History of Baptist Covenants
Church covenants have a long history within the Reformed and especially Baptist tradition, serving as formal expressions of the mutual commitments of a local congregation. Their roots can be traced to the covenant theology of the Puritans and English Separatists, but they became particularly prominent among seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Baptists. Early Baptist churches commonly adopted covenants in which members pledged to walk together in Christian love, submit to biblical discipline, support one another, observe the ordinances, and pursue holiness. In colonial New England, the church covenant also functioned as a practical expression of the gathered church: believers voluntarily entered a particular congregation and committed themselves to its spiritual life and discipline. The tradition continued among American Baptists, and by the nineteenth century written church covenants were widespread, often emphasizing unity, worship, mutual care, evangelism, giving, and godly conduct. Historically, therefore, a church covenant was not viewed as a replacement for Scripture or as a new covenant with God, but as a congregation's solemn statement of the biblical obligations its members voluntarily undertake toward Christ and toward one another.
Benjamin Keach’s church covenant represents an important early expression of the Reformed Baptist practice of covenanting together as a local congregation. Associated with Keach’s church at Horsleydown in London in the late seventeenth century, the covenant called those who professed faith in Christ to bind themselves to one another in Christian fellowship and obedience. It emphasized walking together in the ordinances of Christ, maintaining mutual love and unity, watching over one another, submitting to biblical discipline, bearing one another’s burdens, and pursuing personal holiness. Importantly, Keach’s covenant was not presented as a new covenant of salvation or as an addition to the covenant of grace, but as a solemn commitment among professing believers concerning how they would conduct themselves as Christ’s church. It therefore provides a significant historical example of how Particular Baptists understood the local church as a covenanted community of baptized believers, ordered by Scripture and mutually responsible for one another's spiritual welfare.
Our Church Covenant
Having been led by the Spirit of God to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, and on the profession of our faith in Him, having been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we do now prayerfully and seriously make this covenant with God and our fellow saints.
We promise, therefore by the grace of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit, to always pursue Christian love; strive for the improvement of our church in knowledge, holiness, and zeal; to uphold its doctrine, ordinances, and discipline according to the teachings of the New Testament; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of this ministry, the relief of the poor, and to support foreign missions; to identify and cultivate our spiritual gifts and focus our energies for service of Christ’s Kingdom; to seek to lead others into its fellowship to the end that the earth would be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea.
By God’s help we further commit to cultivate personal and family devotions; to endeavor to lead our children to a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, to instruct them in the Scriptures and the spirit of this covenant, and to seek the salvation of our family, acquaintances, and strangers whom God places in our path. To give no man cause to speak evil against us, we will seek to be just in our dealings, to be faithful to our commitments, to set the proper example in our attitude and conduct, and to avoid conversation harmful to others and inappropriate anger.
Realizing that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, we will avoid things that are harmful to the body, exercising self-discipline and cultivating purity in all areas of our lives. We promise to be teachable and accept correction/reproof that is grounded in the Word of God since he that refuses correction and hardens his neck will suddenly be cut off without remedy.
We promise to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember each other in prayer; to aid each other in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, always ready for reconciliation, and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay. We promise to approach the Lord’s table with awe and reverence knowing that taking it in an unworthy manner is a grievous sin against our Savior and the body for whom he died.
Unless we are providentially hindered, we promise to assemble together every Lord’s Day for mutual edification and encouragement of the body. We humbly submit to the servant-leaders (elders) that God has placed over us, knowing that they have been divinely appointed to guide us and will give an account for our souls.
Moreover, when we move from this place we will as soon as possible, unite with some other gospel-preaching church, where we can carry out the principles of God’s Word and the spirit of this covenant.*
*Adapted from Mount Vernon Baptist Church’s Covenant with some alterations. Approved on 9.6.2026.