Our CovenantsCovenants
Communities work best as its members enter into meaningful covenants with each other. The Urban Institute leaders are committed to operating within the following covenants with the students who come to the Institute. We ask students to enter into these covenants wholeheartedly at the beginning of their time with us and to continue to be guided by them throughout their time at the Urban Institute.
Covenant of Ministry |
Covenant of Faith |
Covenant of Focus |
Covenant of Discipline |
Our Covenant of Ministry
Students move through various stages of growth by:
- Believing
- Envisioning
- Discerning
- Empowering
The Institute leaders will look for God’s stirring as they pour their lives out into students – and as students allow leaders to pour their lives into them by listening and entering into dialogue with the leaders.
Pouring out of our lives into the life of another
We believe in listening to the voice of the Spirit more than giving others the insights we may have gained through our own wisdom. There is something unique that each of has to give to another that is orchestrated by the Spirit. It comes out of the depths of our being and needs to be shared with another person about their everyday journey in becoming like Christ. We are not professionals or people living out roles but image bearers who can participate in nourishing another’s soul by sharing ourselves.
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Believing We are new creatures in Christ and have a new purity and identity. It is foundational for any growth to encourage people to become who they already are. We do that by celebrating each member and believing in who they are. There are no identities based on the old nature in this ministry. |
Envisioning All of us are in the process of becoming. It is important for others to envision members in their new calling. Often we need many people to envision us before we have the faith to continue in our journey. This ministry will be built on helping others catch God’s vision for them. |
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Discerning There is something stopping us from becoming what we could be. It is called the old nature and often we are blind to the things that hold us back. Leaders must celebrate and envision but also tell the truth in a discerning way that will set people free. This ministry will be based on the freedom to tell the truth out of good motives and the need of the moment. |
Empowering Sacrifice is the bedrock of shared community. As we risk vulnerably sharing what gives us life at the deep parts of our souls, God mystically uses our sharing to empower others to live out their calling. |
We want to learn how to believe, envision, discern and empower people in better ways and to repent of our failure to love so that God can teach us through our brokenness to give as He gave to us.
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Our Covenant of Faith
Vital to our message is a statement of faith that provides the theological “river banks” for the development of resources. This statement of faith intends to do this while not unnecessarily alienating those we desire to reach. Each leader will hold to this statement of faith and each student is asked to respect this statement of faith as the framework for the instruction in the Institute.
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We believe in one God, Creator and Lord of the Universe, the co-eternal Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. |
We believe that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, died a substitutionary atoning death on the cross, rose bodily from the dead and ascended to heaven where, as truly God and truly man, He is the mediator between God and man. |
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We believe that all people are lost sinners and cannot enter the Kingdom of God except through the new birth. Justification is by grace through faith in Christ alone. Good works have no place in justification. We are fully dependent on God for both justification and sanctification. |
We believe that the Bible is God’s authoritative and inspired Word. It is without error in all its teachings, including creation, history, its own origins, and salvation. Christians must submit to its divine authority, both individually and corporately, in all matters of belief and conduct, which is demonstrated by true righteous living. True Christians desire to submit to the Bible and obey God. |
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We believe in one holy, universal, and apostolic Church. Its calling is to worship and witness concerning its Head, Jesus Christ, preaching the Gospel among all nations and demonstrating its commitment by compassionate service to the needs of human beings and by promoting righteousness and justice. Its central calling is to become a spiritual community where people profoundly connect with God and each other. |
We believe in the necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit for the individual’s new birth and growth to maturity, and for the Church’s constant renewal in truth, wisdom, faith, holiness, love, power, and mission. The resources of the New Covenant provide salvation and empower personal growth. |
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We believe that Jesus Christ will personally and visibly return in glory to raise the dead and bring salvation and judgment to completion. God will fully manifest His kingdom when He establishes a new heaven and new earth, in which He will be glorified forever and exclude all evil, suffering, and death. |
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Our Covenant of Focus
Each leader will focus on these values in their interaction with students. We ask each student to live in harmony with these values as the guiding values in the community that is formed.
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Biblical spirituality We desire to be Biblical, where the center of everything is God rather than human beings. Spirituality will include the concepts of repentance, surrender, soul rest and deep joy. |
Safe and Loving Community Our new purity creates the passion to accept each other by celebrating God’s grace. As a spiritual family, we will accompany and honor each other on the journey of receiving and living in God’s grace. |
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Hospitality We welcome and accept all people without prejudice, providing them with refreshment. This hospitality is practiced to foster an environment that will promote reflection and soul rest. . |
Growth We will focus on spiritual growth so that we can present every member as mature before Christ. |
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Solitude and Rest We offer the opportunity for people within the context of community to experience God in solitude and silence and be transformed through meditation, reflection and worship. |
Healing We invite people to enter into a God-directed process of healing to restore His original design of inner harmony and healthy spiritual, emotional and physical balance. |
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Sustainability We will work, both corporately and privately, so that we will not be a burden to the body of Christ. This will involve living a simple lifestyle and learning skills that can support us financially. |
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Our Covenant of Discipline
Discipline is important in any community. At the Urban Institute each student will develop a personal rule of life and freedom is given to develop personal convictions. However, we do have a communal covenant of discipline, based on the ideas developed in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book "Life Together."
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Community It is a blessing to be in community with God’s people and each student will strive to develop a balance of community and solitude. Relationships must be maintained through an attitude of humility and honoring others, because each person is a part of the Body of Christ. Each student will work to develop a healthy relationship with a spiritual director, at least two spiritual friends, and participation in a spiritual formation small group. This includes a willingness to hear and receive personal feedback. |
The Day Alone Solitude is essential for spiritual growth and nurture. Each student is to develop a discipline of personal time with God on a daily basis using a variety of spiritual disciplines. In addition, each student is to learn how to do a retreat day or days and incorporate time seeking God through retreats into a natural rhythm of life. |
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The Day Together Community is essential for spiritual growth because it is in the discipline of learning to love others that our character is formed and transformed. If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. James 2:8. It is assumed that each student will actively involve themselves from the heart in relationships and practice each skill presented to deepen love. Violations to love for each other will be addressed either by a spiritual director or in the group. Resolving conflicts will receive a high priority of time and importance. Each program of study will have different levels of time dedicated to the fostering of community and students are to make the most of the time allotted for this purpose. |
Ministry "Where the ministry of listening, active helpfulness, and bearing with others is faithfully performed, the ultimate and highest service can also be rendered, namely the ministry of the Word of God." (Life Together, pg 103) Students must start with an attitude of meekness, which involves the ministry of holding one's tongue, and become proficient at the ministry of listening, active helpfulness and bearing with others before seeking other ministries. Character formation must come before ministry development. |
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Confession and Communion Students will be encouraged to learn how to confess their sins to another member in the body. This could be done to the spiritual director or it could be to a spiritual friend. Communion will be a regular part of our time together as a body of Christ and each student is expected to fully participate in this form of worship. |
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