Covenant at Harvard

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Why Are There Two InterVarsity Chapters at Harvard?

In the fall of 1994, the Harvard Radcliffe Christian Fellowship (HRCF)
planted the Harvard Radcliffe Asian American Christian Fellowship (HRAACF)
as a sister chapter. Leaders in HRCF saw a sister chapter as a positive way
to respond to its own issues of growth and pursue its own mission of multi-
ethnicity. Moreover, they viewed a fellowship focused on Asian Americans as
a way to expand Gods’ ongoing work among Asian Americans at Harvard. At the
same time, a significant set of Asian American leaders within HRCF felt
called to pioneer such a fellowship and sought the blessing of HRCF. After
much prayer and deliberation, the HRCF Exec Team blessed the planting
effort.
The vision for the HRAACF is to engage the unreached Asian American
population, to both affirm and challenge the Asian American culture from a
Biblical perspective, and to develop future leaders for the Asian American
church. In order to carry out the vision, the HRCF Exec team and pioneering
HRAACF Exec Team committed themselves to mutually serve and lovingly
challenge each other in the mission of engaging Harvard’s campus in all its
ethnic diversity, particularly through a covenant relationship between the
two chapters. Using a written covenant as a minimum foundation for
individual and corporate partnerships to develop between the two chapters,
we as HRCF and HRAACF fully affirm and deeply value each other and it’s
ministries.

HRCF & HRAACF’s Covenant Relationship

To help facilitate unity and growth in the body of Christ at Harvard, the
following covenant-relationship will hold between the two sister
fellowships, Harvard-Radcliffe Christian Fellowship (HRCF) and Harvard-
Radcliffe Asian American Christian Fellowship (HRAACF). These mutually
agreed upon set of principles can only be amended in the future by mutual
consent. Moreover, these principles are obviously not meant as restrictions
against further cooperation. Certainly, many good ideas for the chapter-
chapter relationship may not have been included in the covenant (i.e. joint
Mark Bible studies, common marketing system or logo, after large group
activities, and social events, etc.).
HRAACF recognizes that its own vision must always be carried out in
partnership with its sister chapter, while HRCF also recognizes that its
own growth as a multi-ethnic fellowship is linked to an ongoing
relationship with HRAACF. In order to carry out this vision, both chapters
are dedicated to mutually serve and lovingly challenge each other in the
mission of engaging the campus in all its ethnic diversity. The chapters
commit to both God and each other in the following ways:

Why Are There Two InterVarsity Chapters at Harvard?
The first document, Why are there Two InterVarsity Chapters at Harvard, was
written by two exec members at the founding of HRAACF. This is passed out
each year during New Student Outreach.

Every year New Student Outreach is a joint event between the fellowships.
Before school starts we have discussions and training events to train
leaders about how to talk about why we have multiple fellowships on campus.

HRCF & HRAACF’s Covenant Relationship
The second document is the Covenant that is read at a Covenant Renewal time
at Chapter Camp every year. Prayers follow this from each fellowship
blessings and commissioning the other to live out it’s call to mission on
campus.

The Exec teams of both fellowships will gather a few times a year to
evaluate the year’s progress, to plan for the upcoming year’s joint events,
and to pray for each other’s ministry.

It has been a value of staff and students to strive towards the spirit of
the covenant and not the “letter of the law”. The fellowships have a very
good and active relationship. Meeting the minimum requirements the
covenant has never been a problem.