The Covenant Church
The Covenant Church is the dominant surviving Christian tradition of the Bastion Compact, descended from fragmented Christian communities that endured the Long Silence. Centuries of isolation, siege, famine, and environmental catastrophe stripped away many old denominational divisions, leaving behind a practical faith centered on one God, human fallibility, sin, repentance, forgiveness, and the responsibility to preserve life.
Bastion theology places particular emphasis on the Seven Deadly Sins, not merely as spiritual failings but as dangers to survival. Greed hoards what others need. Gluttony consumes what must be rationed. Wrath sacrifices reason to anger. Envy divides communities. Lust allows desire to overcome judgment. Sloth neglects necessary work. Pride convinces a person that they cannot be wrong. To the Covenant Church, civilization survives when people recognize these weaknesses in themselves and master them before they endanger others.
The Church does not teach the suppression of emotion. Fear, grief, anger, love, and even pride are natural parts of being human; wisdom lies in understanding them rather than being ruled by them. Pride in one’s family, squad, community, or work is considered healthy when it inspires responsibility and gratitude. Pride becomes sinful when admiration turns inward and confidence becomes arrogance.
Covenant teaching offers no promise that faith will spare the faithful from suffering. Instead, God grants humanity the grace to endure, repent when it fails, make restitution where possible, and rise to meet its responsibilities again. A common Bastion expression summarizes the faith simply:
“Repent. Learn. Carry it. Do better.”