Sample Pastor/Congregational Covenant for the Installation of New Pastor

installation

I have noticed more churches have installation services when they call a new pastor and I consider this a healthy trend. The formality of an installation service communicates that something significant is taking place and that is marks a new day and direction in the life of the church. Another benefit is that when the installation service is done well it reminds everyone that each person has a vital role to play as the church moves forward for the glory of Christ. Below for your consideration is a sample of the covenantal commitments I have used when I have had the blessing to lead a pastor/congregation and new pastor in an installation service. In fact, I recently used this for the installation of Rob Pochek as the new pastor of FBC Charlottesville on Park Street.

Our Common Hope (confessed together)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

1 Peter 1:3-4

Congregation

“But now God has set the members, each one to them, in the body just as He pleased.”  1 Corinthians 12:18

“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” Hebrews 10:24-25

“As each one received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”  1 Peter 4:10

  • Will you commit to honor the Scripture by recognizing it as God’s inerrant, all–sufficient, living and authoritative Word? 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; Matthew 4:4; Hebrews 4:12
  • Will you commit to faithfully attend the preaching of the Word of God in corporate worship and receive the Word, not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the Word of God? Hebrews 10:24-25, 1 Thessalonians 2:13-14
  • Will you commit to give sacrificially of your time, resources, and energies to the work of the church, employing your spiritual gifts for the edification of the church and the exaltation of Jesus Christ? Ephesians 5:16; Matthew 6:19-20; Acts 21:13; 1 Corinthians 12:11
  • Will you commit to love your pastor, praying for him rather than complaining about him, honoring him as one who labors in Word and doctrine for the good of your soul and recognizing him as the shepherd God has given you? 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; 1 Timothy 5:17; Hebrews 13:17
  • Will you honor your pastor and follow him as he follows Christ, honoring him as Christ’s under-shepherd, ordained by God to keep watch over your souls, and will you let him do this with joy and not with groaning, since that would be of no advantage to you. 1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17; Hebrews 13:17
  • Will you commit to stand alongside your pastor in enacting loving church discipline, when necessary, for the purpose of individual repentance and restoration, the honor of Christ and the purity of the church? Matthew 18:15-18; 1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Timothy 5:20
  • Will you commit to lay aside your personal preferences, in order to strive for the unity of the church, desiring with all your actions to build up the body, while forsaking all gossip, slander, and foolish talk, realizing that you will give an account to God for every idle word? Ephesians 4:3; Proverbs 10:19; Matthew 12:36; Ephesians 4:29
  • Will you commit to self-sacrificially and courageously, seek the salvation of the lost by every biblical means and labor to spread the gospel to all peoples? Psalm 96:3-4; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Revelation 5:9

Pastor

“Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to the shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”  Acts 20:27-28

“Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.” 1 Timothy 5:17

“Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock”  1 Peter 5:2-3

  • Will you commit to faithfully preach the whole counsel of God’s inerrant Word, in season and out, without apology and without compromise, not shrinking to declare the whole counsel of God? Acts 20:27; 2 Timothy 4:1-5
  • Will you commit to lead this church by being a personal example to this congregation, committed to a life of holiness, abstaining from all practices that may jeopardize your witness and spending and being spent for proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ? 2 Corinthians 12:15, 1 Peter 5:3; 1 Timothy 5:19
  • Will you commit to lead this congregation by being a personal gospel witness in your own life? Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 20:20
  • Will you determine to know nothing among this congregation but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, not coming to them in persuasive words of human wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power that God might get all of the glory? 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; 1 Thessalonians 2:4-5
  • Will you commit yourself to loving this congregation by praying fervently for those Christ purchased with His own blood and has now given you to shepherd in this church? 2 Chronicles 7:14; Acts 6:4; Acts 20:28
  • Will you desire to love this congregation as a nursing mother cherishes her own children imparting to them not only the gospel but also your own life? 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8
  • Will you do everything in your power to shepherd this flock by protecting them from false teaching and false teachers? Titus 1:9; Acts 20:29-30; 2 Timothy 4:3-4
  • Will you commit to be God’s leader in your own home, teaching your family the things of God, according to the Scripture, by the word and deed and leading them to love Christ and His church? 1 Timothy 3:5

Together We Confess (confessed together)

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

Romans 11:16

By |July 26th, 2016|Categories: Blog|

About the Author:

David E. Prince is pastor of preaching and vision at Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky and assistant professor of Christian preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of In the Arena and Church with Jesus as the Hero. He blogs at Prince on Preaching and frequently writes for The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, For the Church, the BGEA and Preaching Today