On covenanting the preface perceptively notes,

"In this exercise the covenanter engages to no new duty but declares upon oath that he believes the doctrine and practice of this church to be the very truth of God, and engages in the strength of promised grace to continue faithful to Christ and his cause.

The unrest and spirit of change that moves the church of today is the chief reason why this ordinance is so much opposed. It carries with it a certainty of knowledge, a fixedness of principle, and steadfast in profession that is counter to the Spirit of our times. A declining church is not a covenanting one; it (covenanting--RB) has only been practiced by those churches that were seeking to hold that to which they had attained."

A concise and easy-to-read introduction to covenanting.