Near the front of every Rooted workbook is a page that may be tempting to skip, but it is a vital part of the Rooted Experience. I’m talking about the Rooted Covenant. This single page serves as an important building block of the foundation that makes up every meaningful Rooted group. The Rooted Covenant even asks for a signature from each participant.
You may wonder: why does a discipleship experience like Rooted come with a covenant like this? Further, why should leaders treat it as more than just a formality or some kind of symbolic gesture of privacy?
What the Covenant Actually Asks of Rooted Participants
The Rooted Covenant makes two primary asks of participants:
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Keep all conversations in the group confidential.
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Attend all sessions and actively participate in discussions.
The two components are related, of course. Let’s briefly explore them and why they are integral to Rooted and its role in church discipleship efforts.
Confidentiality Provides Fertile Soil for Honesty
Rooted participants are asked to maintain confidentiality regarding the group discussion to provide a sense of safety for everyone involved. Sharing sin, difficult life experiences, and other sensitive topics are core to the Rooted experience, and participants are more likely to share if there is some expressed willingness to not let whatever is shared leave the group.
It is important for group members to know that their personal struggles and life experiences won’t become coffee shop conversation fodder or be held against them in some way by others who hear about what they shared in their Rooted group. A commitment to confidentiality helps provide the feeling of security people need to share as much as they’re able.
Commitment to Consistency Creates the Trust Required for Community
It’s hard to build relationships with people who are inconsistent, flaking out on plans or not responding to text messages. It’s especially difficult to have vulnerable, deep conversations in a group setting whose members only show up a couple weeks out of the month.
Before we share the hard parts of our lives with people, we understandably want to have laid some relational foundation first—this can really only happen with lots of time together. In order for us to have the time we need with others to develop trusting relationships in our Rooted groups, we need to commit to consistently showing up, week after week. As we share our stories and testimonies throughout our Rooted experiences, it’s important that we show up to hear what everyone has to say, honoring them and what they share.
Of course, life happens and some people will miss group gatherings. But if a group member knows he or she will miss more than two weeks of the group ahead of time, they should be encouraged to join the next time a Rooted session is held.
Why “Covenant” and Not “Agreement” or Something Else
The Rooted Covenant is not meant to be some kind of cold contract that group members begrudgingly sign out of obligation. The whole purpose is for it to serve as a promise of commitment and confidentiality, a promise that is made to other members of the group. Our God is a covenant-making God. He makes and keeps promises to us in loving relationship, not as a matter of “policy.”
We want the Rooted Covenant to carry this same kind of relational meaning. Policies are for jobs and governments. This is a covenant meant to make a promise and establish expectations for a loving relationship.
How to Handle the Rooted Covenant in Your Groups
For practical reasons, it is good to walk through the Rooted Covenant and the importance of it at the first group meeting—what good is a conversation about the importance of consistency and confidentiality in week five?—but it is also good not to be pushy about it.
It is likely that some members of your Rooted groups weren’t aware of the Rooted Covenant when they signed up. So take some time in the first week your group meets to walk through the Rooted Covenant and why it is important, but don’t feel the need to have everyone sign it before they walk out the door that night. If a group member needs to think or pray on it before the next meeting, that’s fine. Perhaps someone will want to talk through the covenant more specifically with a group leader—great! The key here is: handle the Rooted Covenant early, but be gracious about it.
Likewise, if a member breaks the covenant and it is clear that confidentiality has been broken or consistency is not a priority, group leaders should address this with grace while maintaining the expectations outlined in the covenant.
With the sort of vulnerability that comes with experiencing Rooted, it is good for groups to set some expectations that care for the members of the group and till the soil for real discipleship to happen. That’s the goal of the Rooted Covenant and the role that it plays in our groups.
