The Covenant Community
“A covenant community is a wonderful experience – when you are a member with others who encourage each other and ‘have your back’ when things are difficult. This is especially so when the presence of Jesus is the center of sharing ‘life together.’”
- former university student, now teacher and activist for immigration and the environment A Grammy-award winning song that was at the top of the Billboard charts for many weeks, begins with a question: “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” That’s a question almost everyone – not all, but some – can hear deep down and asks in some way. To love God and neighbor and self with all of one’s mind and heart and soul and strength – is the wisdom of the ages. And the historic faiths proclaim that life is good and that the beauty of the earth and its multifaceted peoples and diverse cultures can bring blessing and deep joy.
But the song plaintively cries out, “Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?” Today, the “web of life” – human and natural – while strong and vibrant, also is strained and in disrepair.
A teacher wrote some years ago. “There is one web of life. You are a part of it. The web is in trouble – and you can do something about it.”
The Wesley Center is God’s summons –
a new sojourn
a new discipleship
toward being a radical church
and a revolutionary movement
The covenant community known as the Wesley Center is a gathering of university student-residents who honor questions, guard each other’s dignity, and, as Jesus did, explore the height-depth-breadth of life to become fully human, fully alive. It is a covenant community of student-residents who begin to discover that being significant – is to be significant to others addressing personal and social issues that persons – younger and older – communities, ethnicities and nations now face. Thus, the covenant embraced by each of the student-residents is a daily discipline of sharing meals together, having conversation together, singing and enjoying recreation together, praying together, learning together, and serving together. At the beginning of each semester, the specifics of the covenant are intentionally shaped by the student-residents – to fit each individual’s study and work schedules and to be responsive to the changes in each person’s life as well as the challenges and conditions in our society.
To serve together means that the student-residents, as a covenant community, discuss and plan and implement ways by which to serve the neighboring community and its residents (2-5 hours per week). The dimensions of the covenant, if chosen, include plans to reach out to other students and to link with other Indiana University student organizations as well as with other faith communities (ecumenical and interfaith) in Bloomington. Work projects in the community and other national or international service projects and programs are possibilities that also are intentionally explored for cooperative engagement. The covenant embraced by each resident at the Wesley Center entails that each student-resident will enter into an agreement with the Fairview United Methodist Church for living in residence that includes a contribution to help with rent, utilities, and wi-fi. Also, included with that agreement are those activities associated with residential upkeep. In turn, Fairview United Methodist Church provides each student-resident with an honorarium for his/her participation in the Wesley Center program and community service. (see Application)