In case you’ve missed them, here are the first two parts of a series on launch team covenants.

Launch Team Covenants Part 1

Why Should I Have a Launch Team Covenant?

Since you’re reading this post, I’m assuming that you’ve made the decision to utilize a launch team covenant.  So, what do you include?  Well, here’s the answer that you never like to see, it’s depends.  Real helpful I know.  I can’t tell you what to include any more than I can tell you what the vision of the church is.  But here are a few cautions and pointers to get you going.

Cautions:

1. Don’t be legalistic.  It’s easy to make the covenant a list of rules to follow.  Don’t do that.  People will either feel guilty, excluded or righteous.  None of which are good things.
2. Don’t be lengthy.  You aren’t writing a thesis or a book.  Think one page with pictures and large font.  People need to be able to remember what they are agreeing to.  I sign the iTunes agreement all the time, but haven’t once read what I’m agreeing to because it’s like 20 pages long.  Keep it short and memorable for people.

Pointers

1. Be biblical.  For each part of the covenant find Scriptural support.
2. Use the Disciple Filter.  When you are done, ask yourself if the covenant describes a disciple of Jesus.  The things we ask people to do will produce a disciple.  Are these things producing disciple like the Bible describes?
3. Be challenging.  You may disagree, but I think the covenant should be challenging.  It should inspire me to grow and be more like the new creation God is forming me to be.
4. Be inclusive.  This may seem to contradict my last point.  However, I believe mature Christians as well as pre-Christians should be on the team.  You need to word the covenant in such a way that both can be involved without compromising to the lowest common denominator.
5. Align the covenant with your values.  Values are something that most church planters craft.  The problem with values is that they are not actionable.  For each value, add an as demonstrated by statement.  So if you value love, how is that demonstrated?  This should help you craft the covenant.

I recognize that some would be much more simplistic in writing a launch team covenant.  Some are pretty simple.  We want you to find a role on a ministry team, give financially and commit to doing that for six months.  I think that approach is very valid too.  But personally, I’d one to communicate more vision than that with the covenant.  I’d want people to see a picture for what a disciple of the church should look like in the church.  What do you think?  What should planters include in their launch team covenant?