To live effectively as a community of disciples in the modern world, we need to have a common way of life.

As a community, we agreed on a set of basic elements that would define this culture, and that all members would try to follow. New members agree to these elements by joining our community. Here's what those elements look like...

We want to live as Christians. 

Therefore, committed members of the Work of Christ:

1. Have been initiated as Christians; they are personally converted to Jesus Christ, have received Christian baptism, and have been Baptized in the Holy Spirit
2. Hold to the truths expressed in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds
3. Accept Christians from other traditions as brothers and sisters in Christ
4. Accept traditional Christian sexual morality (which we teach in our initiation courses)
5. Are not living/persisting in serious sin (like adultery, committing abuse, practicing the occult, stealing, and so on)
6. Pray daily, have a regular habit of scripture reading or study, and, as applicable, pray regularly with their families
7. Celebrate the Lord’s Day (honor the Sabbath Day, and welcome it in a special way)
8. Participate actively in their own churches
   

We want to live in Community.

Therefore, committed members of the Work of Christ:

1. Participate faithfully in community life; they come to and participate in community gatherings and events, men’s and women’s pastoral “small groups”, and community instruction courses
2. Seek to follow and responsibly apply basic community instruction
3. Tithe, giving at least 10% of their income to financially support their local church and the Work of Christ community, with the allocation determined by the member
4. As able, financially help needy community members
5. As able, support the community’s mission through prayer, financial support, and volunteering personal time
6. Respect and follow the community’s pattern of governance (the way the community manages its affairs, makes decisions, and implements policies)
7. Seek community input for significant decisions
8. Maintain peace with other members (as far as it depends on them)
9. Handle disagreements in a Christian manner
10. At all times, observe appropriate boundaries when relating to children and youth
11. Relate with Christians from other traditions in a good way
12. Embrace the ecumenical call of the Sword of the Spirit (the community of communities of which the Work of Christ is a member)
13. Show hospitality to visitors, especially other members of the Sword of the Spirit
    

We want to honor God as married and single people.

Therefore, committed members of the Work of Christ:

For members who are single

1. Relate as a brother or sister with members of the opposite sex
2. Approach dating and courtship according to community teaching
3. Honor parents appropriately
4. If single for the Lord, live according to their chosen rule of life

For members who are married

1. Work for a marriage relationship that is in good order
2. If a husband, lead and care for his wife and children
3. If a wife, support her husband as head of the family
4. Have a regular husband-and-wife meeting to talk about marriage and family life

For members who are parents

1. Maintain obedience, respect, and good order in the home
2. Seek to hand on the Christian faith to children
3. Help children apply Christian community instruction
4. Seek input and guidance for family life
   

We want to relate wisely to our modern world.

Therefore, committed members of the Work of Christ:

1. Use media wisely and in a limited way
2. Instead of obsessing over possessions and worldly entanglements, live a relatively simple lifestyle
   

The shape of our life together, outlined in practical terms above, is expressed aspirationally in the commitment that full members make to one another and to our community. We call this promise a "covenant." A covenant is a solemn pledge people make when they seek to establish a new type of relationship. Christians are people of "The New Covenant," the relationship Jesus established with His followers through His life, death, and resurrection. Our community covenant reflects our desire to renew this relationship with the Lord, and it is based on the New Covenant He established. We want to be His people and to follow Him alone.

And one of the scribes...asked Him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength,’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:28-31). 

All Christians, through faith and baptism, have entered into the New Covenant established by Jesus Christ through His sacrifice on the cross. In these days, the Lord has called us to dedicate ourselves to living the New Covenant in a clear, specific, and particular way. As He has with His people in the past, the Lord has called us into a renewal covenant (e.g. Joshua 24:14-17; 2 Chronicles 15:12; Nehemiah 9-10). He has formed us into a people for Himself with a particular call and mission. This is expressed in a covenant relationship with one another and in the name He has given us, The Work of Christ Community. 

As we enter into this covenant relationship as a people, we remain committed to our churches, and we agree to support one another in that commitment. In addition, while this covenant is intended to be a stable commitment, we understand that it does not necessarily mean for everyone a lifelong commitment to this community. We can foresee that changing circumstances and other forms of guidance in a person’s life may indicate that it is no longer the Lord’s will for that person to continue active involvement in The Work of Christ Community; although, such a decision would be made only with serious prayer and counsel. 

It is with deep joy and gratitude, realizing the overwhelming goodness of God in giving us this opportunity, that we enter into the life of this people that God has called together. We accept the particular covenant relationship God has established with us and among us as a community, and we express this acceptance publicly as individuals and as a people.

In order to respond to what God is doing among us, in order to be that people He is calling us to be, we give our whole lives, past, present, and future, to Him. We will follow His Son, Jesus, and live more and more in the Holy Spirit. We will strive to love and serve Him through lives of daily prayer and service; to praise and worship Him always; to seek His face; to know and serve the truth of His Word in the joy, peace, and love of the Holy Spirit; to believe what He speaks to us and to be obedient to the truth of His Word and the guidance of His Spirit; to offer hospitality to those whom He sends us; to widen our hearts to receive those He adds to our number; and to carry out the mission He is entrusting to us. Above all, we seek to be a people who always grow, by His grace, in the fervor of that first love He has given us, He who is our all. We consecrate our lives to Him not simply as individuals but as members of a people, members of The Work of Christ Community. 

We desire to be united in love and to share a common heart, mind, and purpose with our brothers and sisters in The Work of Christ Community. God has called us to be an ecumenical, charismatic, Christian community in which He gives us the strength, order, and grace to love Him totally and to joyfully lay down our lives for one another. As an ecumenical community, we are committed to the support and encouragement of spiritual renewal among all Christian people. 

In order for us to be truly a community, a people of one mind and heart in our response to the Lord, we agree to serve and care for our brothers and sisters in The Work of Christ Community, and we understand and accept those things which make our life as one body possible. We agree to follow God through lives of service, praise, worship, Scripture, and daily personal prayer.

We pledge to obey the truth of God’s Word; and we pledge, with the help of pastoral care, community teaching, and sound Christian wisdom, to apply that truth to our lives. We expect that our personal guidance will be tested and confirmed by the common discernment of the community and its leadership. We agree to speak the truth to one another in love and live our lives in the light. 

We agree to support the order, structure, and patterns of our common life. We embrace community pastoral care which God has given to guide and unite us as a people. We agree to faithfully attend the gatherings and meetings of the community, so that we may fully participate in God’s work with us as a people. We will honor the Lord with a tithe of all our income and we will support the life of the body by sharing our financial and material resources. All this enables us to be a community, members of the same body, brothers and sisters working together in the mission He is entrusting to us as a people. 

By virtue of our membership in The Work of Christ Community, we are also members of the Sword of the Spirit, an international community of communities. We commit ourselves to love and support our brothers and sisters in the Sword of the Spirit throughout the world, and to serve with them in a common mission. 

We yield our lives to God completely, and we will follow Him as a people wherever He may lead. With faith in the Lord and abundant joy in our hearts, relying upon His power and grace to sustain us, we enter into this covenant with God as individuals and as a body.