership in the Convention means, we put ourselves at some legal risk, but more importantly, we don’t take full advantage of the opportunities we have to cooperate with each other and we hinder the effectiveness of our work together.

The covenant agreements were drafted by an Advisory Team composed of pastors and lay people. Originally circulated to member churches prior to Assembly 2007, the draft agreements received very positive comments and acceptance at a workshop during Assembly 2007. Minor changes were made as a result of input received from that workshop.

The intent of getting widespread input into drafting the covenant agreements and bringing them to our Assembly for decision is to give a well-founded basis for churches / associations to consider affirming the covenant agreement as a positive response in recognizing our relationship together.

Frequently Asked Question about the Covenant Agreements
Church Covenant Agreement
Association Covenant Agreement

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Covenant Agreement