Our Vision: "A church, a city, and a world continually made new by the grace of Christ."

Mission

Covenant Presbyterian Church of Chicago exists to glorify God by living out the grace of Christ in and through worship, teaching, relationships, and outreach.

Core Values

1. The Gospel. The Gospel is our most cherished belief; it is our identity. The Gospel is the centerpiece of the life and ministry of the church. The Gospel is the good news that God, in His infinite love, became a human like us in the person of Jesus in order to be our representative (Galatians 4.4-5). He lived a perfect life and, instead of being ushered back into glory, died on our behalf, for our sins (John 1.29). The Gospel is the good news that if we repent of our sins and put our trust in the perfect work of Christ, our sins are forgiven, we are adopted into God’s family, and the Holy Spirit comes into our life to change us – making us more like Christ (Mark 1.14-15, 1 Peter 2.23-24, Romans 8.14-15, Colossians 3.10). This is the good news that the whole world needs to hear, and that we, as God’s people, need to hear again and again. The Gospel is not only the way of entrance into the family of God; it is also the means of growth within that family.
2. The Glory of God. We believe that the purpose of all of life is to glorify God, our Creator and Redeemer (1 Corinthians 10.31, Romans 11.36). Everything that Covenant does is intended to make God’s worth more evident to all people.
3. A Robust and Practical Theology. Covenant is distinctly Reformed in both its confession and worldview. We affirm the guiding principles of the Reformation as accurately representing the truth of Scripture. This heritage informs all that we do.
4. The City. While God has sent people to our congregation from every part of Chicagoland, we recognize that God has placed us in the city for a reason. We strive for the welfare of our city (Jeremiah 29.7) and are committed to having a local presence that is manifested through all of the particular ministries of the church, as well as in partnerships with other city ministries.
5. Strong Relationships. Relationships are the context in which growth in the grace of Christ is both experienced and measured. We are all in relationships – with individuals, with communities, and with our Creator. As a church, we are in relationships with other churches, our neighborhood, and our city. Covenant wants to foster and support healthy, redemptive relationships both individually and corporately.
6. Gospel Outreach. The good news of the grace of Christ is the greatest thing that any of us has ever heard. We are called to minister that grace not only to ourselves, but also to the city and the world in which we live. Covenant is committed to a robust and comprehensive gospel outreach that encompasses both the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.

Philosophy of Ministry

What would it look like for our church to be continually made new by the grace of Christ? What would it look like for our city to be made new? What would it look like for our world to be made new?

Our vision comes from the language of the penultimate chapter of Scripture, John’s vision of the Risen Christ in Revelation 21.5. John writes that he saw Jesus, seated on the throne, saying:

Behold, I am making all things new.

This is the reality toward which God’s people, and, indeed, the entire world, are headed (Romans 8.18-25). Scripture is punctuated with the truth that, in the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ, a new creation has begun (2 Corinthians 5.17, Galatians 6.15, Revelation 3.14, Colossians 1.18, Ephesians 2.15, 2 Peter 3.13, 2 Corinthians 4.6). The church is called both to proclaim this new creation as a present reality and to make it evident in this world. We do this by following Jesus’ commission to make disciples (Matthew 28.18-20) and the command to love God and neighbor (Mark 12.28-34). In this way, we live out the prayer that Jesus taught us - your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6.10).

Our vision is to see ourselves, our city, and our world made new by the grace of Christ. We want to see the Kingdom of God become more and more present all around us. We play our part in this vision by focusing especially on our worship, teaching, relationships, and outreach. The following pages outline in more detail some of our fundamental assumptions and convictions about these four categories.

Worship

Worship is the proper response of all human beings to God (Psalm 95.1-3, Psalm 96.1-6). Covenant is committed to transcendent, Reformed, and grace-centered worship that points us toward God and His magnificent worth and the grace that He offers us in Christ.

When we worship, we are ascribing honor and glory to God simply because He is worthy. Our worship of God is centered on Christ, our Redeemer, and is empowered by the Holy Spirit (Philippians 2.9-10). Worship is something that should happen all of the time for God’s people, and we believe that, in addition to this lifestyle of worship, God has set apart a day for us to come together corporately and worship.

In our corporate worship, our primary purpose is to glorify God. As a result of this desire, Covenant will consistently teach that the magnificence and worth of God should be the impulse of our worship, and the Word of God will be pervasively present in our all of our corporate worship.

We draw from a rich liturgical and musical tradition. Our liturgy comes from the pages of the New Testament and includes corporate prayer (Acts 2.42, 1 Timothy 2.1), the reading and preaching of Scripture (1 Timothy 4.13, Colossians 4.16), the singing of songs (Ephesians 5.19, Colossians 3.15-16), the giving of gifts (Philippians 4.18, 2 Corinthians 9.6-9), the confessing of our faith (Hebrews 13.15, 1 Timothy 6.12), the confession of our sins (James 5.16), the assurance of pardon (2 Corinthians 5.17), fellowship with and greeting of one another (Acts 2.42, Romans 16.16), the holy sacraments of our Lord (Matthew 28.19-20, Luke 22.14-21), and reception of a blessing (2 Corinthians 13.14). These elements will always be present in our corporate worship, either weekly or in regular, consistent observance.

Since the central focus of Reformed worship is always Jesus Christ and the boundless and amazing forgiveness and grace that was secured for God’s people at the Cross, Covenant will always have worship that is centered on this grace. In order to do this, we will adhere to the Calvinistic rhythm of worship that is constructed around three cycles of “gospel reenactment”: gathering and preparing for worship, hearing the word of God read and expounded upon, and responding appropriately to the grace of God.

