This past Sunday, Follen affirmed the 2024–25 members of the Covenant of Right Relations Team.

Follen is a covenantal community. A covenant is different from a creed. A creed tells us what we are supposed to believe. Unitarian Universalists do not share a common creed. Instead, we share a covenant.

A covenant is a promise we make to each other about how we will behave: how we will treat each other. Our Covenant of Right Relations was created by Follen members and approved at the annual meeting of our congregation in 2018.

We, the members and friends of Follen Church, affirm:

• We offer goodwill and good intention in our interactions.
• We remember that our intentions do not always mirror our impact.
• We are open to difference, and open to changing our minds and our behavior.
• We communicate directly with honesty, respect, and compassion.
• We speak up when we feel hurt and listen with an open spirit when we cause hurt.
• When we listen, we stay curious, seeking facts, ideas, and new possibilities.
• We invite healing through forgiveness and making amends.
• We acknowledge and accept that all of us have limitations of role, responsibility, ability, understanding, and time.
• When we fail, we will try again.

Living in covenant can be hard, and there are times when we need support. As with any community, it is inevitable that tensions and conflict will arise. We can approach these experiences as opportunities for growth, learning, resolution, and healing. Repairing covenantal bonds can be freeing and transformative for the people involved, as well as for the whole community.

In this spirit, the Covenant of Right Relations Team exists to provide support in maintaining covenantal relations when there are tensions or conflict. The team offers an array of confidential supportive resources, such as consultation, facilitating constructive dialogue, and mediation. All of these resources are offered on a voluntary, as-requested basis.

In addition, the CRRT provides educational and skill-building programs to help us be more skillful in how we interact and govern ourselves.

Members of the Covenant of Right Relations Team promised to do all they can to practice what they preach and live into the covenant our congregation has affirmed, with humility, courage, and accountability? The Congregation promised to practice our covenant in our words and our deeds as we learn the art of making community together. They promised to seek the support of the Covenant of Right Relations Team as needed, to repair and strengthen the tapestry of relationships in our congregation.