Covenant Affirmations

The Evangelical Covenant Church has its roots in historical Christianity as it emerged in the Protestant Reformation, in the biblical instruction of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, and in the great spiritual awakenings of the nineteenth century.

We are an apostolic church:

We confess the historic faith of the apostles. We believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior and Lord. We accept the Holy Scriptures, the Old and New Testaments, as the "Word of God and the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct."

We are a catholic church:

We see ourselves to be part of the universal church of Jesus Christ from the days of the apostles until now.

We are a Reformation church:

We stand in the mainstream of the sixteenth century Protestant movement, which insisted on justification by grace alone, through faith alone.

We are an evangelical church:

We were born out of the revival movement that touched all of Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and North America in the nineteenth and twentieth century.

Since we appreciate our classical heritage and hunger for an ever more vital experience of new life in Christ, we affirm an evangelical emphasis, including:

Centrality of the Scriptures, the Old and New Testaments, as the authoritative Word of God and the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct. We believe it is essential to the life of the Church that it be a company of people who want, above all else, their lives to be shaped by the powerful and Living Word of God.

The necessity of the new birth for entrance into God's kingdom, and the importance of continuing growth in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ for sound spiritual health. (John 3:3 & 8:31-32).

The Church as a fellowship of believers, characterized by mutual participation in and sharing of new life in Christ. Membership is by confession of personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. It is open to all believers. There are no considerations as to race or class, education or pedigree, wealth or prestige. Uniformity in creedal details is not expected. What is required is new birth into a living hope through Jesus Christ (I Peter 1:3).

The ministry of the Holy Sprit, who with the Father and the Son calls the Church into being, empowers its witness, guides its mission, and supplies the gifts needed by the Church to exalt Christ.

The reality of freedom in Christ, who delivers us from the power of sin and moves us by his grace into a whole new experience of obedience and life. This freedom creates an ecclesiastical climate which allows for difference of opinions in matters of interpretation, doctrine, and practice within the context of biblical guidelines and historical Christianity.

These Covenant Affirmations are to be understood not as creedal statements, but as true descriptions of what we believe and cherish as we continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of God. We also eagerly await the day when "the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15).

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To find out more, visit the Evangelical Covenant Church web site.

Taken from "Covenant Affirmations" / Copyright by Covenant Publications. 1988