What is a Covenant Community?

Five Key Ingredients Of A Covenant Community

a) Baptism in the Holy Spirit (also known as a Charismatic Spirituality) with near mandatory
attendance at all District and Community wide Worship Meetings ('Gatherings');
b) The Practice of Charismatic gifts such as Prophecy, Preaching, Healing, Deliverance from Evil
Spirits; the belief in the world as hostile and the need for near constant Spiritual Warfare.
c) Submission to a “pastoral system” in which every person is subject to the judgment of leadership
and based on the Shepherding/Discipleship model;
d) Allegiance to a “Mission” that creates a focus and goal for the members; also used to justify the
Coordinators activities, decisions and direction of the Community.
e) A 'Covenant' ritual and document that binds people to an agreement to live under the authority
of the Coordinators and the teachings of the Community, often described as 'life-long.'

Basic Structure
a) Senior Head Coordinator: sits at the top of the power pyramid and governs the entire community.
b) Jr Coordinators or District Heads: Report to the Sr Head Coordinator and are responsible for the
Pastoral Activity for their particular District or Service Area.
c) Districts: major subdivisions within the entire community, usually based on geography such as
the University District (which contains mostly college students) or the Westside District, where
people from the west side of a town may live.
d) Handmaids or Womens Leader: May pastor single women in a group or individually while
functioning directly under the assigned District Head; may provide a particular service for a
particular outreach in the community, ie the Pro-Life Outreach or other or ministries.
e) Pastoral Leader: Reports to their District Head on the general members they are assigned to.
f) General Member: generally has no pastoral responsibility except for their wife and/or children.
g) Service Heads: responsible for specific areas of service: Music Ministry, Prophecy Group,
Evangelization or other activities of the Covenant Community.

The Recipe
Currently, the most probable place a new member will be recruited is through University
Christian Outreach (UCO). These young minds -eager to create a difference in the world and lacking
in life experience- form the primary recruiting ground for the Sword of the Spirit. The majority are
usually Catholic but Protestants are also welcome. Most communities are ecumenical in nature if not
mission, but many are also fully Catholic. Catholics seem most comfortable with authority based
communities.
Members must be “Baptized in the Holy Spirit”. They will attend weekly mens and womens
groups, participate in a service to the community or one of it's outreaches, are encouraged to participate
in their denominational church and will 'meet when the community meets', for many on Sunday night.
Members are told to tithe 5% of their gross income to their Church and 5% to the Community
New members will complete foundational courses on basic community beliefs. New members
will accept the role of pastoral head, who will begin the process of implementing the community's role
and authority in their life. After completing all courses (about 2 years) and after approval of the
Coordinators, the 'underway' member may be offered a chance to make the 'Covenant.'
The 'Covenant' is treated like a life-long bond to the Community, though it is in principle just an
agreement to follow the rules and participate fully in the culture of the Community. This includes a
tithe of 10% of the members income, alms-giving, meals for others as needed, gifts for leaders, etc.
These Communities are almost always politically conservative, Pro-Life and evangelical in
nature. A more detailed explanation of what a Covenant Community is can be found here or here.