COVENANT OF THE
FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON

The Massachusetts Bay Company fleet, under John Winthrop, having ‘sett
themselves down’ on the northern shore of the Bay, (present-day Charlestown),
the ‘thirtieth day of July [1630] was set apart for fasting and prayer.’ With solemn
religious exercises, the party gathered under ‘the umbrage of a great tree,’ and
voluntarily formed themselves into a Church.
________

In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in Obedience to His holy will, and Divine
Ordinaunce:
Wee whose names are hereunder written, being by His most wise, and good
Providence brought together into this part of America in the Bay of Massachusetts,
and desirous to unite our selves into one Congregation, or Church, under the Lord Jesus
Christ our Head, in such sort as becometh all whom He hath Redeemed, and Sanctifyed
to Himselfe, doe hereby solemnly, and religiously (as is His most holy Presence) Promisse,
and bind our selves, to walke in all our wayes according to the Rule of the Gospell, and
in all sincere Conformity to His holy Ordinaunces, and in mutuall love, and respect each
to other, so neere as God shall give us grace.

This touchstone covenant is a typical affirmation of ‘covenant theology,’ a simple
statement of obedience to God and of aid to one another.

It prepares for the registering of names of those who will sign this ‘contract’:
‘Wee whose names are hereunder written...
gives the location:
‘brought together into this part of America in the Bay of Massachusetts...
declares the organizational structure:
‘desirous to unite ourselves into one Congregation, or Church...
signifies its religious leader:
‘under the Lord Jesus Christ our Head...
characterizes its members as
‘all whom He hath Redeemed, and Sanctifyed to Himselfe...
pledges aid to one another:
‘[Wee] solemnly, and religiously...Promise, and bind ourselves,
to walke in all our ways...in mutuall love, and respect each to other...
accepts responsibilities:
‘according to the Rule of the Gospell,
in all sincere Conformity to His holy Ordinaunces...
portrays the community ethos:
‘and in mutuall love, and respect each to other...
and ends in humility:
‘so neere as God shall give us grace.’