History and Purpose of the Covenant Network

We seek to live out the Reformed faith found in Scripture and our confessions, and in our life together to follow the principles laid out in the Call to Covenant Community. We strive to proclaim and embody the gospel as we have learned it from the life and ministry of Jesus; we affirm the centrality of the Bible in our church; and we value the dynamic tension between unity and diversity. The Call to Covenant Community has been affirmed by 20 former Moderators, more than 3,000 ministers, 2,000 other officers, 400+ sessions, and five presbyteries.

Covenant Network was founded in August, 1997 to support the passage of Amendment (97)-A, the "Fidelity and Integrity Amendment, intended to give sessions and presbyteries more discretion in discerning God's call for ordained office on particular people, within clear Biblical and confessional standards.

Amendment A was not affirmed by a majority of presbyteries in voting during the winter and spring of 1998. Consequently the former "Amendment B" remains in the Book of Order, the constitution of the church, as G-6.0106(b). Although the amendment failed to pass, 46% of the votes cast in presbytery meetings that year favored Amendment A.

Covenant Network has led two subsequent efforts to delete or change G-6.0106b, via proposed Amendments 01-A and 08-B.  The most recent voting, on proposed Amendment 08-B in 2008-09, showed 49% of all votes cast supporting change.

The Covenant Network's appeal to the "broad middle" of the church has attracted support from across the denomination. Its founding Co-Moderators were Robert Bohl, Pastor of Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, Kansas and Moderator of the 206th General Assembly, and John Buchanan, Co-Pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago and Moderator of the 208th General Assembly. Its Board of Directors and Board of Advisors include distinguished pastors and theologians from all parts of the country, united in their determination to keep the church from either enshrining a narrow orthodoxy or splitting over non-essential matters.

Covenant Network's Program Commitments

The Covenant Network works for needed change through active programs of Informing, Networking, and Advocating. We are committed to helping the church stay together in faithful ministry, even as we continue to study the Scriptures and seek the mind of Christ on the question of ordination standards and other matters. In addressing a broad range of theological, biblical, pastoral, and ecclesiastical matters facing our church, Covenant Network

• Articulates a traditional, progressive, mainstream vision of the Presbyterian Church through publications, scholarship, and conferences;

• Organizes local Covenant Network chapters for study, prayer, mutual support, and attention to church polity;

• Participates actively in our General Assemblies;

• Provides moral and legal support and counsel to officers and sessions challenged under G-6.0106b of the Book of Order ("Amendment B"); and

• Works for needed changes in the church, including the removal of all categorical barriers to the ordination of gifted and called church members.

Covenant Network's History

Highlights of our first twelve years include:

• Issuing A Call to Covenant Community
• Gaining the affirmation of the Call by more than 3,000 ministers, 2,000 other officers, 20 former G.A. Moderators, 400 sessions, and several presbyteries
• The popular Covenant Network Luncheons at G.A., with speakers Jack Stotts, Peter Gomes, J. Barrie Shepherd, Joanna Adams, Jon Walton, Tim Hart-Andersen, Brian Blount, Cynthia Campbell, and John Buchanan
• The 1998 Covenant Conference in Denver on Living Faithfully in the Church When We Disagree, with Jack Rogers’s keynote address on “Reading the Bible the Presbyterian Way”
• The 1999 Covenant Conference in Atlanta on Jesus Christ and the Church, with Douglas John Hall and Barbara Wheeler keynoting
• The 2000 Covenant Conference in Pittsburgh on Biblical Authority and the Church, keynoted by Walter Brueggemann and William Placher
• The 2001 Covenant Conference in Pasadena on Christ Transforming Culture, with keynotes by Peter Gomes and Jack Rogers
• The 2002 Covenant Conference in Minneapolis on Confessing Christ Today, keynoted by Shirley Guthrie
• The 2003 Covenant Conference in Washington, DC on The Church We Are Called to Be and to Become, with a keynote dialogue between Barbara Wheeler and Richard Mouw
• The 2004 Covenant Conference in Chicago, Made in the Image of God: Thinking Theologically about Sex, keynoted by Luke Timothy Johnson and Jack Stotts
• The 2005 Covenant Conference in Memphis, Disciples in Community, keynoted by Kathleen Norris
• The 2006 Covenant Conference in Columbus, Discerning the Call, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of women’s ordination as ministers
• The 2007 Covenant Conference in Atlanta, Testimony, with presentations by Anna Carter Florence and Beverly Gaventa
• The 2008 Covenant Conference in Minneapolis, keynoted by Walter Brueggemann and Stacy Johnson, on Covenant: God Is Faithful Still
• Publication of Renewing the Vision: Reformed Faith for the 21st Century, edited by Cynthia Campbell (Geneva Press, 2000)
• Publication of Far From Home: Tales of Presbyterian Exiles (2004)
• Publication of Frequently Asked Questions about Sexuality, the Bible & the Church (2006)
• Publication of Guidelines for Examination of Church Officers (2006; rev. 2008)
• Production of Turning Points: Stories of Life and Change in the Church, named Best Educational Video of 2004 by the Religion Communicators Council, shown at the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, and broadcast on 100+ PBS stations
• Participating actively in local conferences on The Unity We Seek in Our Diversity
• Organizing successfully to defeat proposed Amendment 00-O, the “Limits on Prayer” amendment
• Actively supporting implementation of the 2006 and 2008 G.A.’s Authoritative Interpretations on “departures”
• Organizing three as-yet-unfulfilled campaigns to remove G-6.0106b from the Book of Order