wfn.org | A Covenant of Faith

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org (ENS)]

November 13, 1997
Episcopal News Service
Jim Solheim, Director
212-922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

97-2011
A Covenant of Faith                                                          

                      In the name of God,
                              the one who creates
                      In the name of Christ,
                              the one who redeems
                      In the name of the holy spirit,
                              the one who guides in truth
                      In the name of the trinity,
                              the three in one

                                        Amen

       The Holy Scriptures commend us, as a people of faith, to publish
glad tidings that the world may know that things which were cast down
are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made
new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him
through whom all things were made, Jesus Christ. Therefore, we publish
this sacred Covenant as a living sign of the renewal of the centuries old
relationship between the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and the
Anglican Communion. We gather in community, on this feast of All
Saints, in the year of our Lord Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Seven, to
pray God's blessings on our common mission.
       We are the Indigenous peoples of this hemisphere. We are Native
American and Native Alaskan people. We are Native Hawaiian. We
come from many tribes and nations and speak many languages, but this
we share in common: we are a free people of a common history bound
by a shared tradition who embody a culture both ancient and wise.
       We are the Episcopal Church. We are a community comprised of
many cultures, many races, and many traditions, but this much we share
in common: We are equal partners in the mission of Christ as it is
proclaimed and lived out by the church we celebrate and serve.
   

       Representing these two expressions of our church, we gather to
make a Covenant of Faith between the Episcopal Church and its
Indigenous peoples.
       We begin in prayer, asking God to bless and sanctify our pledge
of faith as we seek the wisdom and direction of the Holy Spirit in
fulfilling its promise.
       We add our individual names to this Covenant in humility,
inviting others to join us in the commitment and hope it embodies for us
all.
       We offer this Covenant to the church, inaugurating a decade of
study, action, and prayer as the relationship between us continues to
mature and bear the fruit of the gospel.
       We lift this Covenant up as the sign of a recognition and
reconciliation for all Indigenous communities and their neighbors in the
Episcopal Church: may a new decade of respect and justice unify us all
as we seek to be the family of God.
       Therefore, we joyfully covenant ourselves to the continuing
mission of Christ as it finds both meaning and expression in the
Indigenous peoples and the Episcopal Church, with these statements of
our faith:

                                     I. 
  
       As we strive for justice in reconciling our history of colonialism
and the suffering it has engendered for generations between us:

               We will continue to be as constant in our search for the
       truth as we are        responsive to its discoveries.

                                     II.

     As we work together to find new solutions to the social and political
challenges still before us:         

               We will continue to be as dedicated to the principles of
               self determination as we are committed to justice for all
               humanity.

                                    III.

     As we expand the theological and spiritual dialogue between our
several traditions and communities:

               We will continue to be as respectful of the integrity of
       Indigenous traditions as      we are loving in sharing Christ.

                                     IV.

       As we stand together to honor, protect, and nurture our home, the
earth:

               We will continue to be as active in stewardship of God's
       creation as we are     diligent in our advocacy for its care.

       With these four principles as our guide for a Decade of
Remembrance, Recognition, and Reconciliation, we, the undersigned,
pledge our hearts and minds to the task God has placed before us. 

       We do so not with a pride that assumes we speak for all, but
rather with a humility that invites others to join us in living out the
gospel. 

       We call upon all people to reflect upon the true meaning of our
agreement: that through Jesus Christ those who were once separated by
walls of hostility have been brought together: those who were once
unequal in power and position now have equal access to the spirit
through the church they share: and that together they are no longer
strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members
of the household of God. 

       We are the Episcopal Church. We are partners in the future for
Which God has planned and humanity has dreamed over four hundred
years. May God bless this Covenant and may God bless all those who
embrace it as their own.

 
     To these four statements of a shared faith, in solemn covenant one to
another, we commit ourselves before God and in celebration of the
mission and witness of the Episcopal Church. In so doing, we honor one
another as we begin again the long journey that has brought us this far.
With God's help, in the love of Christ, and under the direction of the
holy spirit: may we journey longer still in friendship and in faith.