What is a Covenant Community?

In a first for Questions from the Unsettled Mind, we will be hosting a guest with deep insight into Covenant Communities, because he once belonged to one!  John Flaherty was a founding member of the Steubenville, Ohio, Servants of Christ the King Covenant Community in 1977.  Servants of Christ the King joined the Sword of the Spirit meta-Covenant Community organization in 1982.  After years of covenant community life, Flaherty appealed to the Bishop of Steubenville, Albert Ottenweller, for help in addressing a number of the community’s curious teachings and controlling practices.  In 1991 Bishop Ottenweller sent an investigative team to thoroughly address Flaherty’s concerns and ultimately condemned the community’s entire “covenant.”  (You can find that investigative report—what we now call the “Bishop Ottenweller Report”—in our Shared Folder at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HgL9UjDkCTvlSBUwRO14oYMyGPg-0Swn, and it is well worth a full and careful read.)  After leaving the Covenant Community, Flaherty left Ohio, but began to collect documents, recordings and articles about the Sword of the Spirit and other Covenant Communities.  In 2011 he created the Facebook group, "Covenant Community, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly" which now has nearly 2,000 members who, in Flaherty’s words, “use the site to tell their stories, post about abuse histories from the Covenant Communities, and celebrate their escape to mental, spiritual and emotional freedom!”  I will provide Flaherty’s 2022 article, “What is a Covenant Community?” unedited except for form in what follows.  For Questions from the Unsettled Mind podcast listeners, you will hear my voice reading Flaherty’s work.  (Flaherty’s original 2022 article can also be found in the Shared Folder, including its many additional research links.)  And so, we begin, “What is a Covenant Community?”

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With the recent nomination of a former Handmaid of a Covenant Community to the Supreme Court of the United States, many people are asking for the first time, “What is a Covenant Community?” The following description attempts to provide a deeper explanation using documentation from two major Covenant Communities as well as the experiences of former members who have exited, many after years of participation.

Five Key Ingredients of a Covenant Community

a)    Baptism in the Holy Spirit (also known as a Charismatic Spirituality) with near mandatory attendance at all District and Community wide Worship Meetings ('Gatherings');

b)    The Practice of Charismatic gifts such as Prophecy, Preaching, Healing, Deliverance from Evil Spirits; the belief in the world as hostile and the need for near constant Spiritual Warfare.

c)    Submission to a “pastoral system” in which every person is subject to the judgment of leadership and based on the Shepherding/Discipleship model;

d)    Allegiance to a “Mission” that creates a focus and goal for the members; also used to justify the Coordinators activities, decisions and direction of the Community.

e)    A 'Covenant' ritual and document that binds people to an agreement to live under the authority of the Coordinators and the teachings of the Community, often described as 'life-long.'

Basic Structure

Senior Head Coordinator: sits at the top of the power pyramid and governs the entire community.

Jr Coordinators or District Heads: Report to the Sr Head Coordinator and are responsible for the Pastoral Activity for their particular District or Service Area.

Districts: major subdivisions within the entire community, usually based on geography such as the University District (which contains mostly college students) or the Westside District, where people from the west side of a town may live.

Handmaids or Women’s Leader: May pastor single women in a group or individually while functioning directly under the assigned District Head; may provide a particular service for a particular outreach in the community, e.g., the Pro-Life Outreach or other ministries.

Pastoral Leader: Reports to their District Head on the general members they are assigned to.

General Member: generally, has no pastoral responsibility except for their wife and/or children.

Service Heads: responsible for specific areas of service: Music Ministry, Prophecy Group, Evangelization or other activities of the Covenant Community.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit: A Charismatic Spirituality

To become a regular member of a Covenant Community requires you be prayed over by others to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. People already “Baptized in the Holy Spirit” gather around the new receptor. They lay their hands on the individual and call upon the Holy Spirit to be released inside the person. This indwelling of the Holy Spirit comes from the Pentecost experience of the Disciples of Jesus Christ after his death, when tongues of flame came to light on each one of their heads. The Disciples then received the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Community Gatherings are often a period of time set apart each week for the entire Community to gather and worship. In the covenant, it is specifically stated that members must meet when the community meets. That is because it is at these gatherings that the Charismatic worship is practiced and the Community hears the same words about its current life and direction. THIS IS CRUCIAL to the life of a Covenant Community.

