Sacred Journey Church of Providence, Rhode Island. A Christian Reformed Church and Acts29 Network Church

What is Covenant Membership?

A Covenant Member of Sacred Journey Church is someone who has assimilated into our church family through a community group and publically commits to discipleship, service and prayer as a member of our larger body of believers. We serve a God who relates to us through covenants, and at Sacred Journey we also seek to respond to God and each other in actual, declared commitment. At the most basic level, Covenant Membership is a commitment to be faithful in gathering with the church and actively engage in fellowship and service to others while continuing to journey with them in discipleship to Jesus.

How To Become a Covenant Member

If you’d like to become a member of Sacred Journey, you must first be baptized and an active participant in a community group. The next step is to talk to your community group leader and listen to the sermons listed at the bottom of this page. Each of these sermons covers a core practice of Sacred Journey, and your community group leader can answer any questions you have. Your community group leader will then inform the church leaders of your desire to become a member. If you have an account on Sacred Journey’s social network, The City, you can click here to initiate the online process.

The Six Commitments of Sacred Journey Church

Covenant Membership is a commitment to community; a commitment to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. When you become a member of Sacred Journey, you are brought before the church body and asked the following questions. To be a Christian is to live a life of continual repentance and faith, so keep in mind that these are not goals we attain, but paths we walk together:

Commitment 1 – Discipleship

Do you commit to live as a disciple of Christ, learning from Him, following Him, devoting yourself to the mission of the Church that is to go into the world and be involved in the lives of others for the purpose of making them Disciples as well?

Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Commitment 2 - Repentance

Do you commit to a life of continual repentance from sin, to humbly receive correction when needed, to boldly but gently give correction to other’s when needed and to respond to the Holy Spirit’s conviction that will come when you hear the Word of God preached from the pulpit and see it practiced in community with other Christians?

Matthew 3:1-2 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

1 John 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.

Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Commitment 3 - Gospel Community

Do you commit to live as Christ’s body, to bring your faith beyond Sunday gatherings, to extend yourself into the lives of other Christians, seeking true spiritual transformation by faithfully attending gatherings small and large?

Acts 5:42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Acts 2:42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Commitment 4 - Submission

Do you commit to remaining engaged in relationships within the church, even when difficult, by allowing the Holy Spirit to cultivate in you a humble, teachable, generous and forgiving attitude toward others that refuses to cut off or ignore and strives to honor, respect, and listen?

Ephesians 5:21 …but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Commitment 5 - Sacrifice

Do you commit to give generously of your time, your money and your talents, not out of compulsion or duty, but out of a thankful, overflowing heart of gratitude, offering them up to God as the “first fruits” of your life so that His Gospel and His people my flourish as a light to this world?

2 Corinthians 9:6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Commitment 6 – Gospel Decision Making

Do you commit to laying down your life, losing it for the sake of Christ, putting Him first in everything, understanding that your life is not your own, making all your decisions through the lenses of the Gospel, and seeking God’s will as the greatest influence on your decisions regardless of your comfort or desires?

James 4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

2 Timothy 2:3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

Serving One Another

At Sacred Journey we expect all of our members to serve on one of two basic ministry rotations: Nursery Team, where workers look after the congregation’s younger children, and Setup Team, where workers arrive early, set up all the necessary elements for our Sunday gathering and then stay a little late to put all the equipment away after service. There are also various opportunities to serve in specialized areas like music, audio/visual, hospitality ministries and more.

We also expect all members to gather faithfully for corporate prayer. We gather together about an hour before each Sunday service to lift up the needs and mission of the church through prayer and to learn a posture of humility towards God and one another. We ask that each member attend at least once a month.