In our vibrant, ever-evolving community, how we choose to be together is at the heart of our shared life. As Unitarian Universalists, we don’t gather around shared beliefs—we are bound by our covenant, our promises to one another about how we will live and act in right relationship. These promises guide us in our worship, our work, and our witness in the world.

That’s why we’re excited to share with you the launch of the Living Covenant Lab—a new initiative designed to deepen and refine our Covenant of Right Relations. This process is all about ensuring that our covenant remains an actionable, lived document that reflects both who we are now and who we hope to become.

We currently rely on a few guiding covenants:

  • Our Sunday Covenant reminds us that “Love is the spirit of this church and service is its law…”
  • In small groups, we practice trust and openheartedness through covenants like: “We create trustworthy space by being openhearted…”
  • Our Covenant of Right Relations calls us to “build a religious community guided by love and sustained by respectful relationships.”

While these covenants have served us well, we know that living in community can be complex. As we grow and change, our covenants must evolve to meet the realities of our lives—whether that’s navigating conflict, addressing harm, or deepening our practices of accountability and care.

What is the Living Covenant Lab?

The Living Covenant Lab is a multi-stage process that starts with an invitation for our community to reflect on how well our covenant is serving us and where it could grow. The first phase will involve a single 90-minute gathering where we’ll listen to your thoughts, stories, and experiences:

  • Where has our covenant been a guiding light for us?
  • Where has it fallen short? What’s missing?
  • How can we make our covenant more actionable, so it is felt and practiced in real ways across our lives?

This discovery phase will be followed by a deeper dive into what we learn, including a 5-session series that will invite participants to co-create a renewed covenant that better reflects our lived experiences and aspirations.

Why Now? Why You?

Our community has always thrived on the active participation of our most engaged members—people like you. As we launch this process, we want to make sure those who have invested so much in this community are part of this important work. Whether you’re deeply connected to small groups, have served in leadership, or have been involved in creating spaces of covenantal care within Foothills, your voice is critical to shaping our path forward.

We’re not asking for a big commitment right now—just your input during this first phase. The feedback we gather will help guide us into the next steps. Your experiences will ensure our covenant remains not just a document, but a living, breathing guide for how we build and sustain relationships within this beloved community and beyond.

How to Get Involved

We invite you to join us for the first phase of this process on Nov 13th at 6pm. Space is limited, so we encourage you to sign up early . This is a chance to share your thoughts, listen deeply, and help shape the future of how we live in covenant at Foothills.

As we move through this process together, we’re excited about what this renewed covenant could mean for our congregation—making it more actionable, more inclusive, and more meaningful for our daily lives.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to this community. We look forward to co-creating this next chapter with you.