In these Prayer Meetings/Gatherings, the entire community gathers as one. They begin the service with worship. Worship generally begins with singing together a rousing song. As the song ends, people break into boisterous, free 'praise', where they shout out praises to God. Then another song may follow or the group may start praying/singing in tongues (glossolalia). It is the opinion and personal experience of this author that a subtle use of spiritual trance states induced by charismatic worship (boisterous praise followed by singing in tongues, followed by a silent, overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility) places the member's mind in an 'unguarded' position.

What follows next are 'words from the Lord' either via scripture or the charismatic 'Gift of Prophecy.' Prophecy in Covenant Community is what sets these religious sects off from mainstream religious denominations. The Covenant Communities take the prophecies given by their head prophet as God speaking directly to the entire community. It's the Coordinators' job then to implement whatever God is saying through this Prophet. Thus, the head prophet becomes the de facto leader of these communities.

But back to the worship experience: individuals in the deep state of openness created by Charismatic worship (In Covenant Communities often referred to as, “Being in the Presence of the Lord”) receives this information as if the Lord Himself is speaking to them. Thus, critical cognitive sensors that might otherwise question what the member is hearing are disarmed. The directions, prophecies and, 'words from the Lord' flow right past the mental guards of members' minds to become a part of the member's new collection of 'spirit filled' information. This information is then used to inform and develop the member's worldview and spiritual beliefs.

“Headship” or Pastoral Care: Shepherding & Discipleship

Covenant Communities believe in a system wherein each member submits their life to a 'head.' This system has been called many things over the years but “Headship” and “Pastoral Care” are two of the most common terms. It comes out of a Protestant Tradition, championed by Five Protestant Preachers/teachers in the 1970s called Christian Growth Ministries.

The responsibility of pastoral leaders is to pastor the members of the community. Pastoring is not a passive activity of reflection and dialogue. It is not a form of 'spiritual direction.' It is an active, directive activity with specific goals to 'form' a person's mind and spirituality on the understanding of what it means to live in this particular Covenant Community. It may involve the expectation of complete submission of a person's personal, marital, service and occupational life, to a fraternal relationship with the pastoral leader that requires less self-reporting and is more of a social experience.

The following are typical areas of focus for the pastoral leader of the general member:

1)    Leading the member in the implementation of the teachings of the Covenant Community;

2)    Receiving from the member a description of areas of sin in the member's life so as to, 'root it out';

3)    Discussing with the member the progress of implementing the teachings of the community in the life of that member's wife and children;

4)    Reviewing the member personal difficulties in life, marriage or job or any other area and advising or directing regarding the same;

5)    Relaying to the member information received from the District Leader or Head Coordinator regarding information about the community, the world or 'how to think' about events publicly known;

6)    Members consult Heads for advice and the community's views on subjects such as real estate purchases or struggles with other members;

7)    Single members will be focused on making a 'state of life' decision: living single/celibate for the Lord or marriage. Single members are usually told not to date in their first year of Community membership to fully consider their state of life choice.

7a) The single member is advised and/or directed regarding the choice of a future spouse.

7b) The Covenant Community usually has a specific dating policy. One couple in the Steubenville Covenant Community who ignored this policy had to stand in front of their district and repent for not following the policy. Then they were made to do it a second time in front of the entire community.

8)    Pastoral Care of single women will typically play down any 'worldly ambitions,' such as furthering education or obtaining professional employment. Instead, single women who discern with their pastoral leader that they should pursue a 'married' state of life (as opposed to single state of life) will be advised to be open to a marriage where they can fulfill the goals of “God” to be 'fruitful and multiply.'

