Introduction

In Christ God has offered the New Covenant to all people.  Countless are those who have entered this Covenant by faith and baptism.  They form a great company in heaven and on earth.  It is a joy and privilege to know Christ Jesus as Lord, to be numbered in his Body, and to have brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world.  Our Lord Jesus Christ has commanded his followers to love one another and has prayed that they all be one.  

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Heeding his command and mindful of his prayer, some Christians in our time have received God's call to love and be joined to brothers and sisters not only in their own local churches and from their own church backgrounds but also in other churches and from other traditions. Such, by the grace of God, are we: God has put in our hearts the desire to live out Christian unity day by day. He has led us to come together as an ecumenical, charismatic and multicultural community, Antioch, which we believe he has initiated and continues to sustain.  

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We believe he has given us a fourfold mission: to live out (and foster) Christian unity as far as we are able, to foster holy family and single life, to spread (and defend) the Gospel, and to encourage other similar communities.  We are profoundly grateful to God for his call and the provision of a means to live it out. It is with joy that we make the following covenant with one another before him.

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Our covenant

We declare to one another and before God our profound gratitude for the salvation won for us by Christ.  Dependent upon divine grace we pledge ourselves anew to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbour as ourselves. We aspire to live in submission to the Scriptures and with due regard for our respective churches.

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As Christians brought together by God we earnestly desire to help one another to know Him more, to follow his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and to be constantly filled and empowered by his Holy Spirit.  Worshipping God together is at the centre of our community life.  Furthermore, we undertake to love and serve him in lives of daily prayer, the study of his Word, to participate in our churches, to do honourable work, to be concerned for our fellow men and women, and to be active in faith-filled spreading of the Gospel.  

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We commit ourselves to being good stewards of the community life God has given us: 

•    by loving and caring for one another and those he adds to our number, 
•    attending the meetings of the community, 
•    supporting the pattern and order of our life together, 
•    serving in the community, 
•    and giving generously of our material and financial resources.  

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We shall make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  

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May God equip and anoint us for the mission he has given us.  May he use us as a prophetic sign to his church and to those who do not yet know him.  And may he send people out from our midst to be a blessing to many, both in London and elsewhere.  

We commend ourselves to his faithful care, asking that the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, continue to be upon this his work, his Antioch, a community of the Sword of the Spirit.