From Pathway: A Family History
A condensed version of the original 1689 church covenant of the Congregational Church of Salem Village (now
Danvers), Massachusetts
Agreed upon and
consented unto by the Church of Christ at Salem Village at their first Embodying, on ye 19 Nov.
1689
"We whose names (tho unworthy of a name in this church are) hereunto subscribed,
Lamenting our own great unfitness for such an Awful and solemn approach unto the Holy God
and deploring all the miscarriages committed by us... And yet apprehending ourselves called by
the Most High to Embody ourselves into a different society, with a sacred covenant to serve the
Lord Jesus Christ and Edifie one another according to the Rules of his holy word...
"We do, in some measure of sinceritie, this day give up ourselves unto God in Christ, to be
for him and not for another, at the same time renouncing all the vanities and Idols of this present
evil world... We give up ourselves, and offspring, unto the Lord Jehovah, the one true and living
God... hoping at length to live forever with him.
"We do likewise give up ourselves one unto another in the Lord, engaging (with divine aid)
as a church of God to Submit to the order, Discipline and Government of Christ in this his
church, and to the Ministerial teaching, guidance, and oversight of the Elder (or Elders) thereof,
as to such as watch for our Souls; And also to a mutuall brotherly watchfullness according to
Gosple rules, so long as by such rules we shall continue in this relation to each other...
"We resolve uprightly to study what is our duty, and to make it our greif, and reckon it our
shame, whereinsoever we find our selves to come short of the discharge of it, and for pardon
thereof to humbly betake our selves to the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant.
"And that we may keep this covenant, and all the branches of it inviolable for ever, being
sensible that we can do nothing of our selves, We humbly implore the help and grace of our
Mediator may be sufficient for us: Beseeching that while we are working out our own salvation,
with fear and trembling, He would graciously work in us both to will and to do. And that he
being the Great Shepherd of our Souls would lead us into the paths of Righteousness, for his own
Names sake. And at length receive us all into the Inheritance of the Saints in Light.
Narratives are taken from Pathway: A Family History, and may be freely distributed for non-commercial purposes.
© 1996-2004, Michael McGinnis, Bryan, TX