9)    Pastoral care of married women is generally administered by the husband's pastoral leader. The husband is said to 'govern' her, according to one Covenant Community's Policy Notebook (page 7, Shared Folder.) (Such specific information is never shared with those considering joining the Covenant Community.)

This intimate and investigative exploration of a member's life is done with the understanding that it is an act of love and care. By submitting oneself to the pastoral system one is opening oneself up to maturity in Christ, healing and change in the areas of sin – by submitting to the pastoral leader and the pastoral system. In these situations, information about a member travels up and down the pastoral chain. There is no guarantee of confidentiality within the Community. This writer has never seen a document that guarantees confidentiality even with people outside the Covenant Community.

By implementing the teachings in one's own life as well as one's family, one is thought to be sparing oneself and the family the terrible mistakes and injuries that could befall them by living outside the spiritual safety and grace of the Covenant Community.

Many of these concepts play well in the mind of an individual when initially seeking a deeper life in Christ and a Christian Community. However, it will be years before the new member discovers exactly what belonging to a Covenant Community actually entails. By that time occupational choices have been made, homes have been purchased and relationships have been formed, reconsideration of one's previous decision is nearly impossible. Many may have moved from across the country, leaving jobs, extended family and church families to, 'follow God's call to live in Christian Community.”

The future member is spiritually and practically 'formed' by pastoral leaders, District Heads and the Head Coordinator by submitting to their headship. Over this period of time, leadership will judge if the person or couple are ready to 'Covenant' themselves to the Community. The initial process is called, 'Being Underway,' and generally takes anywhere from 2 to 4 years. Underway status (prior to public commitment) enables leadership to determine if the new members are capable of, 'living the life' of the Covenant Community. Such long pre-admission time can give the pastoral system years to assist the couple in taking on the Community's mental and spiritual mindset.

You can find the current Covenant of the Sword of the Spirit Covenant Community in the Shared Folder. If you are considering joining a Covenant Community, please ask to see the latest rendition of their Covenant.

The Mission of Covenant Communities

Each Covenant Community generally has a Mission Statement. You should understand that the public description of that Mission Statement is presented in a typically casual and broad manner. For example, the Sword of the Spirit refers to itself as, “A community of disciples on Mission.” There is a lot more packed into that statement than one can imagine. For example, the Sword of the Spirit believes it is their mission for men and women to live specific gender roles based on first century Christianity. One of the founders of this Covenant Community has written a 2.5lb book on the issue, over 750 pages long. They believe in Days of Darkness and 'Hard Times” that will come to human life sooner than later. They talk about creating a 'bulwark' to stem the tide of evil in the world and the church. (They've been -unsuccessfully- predicting partial to complete societal collapse since the 1970s.)

Before you join a Covenant Community, ask your contact to explain what the Mission of the Community is, in as much detail as possible. Sometimes that Mission is cleverly hidden in vague but expansive imagery, i.e. “Being the Body of Christ.” The practical applications of how their Mission is lived out should be unflinchingly questioned. Do not accept vague or evasive answers.

The “Covenant”

Covenant Communities use the term 'covenant' to describe the commitment members make to God to live as His people and to accept, “the Order and Pattern of our Life together.” While secular covenants recognize equal standing among all parties, the covenants in a Covenant Community do not. Leadership may dissolve or change a covenant at any time. A member has no such power.

Using the term 'covenant' loads the term with meaning it does not actually have. Why do this? Because it imbues leaders of Covenant Communities with power and control, without reciprocal power from the general member to hold them accountable. The result is the employment of a loaded term (covenant) that creates a sense of the 'sacred' and causes the general member to feel compelled to obey and maintain the relationship, in spite of how they feel, what their conscience tells them or their personal circumstances. The Sword of the Spirit cites this as a dynamic they wish to accomplish among their membership, stating on their website,

In the early 1600s, a Catholic priest named Camillus de Lellis founded a religious community dedicated to caring for the sick. He was later canonized in 1746. He is credited with the quote: Commitment is doing what you said you would do, after the feeling you said it in has passed.” What a good description for married couples, for religious orders, and for covenant community members. Time, circumstances and moods will test our commitments to Christ, to our spouses if married, and to our covenanted brothers and sisters. Our integrity is tested as we live out our covenant relationships (https://swordofthespirit.net/covenant-community-wonderful-life/.)

