The New Year: Renewing the Covenant

On this first day of 2011, it is worthwhile to remember and renew the covenant with God established in our baptism. Here is the Wesleyan Covenant Prayer as printed on p. 607 of the United Methodist Hymnal:

Holy God,
I am no longer my own but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt,
   rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things,
   let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
   to they pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
   thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
   let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

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I wrote about covenant renewal services last year on this blog, which you can access at this link.  There is also an excellent article on this part of the Wesleyan tradition written by Amy Forbus, which you can find here.

Happy New Year!