We are committed to have worship that is corporate in the fullest sense of the word. We recognize and rejoice in the fact that God gives good gifts to His church, and that the church does not function properly if all of the people of God are not encouraged and enabled to use those gifts (1 Corinthians 12.12-31, 1 Peter 4.10-11). As a result of this belief, we are committed to having God’s people participate in our corporate worship as they are gifted and called: in the reading of the Word, in leading various parts of the service, and in music. We want to encourage active worship of the living God for all of God’s people, whether in leadership or congregational participation.

Our worship will acknowledge the values and concerns particular to urban people, both those who follow Christ and those who do not. Our worship will also reflect how the gospel of Christ addresses those values and concerns – at times challenging them, and at other times embracing them.

Teaching

Knowing about God and His works of creation and redemption is crucial to both the growth and nurture of our faith and our mission to tell others about Christ. Covenant is committed to strong teaching ministries, both inside and outside the church.

Our faith is based on the realities of God’s works of creation and redemption. Specific truths lie at the heart of the Gospel: There is a God who has revealed Himself in Creation, in His Word, and in Jesus Christ His Son, who died to save His people from sin. Because our faith is based on truth, the historic church has always placed a great emphasis on teaching - handing down, from one generation to the next, the truth that has been received. The centrality of teaching in the work of the church is reflected in Paul’s words to Timothy: “Give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and to teaching ... Take pains with these things, be absorbed in them (2 Timothy 4.13-15).” The church is serious about teaching because we have been given the truth of the Gospel. It is our responsibility to understand the content of the faith, apply it to our own lives, and then proclaim it to everyone around us.

God is glorified when His character and His works are made known to all people. Ultimately, Covenant emphasizes teaching so that God will be glorified in our church, in our city, and in our world. God is also glorified when the church puts into practice the things that they have heard. Covenant is committed to glorifying God by emphasizing true learning – the internalizing of truth – over simply rehearsing facts.

We stand in a rich and diverse teaching tradition. We are committed to the Reformation principle of sola Scriptura, which means that the Bible is the only infallible authority in every area of life (2 Timothy 3.16-17). In everything that Covenant does, especially in the area of teaching, we will consciously submit ourselves to the authority of Scripture. As a Presbyterian church, we adhere to the Westminster Confession of Faith. The Confession is not Scripture, nor does it have the authority that Scripture has over us, but we do believe that it accurately represents what Scripture teaches and reflects the doctrine that the historic Christian church has always affirmed. The teaching ministry of Covenant will be grounded in the Confession.

We affirm that Christ is the King over all things, so we believe that there is nothing that we can study that does not ultimately reflect Christ and teach us about Him. All truth belongs to God, and His truth is for all people. Covenant is committed to a diverse teaching ministry that explores all areas of life without an artificial dualism between “sacred” and “secular” (Colossians 1.15-20, Philippians 2.9-10).

Our teaching ministries will be oriented to a diverse urban congregation, and our teachers and their curricula will be geared to their needs and interests. We would like Covenant to be known as a church thoroughly engaged in Christian thought and to have an observable teaching presence, both as a way to serve other Christian communities and to reach outside of the Christian community with the gospel.

Relationships

Covenant wants to glorify God by helping to create and foster healthy relationships with Him and with each other. Jesus said that there was no greater commandment than to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12.28-34). Love, then, is the essence of a healthy relationship.

We are committed to teaching the truth about the love of God and how we, as those He has created in His image, can have rich communion with Him. We are committed to having all that we do be gospel-centered, which means that we always revisit the doctrines of grace and remind ourselves of the joy of repentance. The implications of these truths for all of our relationships are great, so they will be preached, taught, and talked about at all times and in everything that we do.

Our relationships with each other flow out of our relationship with God. Since we have experienced the love of God, we can truly be lovers of one another. Our relationships with others should be just like our relationship with Him – redemptive and full of the gospel (Ephesians 4.32, Mark 10.42-45). In order to actively provide a context for these kinds of relationships, Covenant is committed to developing dynamic relational ministries.

We are a church that is intricately connected to other churches by means of our denomination. Covenant desires to be actively involved in our denomination, on both a national and local level, for the benefit we receive from those relationships as well as for the positive influence that we can have on other churches.

We also have the responsibility and the privilege of relationships with other churches and ministries in the city. Covenant will actively serve the other PCA churches in the city by providing resources for their work, and Covenant will partner with other city churches and para-church ministries who, like us, are actively seeking to minister the gospel of grace.

Covenant desires to have a good relationship with the city of Chicago itself and the immediate neighborhood of Bucktown.

Outreach

Jesus told his followers to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28.19). The Apostle Paul told the church that the right response to being reconciled to God is for the love of Christ to compel us to become ministers of that same reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5.11-6.13). He wrote, quite simply, that God makes his appeal through us. As amazing as it might sound, we are the ones who have been called to herald the good news in every place and at all times – the good news that if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation!

All of us are called to be ministers of reconciliation in the contexts in which we have been placed: in families, friendships, workplaces, and in our neighborhoods. When we do this, we glorify God.

In addition to our daily, individual responsibility to minister the gospel, and the weekly presentation of the gospel in our corporate worship, Covenant will actively support intentional gospel outreach in the city and in the world through both word and deed:

Following the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations by proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, missionaries and mission organizations that participate in gospel outreach will be supported both fiscally and prayerfully by Covenant. The church will also serve as a vehicle for sending out members of our church community for short-term mission projects.

Following the Great Commandment to love both God and neighbor, and therefore making the Kingdom of God physically present, Covenant will embody a compassionate response to the needs of our city, encouraging and equipping the congregation toward gospel outreach through works of mercy and service. Covenant will also sponsor particular opportunities for mercy and service and partner with other city ministries that do the same.