Each year, the board of every Habitat for Humanity organization in the country will sign the Affiliate Covenant -- the foundational document of Habitat. This simple, yet profound document has guided the Habitat movement for 48 years. Annually reflecting on the Covenant helps to keep our powerful theology alive.
When I first read the vision, mission and the mission principles in the Covenant over 40 years ago, I was stunned by their beauty, and said, “put me in coach!” Hopefully, their beauty will inspire you as well.
The word “covenant” is a rich theological and biblical term intentionally used by Habitat’s founders to define the sacred relationship between Habitat, its affiliates and God. As the Hebrew people entered a covenant with God to live a distinctive way, a local affiliate covenants with Habitat and with God to operate by key mission principles.
In the early days, the Covenant was the only binding document between Habitat and a local affiliate. Over time other legal documents were created and a Quality Assurance Checklist came alongside it.
The Covenant begins with an incredibly bold vision: A world where everyone has a decent place to live. It then moves to our mission. Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope.
The mission captures our “why." We exist to put God’s love into action. It captures our “what." We bring people together. A lot of people. Our affiliate engaged almost 20,000 volunteers last year and more than 1 million customers walked through our ReStores. This is perhaps our greatest contribution to the community.
The mission also defines what we bring people together to do. We build and repair homes in partnership with those who need affordable housing. We build communities where everyone has access to affordable housing. We build hope, where all are valued in a more loving community. The Covenant then lists five Mission Principles, with language that still soars.
- Demonstrate the love of Jesus While Habitat is a Christian organization, Habitat does not have doctrine other than God is love. Habitat does not proselytize. Our focus, simply, is to radically love like Jesus. We welcome people of different faiths and no faith to join us. Not to convert, but to powerfully love together. All faiths and all individuals pursuing a more civil society can agree on the Golden Rule. Love others. We are radically inclusive, because Jesus was radically inclusive.
- Focus on Shelter Habitat selects shelter as the means to demonstrate God’s love. We build and repair homes and we work at the systemic level to address housing inequality, as the vehicle to put God’s love into action.
- Advocate for Affordable housing Grounded in the prophetic tradition of the Judeo-Christian faith, we advocate for housing policies so that everyone has access to affordable housing. We will seek to put shelter on hearts and minds in such powerful ways that the lack of affordable housing becomes socially, politically, and religiously unacceptable.
- Dignity and Hope We believe that no one lives in dignity until everyone lives in dignity. Those in need of affordable housing will be equal partners in this movement. In partnership, we will create a more loving community. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the “Beloved Community”.
- Sustainable and Transformative Development This principle establishes our “theological success metrics”. Our work is successful when it:
- Transforms lives.
- Creates positive and lasting social, economic, and spiritual change in our community.
- It is based on mutual trust and fully shared accomplishments with homebuyers and neighborhoods.
- Responsibly stewards all resources entrusted to us.
Hopefully you too are inspired as you reflected on Habitat’s theological underpinnings. And as we seek to put God’s love into action this year, may our efforts be multiplied to accomplish the magnificent!
