A covenant is a sacred agreement between God and individuals, binding those individuals together before God in a common purpose. The Scrooby Covenant of 1606 was significant because it was a rejection of a worldly and coercive system of social and religious organizations in favor of a covenant between God and man entered by individuals binding themselves together before God through a solemn covenant which they freely acknowledged on behalf of themselves, their families and their heirs.
William Bradford explained it this way:
“ . . . the Lord’s free people joined themselves (by a covenant of the Lord) into a church estate, in the fellowship of the gospel, to walk in all His ways made known or to be made known unto them, according to their best endeavors, whatsoever it should cost them, the Lord assisting them.” (William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, ed Samuel Eliot Morison, p.9)
Fourteen years later, the spirit, foundations and structure of the 1606 covenant were repeated in Provincetown, Harbor, aboard the Mayflower when members of Pastor John Robinson’s congregation, joined by others who would build their new society, covenanted and combined in a “civil body politic,” and “In the name of God, Amen,” to create America’s first great covenant—The Mayflower Compact.
This 1620 Mayflower Compact has correctly been honored as the conception moment for what would ultimately become the United States of America. The Robinson/Scrooby Covenant of 1606 became the model for the covenant of the Mayflower Compact of 1620, which in turn became the model for the Declaration of Independence of 1776.
Speaking at the bicentennial of the Mayflower Compact on the covenantal origins of our nation, Daniel Webster admonished: “...let us not forget the religious character of our origin. Our fathers were brought hither by their high veneration for the Christian religion. They journeyed by its light, and labored in its hope. They sought to incorporate its principles with the elements of their society, and to diffuse its influence through all their institutions, civil, political or literary...” Dedication of Pilgrim Hall, 1820
This covenantal vision of Pastor John Robinson and our Pilgrim Founders is beautifully communicated through the figures of Faith, Morality, Law, Education and Liberty, found on the National Monument to the Forefathers in America’s hometown of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Now, as America remembers our four-hundred-year legacy of liberty, the Leyden Preservation Group is pleased to present the John Robinson Awards to individuals in recognition of their lives dedicated to preserving a legacy of biblical liberty in the areas of Faith, Morality, Law, Education and Liberty. We honor the vision of the Pilgrim pastor John Robinson which encouraged the creation of covenantal documents of freedom, and ultimately birthed one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Awards to be presented at the Renewal CONFERENCE
The John Robinson Award for Faith
The Wellspring of Blessing
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1) Upon this very faith John Robinson and the Mayflower Pilgrims rested all their hopes of future blessing. This faith in Jesus Christ was acknowledged in the Mayflower Compact, and with faith as the foundation they pledged and mutually covenanted “having undertaken [the planting of the Plymouth Colony] for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith…” They staked their futures and their lives on the truth of their faith in the living God that their covenant would be blessed, and that “he who began a good work…[would] bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 1:6) In honor of John Robinson and the Pilgrim legacy of faith, the Leyden Preservation Group is pleased to present the “John Robinson Award for Faith” to an individual who has encouraged others by their example of humble faith in the public square.
The John Robinson Award for Morality
As Source of National Virtue
Under the leadership of John Robinson, the Mayflower Pilgrims would emerge as a covenantal people of moderation, love and sturdy virtue who believed with Solomon that “righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Prov. 14:34) Their vision of morality began with the First and Second Greatest Commandments— to love God wholeheartedly, and to love one’s neighbour as one’s self. The Ten Commandments, which preceded these in application, defined one’s relationship to God (the first four commandments) and then to man (last six commandments). More than one hundred and fifty years after the Mayflower Compact, America’s Founding Father, John Adams, echoed this connection between morality and covenant when he said, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.... Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.” This year, the Leyden Preservation Group is pleased to present the “John Robinson Award for Morality” to an individual whose public service has promoted this very vision of national virtue.
The John Robinson Award for Law
A Defense Against Tyranny
John Robinson and the Pilgrim founders of America believed that “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul...” (Ps. 19:7) They recognized the Bible as the foundation of a legal system. Religious liberty was not created by a secular state, nor did it emerge from a political system which was neutral concerning God. Religious liberty exists because of the law of God and under the law of God. This year, the Leyden Preservation Group will present the “John Robinson Award for Law” to an individual who has advanced America’s covenantal vision of life and liberty under law, as a safeguard against tyranny.
The John Robinson Award for Education
Hope of the Next Generation
The Scriptures exhorted believers to “study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15) The highly educated and literate Mayflower Pilgrims came to America with many books and a commitment to educate the next generation. These covenant fathers and mothers embraced the responsibility to educate as a defining characteristic of family life. Education began at home with parents teaching their children to read, write and know the Scriptures. This year, the Leyden Preservation Group is pleased to present the “John Robinson Award for Education” to an individual whose public service has advanced the cause of Christian education in a free society.
The John Robinson Award for Liberty
Foundation for Prosperity
The Scriptures declare that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Corinthians 3:17) Like their Hebrew forefathers, the Pilgrim fathers and mothers, “had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name.” (Jer. 34:15) The “John Robinson Award for Liberty” honors an individual who has stood in the public square fighting for the liberty of the people of this nation, and in so doing has reinforced our covenantal foundations as a country that enjoys the blessing and prosperity of the Lord.
To read about The Renewal where these awards will be presented go to: https://www.therenewal2022.org/