This is how they work: they compare the covenant you have made in marriage or the vows of a religious order as being the same as what you have made to the Covenant Community, when in fact they are not the same. In a true covenant, all parties are equally bound, as in a marriage. But in Covenant Communities, the general membership has simply agreed to follow the rules, and the leaders of the Community enforce those rules. They can change the direction or rules of the community as they desire and the general members can quit anytime they like. This isn't true of a marriage covenant or the vows that members of religious orders take. But they want you to think the covenant you have made to them is the same.

All this is disguised as the belief that it is God that has given them their authority. But they actually only have whatever authority is yielded to them from the membership. Only a select few -usually in paid pastoral positions- seem to have access to that level of authority from God. If you wish to read further about what a Catholic Bishop's Pastoral Visitation team had to say about the Covenant of the Sword of the Spirit, go to page 19 of the Ottenweller Report.

What is a Covenant Community: Former Members Look Back

Now that the basic structure and dynamics have been presented, here are some descriptions of Covenant Community by former members who have left. While Covenant Communities present themselves as attractively as possible, these definitions may be considered a balancing out of the official descriptions. This information was taken from a post on the Facebook Group: Covenant Community: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

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“Roman Catholics are at least somewhat acquainted with religious communities. The language of being chosen, of living in community, of being dedicated to some apostolic work is familiar. All of that, "but for lay people" is/was a common trope.” - SD

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“An intentional association of Christians from different faith traditions, voluntarily following a mandated common pattern of life which affects the whole range of human existence, bound together by a solemn public promise to God and the rest of the members referred to (inaccurately) as a covenant.

“The Covenant is analogous to religious vows for lay people and reinforced by a comprehensive, binding set of confidential internal teachings on emotions, state of life, courtship, marriage, childrearing, social and relational roles for men and women, and choices of work/vocation, as well as religious rituals and ritual practices.

“Members believe that they have been called/chosen by God to be part of the community and are expected to make significant personal sacrifices of time and finances to advance its work.

“Leadership is predominantly male and top-down hierarchical. Within this hierarchy, so-called ‘pastoral care’ is provided by un-ordained and untrained lay leaders; each man has a ‘pastoral leader,’ and unmarried women are guided by a female counterpart, sometimes known as a ‘handmaid.’

“Pastoral leaders report (with no regard for any degree of confidentiality and obtaining no explicit agreement from those under them) on the status of those in their ‘care’ to district coordinators, who regularly discuss this information and who then report it to a higher level of head coordinators at the top of the leadership pyramid.

“Nearly all these communities embrace a view of gender roles for men and women characterized by rigid application of the principles of so-called headship and submission as given in the NT writings of Paul. Within this culture, wives are expected to submit to their husbands, and husbands, to their ‘pastoral leaders,’ and there may be consequences for husbands who do not, up to and including

expulsion and subsequent shunning.” -JC

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“CovCom Must be

1. Strict tithing with documentation to prove you are donating also donation of time

2. Head and Follower relationships aka somebody you report to. (Must get approval to date, marry, change jobs, tithe, etc)

3. Covenant agreement document / swearing in

4. Us vs. 'the world' mentality (world is evil; includes Internet, TV, music)

5. Frequent meetings / teaching / sharing group / time with head / daily prayer time / daily mass

6. Limit outside relationships. Best to work in a community business and don't interact with external family members

CovCom Normally is

1. Charismatic

2. 90% or more Catholic (99% imo)

3. Fundamentalist

4. Politically Conservative

5. Apocalyptic - no time to waste; Jesus is coming in our lifetimes

6. Big families

7. Clothing restrictions for modesty and to mark yourselves as different

8. Strict gender silos - women only have women friendships; men only men: from age 0 to death.

CovCom Sometimes has

1. People living together. Singles living together, Singles living with married people. Married people living with married people. Entire families living with entire families. Buying property together and building homes together

