The identity of covenanted priests in the glory of God international covenant community

Abstract

The main research question that this dissertation is seeking to answer is: how are we to understand the identity of the covenanted priest of the Glory of God International Covenant Community (hereafter, GOGICC) holistically? A “covenanted priest” refers to a man whose vocation is born within GOGICC. As a natural result of this question, others follow: What is the spiritual charism/experience of the covenanted priest? What forms of prayer does this spiritual experience take? What canonical status does he hold? What work does he do? These questions are important to ask because the covenanted priesthood is a new reality within the Catholic Church and GOGICC and there is no particular literature that tackles the theme of this dissertation. The covenant relationship in the GOGICC plays an important part in shaping the identity of the covenanted priest. With regards to identity, the reader will discover how the covenanted priest shares a common identity with his fellow lay GOGICC members but yet also has a unique identity since he is a ministerial priest. How exactly does being a ministerial priest in the Catholic Church and in the GOGICC impact the identity of the covenanted priest is the next area that will be explored. Finally, the dissertation delves into the GOGICC’s charisms of Worship and Evangelisation and how these charisms shape the very spiritual, canonical and work identity of the covenanted priest.