Lesson 5 of 9 · Video + questions

The Covenant

Every group makes six commitments to each other: presence, authenticity, confidentiality, care, growth, and openness to the mission. Naming them out loud is what turns a room of people into a group.

Confidentiality — and its one exception

What's said in the group stays in the group. That promise is what makes authenticity possible. There is one exception, and it is not negotiable: if someone shares that they want to hurt themselves or someone else, you bring that to a pastor immediately. Confidentiality protects people; it was never meant to endanger them.

Commitments are modeled, not announced

Your group will live the covenant about as well as you do. If you're consistently present, honest about your own life, and quick to care, they'll follow. If you're not, no amount of reading the covenant aloud will fix it.

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”
James 5:16

Check Your Understanding

Lesson Quiz

1 question · score 70% or better to complete the lesson

1. Which of these is explicitly named as an exception to the confidentiality commitment?
Sharing prayer requests with your spouseSomeone sharing that they want to hurt themselves or someone elseDiscussing group struggles with a pastor for adviceMentioning group stories in a sermon illustration

Your Reflection

One question to wrestle with

These go to the discipleship team so a coach can walk with you. Write honestly — there are no right answers here, and nobody is grading you.

Of the six covenant commitments (presence, authenticity, confidentiality, care, growth, openness/mission), which one do you personally find hardest to model consistently, and why? What's one concrete thing you'll do to grow in that area before your group starts meeting?

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