2. A common School - teach them while they are young

3. Evangelical - preach the word

4. Hermit - the world is lost don't bother” – MD

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“Communism for the Faithful.” – CJG

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Sex Abuse in Covenant Community

Recently, Covenant Communities are having to deal with uncovered acts of sexual abuse, some of which have been known by leadership for decades. Like 95% of secular organizations, they respond to these revelations by hiring lawyers to “do an investigation.” Both the People of Praise and the Sword of the Spirit have sponsored investigations into abuse. These 'investigations' usually serve those who pay for them. And when an organization's leadership and reputation are on the line, it's a pretty sure thing that little, if any, new material will be shared with the public that might make leaders look inept or failed Holy Men.

The Covenant Communities will claim to have a 'victim first' mentality, but then they generally withhold information about abuse from the general membership, claiming to be guarding a victim’s confidentiality. They also like to tell members to guard against gossip and speculation, and to review teachings on the same. They may contact groups known to be close to the offender, but generally, the

Community as a whole is not given any information with which to protect their children or to locate new victims. Leaders eventually do send out letters acknowledging sex abuse, but only after that abuse has been made public by a legal action (indictment or a conviction) in State or Federal Courts.

In fact, the Sword of the Spirit has taught that parents in their communities should welcome the involvement of other adult members in, “...forming, training and disciplining their children, and should be grateful they need not entrust their children to secular programs.” (Sword of the Spirit Policy Notebook 0001, Point #10, Page 15, Shared Folder.) It is not known if similar polices exist in the People of Praise or other Covenant Communities, but the point should be examined before joining. Unless this teaching has changed (and there is no evidence that indicates it has) other adults have had and will have broad access to the children of other members, and to perform corrective tasks with which many parents might object. This cultural feature creates a grave opportunity for children to be abused in that Covenant Community. Before joining, ask specifically if this teaching is still in place.

The People of Praise pride themselves on their educational accomplishments via the Trinity Schools they run in several locations throughout the nation. However, a case of sexual abuse by a high school physics teacher who taught in that system years ago was recently revealed. The only reason this abuse came to light is the bravery of former members and the victim herself who come forward after the ascension of Amy Coney Barrett, former Handmaid in the People of Praise, to the Supreme Court of the United States. This matter had been reported at the time of the abuse... and then discounted by the people responsible for protecting children. The People of Praise went back -under the national spotlight- and reviewed the case, finding that it was not handled properly.

Both the Sword of the Spirit and the People of Praise claim to have policies in  place to protect children. However, due to their secretive behavior and known failures to protect children in the past, their track record of success is either unknowable or very poor. A recent post on the Facebook “Covenant Community: Good/Bad/Ugly” group identifies three cases of sex abuse, only one of which has been brought to justice.

Investigations Into Covenant Communities

You should also be aware that the 1980s and 90s were very turbulent times for Covenant Communities. The Sword of the Spirit would eventually schism due to unresolved problems between Ralph Martin & Stephen B Clark. Failed prophetic direction that forecast Days of Darkness and partial to complete societal collapse (page 2) caused the Sword of the Spirit to veer wildly off track. Bad teaching, disagreements among leaders and chronic investigation by Catholic Bishops challenged the movement.

Here are a few examples of these troubles and investigations.

Servants of Christ the King, Steubenville, OH

Lamb of God, Baltimore, MD

People of Hope, Newark, NJ

Community of Christ the Redeemer, W St Paul, MN

The Work of Christ, Lansing, MI

Bread of Life, Akron, OH

The Word of God, Ann Arbor, MI

The Backstory: A Brief History of Covenant Communities

There are three major groups of Covenant Communities in the United States: The Sword of the Spirit, The People of Praise and The Catholic Fraternity of Covenant Communities. Two of these CovComs have multiple communities under their wing. Information provided here will focus on those two Covenant Communities: People of Praise (POP) and Sword of the Spirit (SOS).

