10 January 2026

Covenant Sunday 2026: Break ground, bring hope

Commissioners Jenine and Paul Main

Territorial Leaders Commissioners Jenine and Paul Main reflect on the theme of this year’s Covenant Sunday.

Covenant Sunday provides the time, space and opportunity to respond to God’s covenantal promises. The invitation to respond is available to all. It is not an exclusive offer available for certain people or dependent on how long you have been a Christian, or if you have entered into a covenant with God in any capacity before. You can download a Covenant Sunday card to pray and sign at home.

Covenant Sunday 2026 Resources

As we approach Covenant Sunday 2026 we pray that it will be deeply significant to everyone connected to The Salvation Army. We are grateful for God’s ongoing call, bringing people together to help shape our future.

Covenant Sunday is not exclusive: it’s a calling to us all, however we are involved, to consider how we are going to make the availability of the Kingdom of God a reality in our own lives and in our communities. It’s a time to reflect and look forward, considering God’s purpose in our lives.

We were so encouraged to see how last year’s theme – Step Up, Stand Out – caught the territory’s imagination. This year, the theme is Break Ground, Bring Hope. It continues to be about courageous discipleship, the kind Paul spoke of when he wrote: ‘God has not given us a spirit of timidity but of power and love and self-discipline’ (2 Timothy 1:7 Tree of Life Version).

Courageous discipleship is about living with conviction and Spirit-empowered boldness. But here’s the challenge: timid discipleship can creep in quietly. Faith becomes maintenance instead of mission, attending but not engaging, believing but not acting.

This hope isn’t vague optimism. Peter calls it living hope.

This Covenant Sunday, we are asking: What does it mean to break ground in our lives, to clear away what hinders growth and make space for God’s renewing work?

Hosea 10:12 says: ‘Break up your unploughed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord.’ We encourage you to look at the unploughed ground in your life and identify what needs to be cleared away. Spiritually, those rocks might be fear, pride, past wounds or simply complacency.

We can explore how spiritual practices – confession, prayer, silence, service and Scripture – can create space for God’s transforming presence. Breaking ground isn’t easy; it takes courage. But when we do, something powerful happens, hope begins to grow.

That’s the second part of the theme: Bring Hope. Hosea 10:12 promises that God will shower his righteousness like rain bringing life to dry soil. This is active hope, rooted in Christ. In Colossians Paul calls it: ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (Colossians 1:27).

This hope isn’t vague optimism. Peter calls it living hope – a hope anchored in the resurrection of Jesus (see 1 Peter 1:3). Because Christ lives, hope lives.

Covenant Sunday gives us the opportunity to listen deeply to God.

We can embody this living hope in everyday life. Hope that moves beyond church walls. Hope that looks like compassion in action, grace in hard conversations, kindness in ordinary moments.

So courageous discipleship calls us to break ground, facing what hinders growth and making space to bring living hope. This hope empowers us to bring light and restoration to fragmented communities.

Because it’s not just about our inner lives. It’s also about breaking up the unploughed ground where we live, work and worship, and living out the hope that transforms us. Our prayer is that, in the ever-changing landscapes of our communities, people will see how we live authentic with-God lives.

Covenant Sunday gives us the opportunity to listen deeply to God. It’s a moment to pause and ask:

What obstacles harden my heart or hold me back from deeper intimacy with God? What spiritual practices can help me create space for his transforming work? And how can I be part of breaking ground missionally, bringing living hope and restoration to others?

On this Covenant Sunday may we be ready to seek the Lord and step into his transforming work as we Break Ground, Bring Hope!

Covenant Sunday prayer

Loving Father, the depth of your unconditional and unceasing love is beyond my understanding, but today I respond to that love. Break down the areas of my heart that have become hardened. Transform what resists you, so that I may be one with you. As your love lives in me, may my thoughts, words and actions courageously flow and radiate this love outwardly in my community. Energise my faith, so that through me your Kingdom may come. May this Covenant of Love inspire me to break ground and bring hope in my life and this community. Amen.