Our Covenant

Adopted June 4, 2017
We, the members and friends of Mount Mansfield Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, covenant together to create and sustain a spiritual community that welcomes all. We create this fellowship as a place to actively explore big questions in community, to nurture our spiritual curiosity, to deepen our faith, to support each other in times of trouble, and to celebrate together in times of joy.
Guided by the Seven Principles of our Unitarian Universalist Association, we make these promises to each other:
·      We speak our own truths with courage and learn from others with open hearts;
·      We offer the best of ourselves in service to the Fellowship and assume the best intent in others;
·      We give of our time, creativity, energy, and financial resources, as we are able, and we receive the gifts of others with gratitude;
·      We show kindness and understanding in accepting each other’s strengths, uncertainties, and limitations;
·      We seek forgiveness when we fall short and forgive the shortcomings of others with compassion;
·      Together, we take responsibility for the well being of the fellowship as a community.
We make these promises to guide our lives together, knowing this is a living covenant that grows with us over time, as we seek new truths together. We challenge ourselves and support each other in living this covenant beyond these walls.
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Background

Covenant is the silk that joins Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations, communities, and individuals together in a web of interconnection. The practice of promising to walk together is the precious core of our creedless faith. Every UU congregation has covenanted to “affirm and promote” the Seven UU “Principles and Practices” and to promise “one another our mutual trust and support.”

Some UU congregations also have written agreements for their own congregation. Written congregational covenants help people understand and practice how community members aspire to be together, and what to do when those aspirations fall short. In this way, covenants are like holy signposts that help a group of people know where they are headed and how.

MMUUF decided in June 2016 to create a written covenant for our congregation. This process came at the end of a two-year period of having “Covenant” as the theme for our Sunday Services. MMUUF formed a new committee to lead the fellowship-wide process of writing an MMUUF covenant.

We engaged Karen Bellavance-Grace from the Congregational Collaborations & Small Congregations Support department of the New England Region of the Unitarian Universalist Association, to help guide us.

Karen led our Sunday Service on October 9, 2017 which was our kick-off event for the few months of work that it took to write our own covenant. During October and November, the committee led Fellowship conversations about what we value most about MMUUF, how we think about our future together, and how we see our place in our community. With Karen’s wisdom and guidance, the committee developed a draft Covenant. From January through May 2017, the Fellowship considered the draft, suggested changes, and finally voted unanimously to adopt the Covenant at the June 4, 2017 Annual Meeting.

Here is some more information about covenant writing from the UUA website.