SOS and POP came into existence in the late 60s. In fact, POP and SOS tried to merge into one megacommunity from 1975-1980 but failed. The reasons for this failure have never been confirmed by their leaders: Stephen Clark and Ralph Martin for the SOS, and Kevin Ranaghan and Paul DeCelles (deceased) for the POP.

In the early 1970s, the four main leaders of Catholic Charismatic Renewal came under the mentorship of five Protestant Leaders in Charismatic Renewal. Back then, Covenant Communities were young and undefined. And all though there were several sources of material from major denominations that might have aided the young leaders of People of Praise and Sword of the Spirit, these  leaders chose instead the five brothers of Christian Growth Ministries: Bob Mumford, Derek Prince, Charles Simpson, Earn Baxter and Don Bascham, to educate and advise them. The five Protestant Brothers and four Catholic

Brothers would work so closely together that they would 'covenant' themselves together for many years. Several other men from other denominations joined them for a while.

The Five Protestant Preachers believed that the current outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the 60s and 70s was a sign that God was preparing to return to Earth. The 5 believed then that they must not squander the gift of the Holy Spirit, that it wasn't only for, 'joyful worship and playing the tambourine', but that they must prepare people by helping them toward full 'maturity' in Christ. The method devised was called “Shepherding,” where a man placed himself (and family, if he had one) under the authority of a Head (older, wiser Christian leader) to become a 'mature' Christian. The devotee also tithed to the same Head.

The Five Preachers believed that God would only return to a 'redeemed' Earth, or an Earth populated by spirit filled Christians. The creation of a 'redeemed earth' was thus the goal of 'shepherding and discipleship' models that were described by S. David Moore in his work, The Shepherding Movement. Chapter 5 of this book describes the eschatology that guided the Protestant Brothers and which most likely influenced the founders of Catholic Charismatic Renewal and the Covenant Communities they then created and governed.

While modifications were made over time, four of the five Protestant Preachers would recant the use of Shepherding, not realizing the harm it would cause. Pat Robertson of the 700 Club would attack it openly in 1975. Charles Simpson would continue on with the shepherding model and continues to promote in on his website.

The idea of a Covenant Community was, however, in the works three years before the advent of Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church. Stephen B Clark had already devised the basic blueprint or fore-runner of Covenant Community in 1964, three years before Catholic Charismatic Renewal's official origin point at a retreat weekend in 1967 at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA.

Other sources of information aided the development of 'shepherding and discipleship.' Juan Ortiz's book Discipleship and Watchman Nee's The Normal Christian Worker were part of the male member's library in the late 70s and early 80s, fundamental times of development for Covenant Communities.

In Summary

Covenant Communities are complex social groups that often claim to have a mission or mandate from God. Covenant Communities 'load' their commitment terminology, taking what is an agreement to follow the rules of the community and making it seem as if it is some special, sacred rite equivalent to a marriage vow. Covenant Communities generally don't talk about their problems or their history of problems, as demonstrated by their most recent description of their history.

Covenant Communities are prone to secrecy, such as restricting access to their body of teaching or pastoral methods from the general public, and in some communities, even from the general membership. For example, I was a member of the Sword of the Spirit/The Word of God from 1977 to 1990, and discovered in my 13th year of membership that the Sword of the Spirit sanctioned the verbal and spiritual abuse of men to help them grow into Christian manhood. I left my Community shortly after this discovery. To my knowledge, the Sword of the Spirit has never publicly disavowed this particular practice and it is not widely known -if mentioned at all- among the regular membership.

The aforementioned descriptions of Covenant Communities are from personal experiences, news articles and the Covenant Community's own documents. Personal stories can be found in posts on the Facebook Group: Covenant Community: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

These communities have their own introductions on their web pages, and that information can be reviewed there. Covenant Communities may have evolved over the years and changes may have taken place after this paper has been published. It is the hope of this author and many former members that these groups become places that are spiritually safe, organizationally transparent about what they teach and how they pastor, and finally, more transparent around child sex abuse.

It is our prayer they become healthier/safer places for human life.

John Flaherty

- with the assistance of others former members.

Grand Island, NE

March 21, 2022