Evangelical Covenant Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Evangelical Covenant Church |
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| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Evangelical |
| Theology | Radical Pietism |
| Polity | Congregational |
| Region | United States, Canada |
| Origin | 1885 Chicago, Illinois |
| Separated from | Lutheranism |
| Branched from | Mission Friends |
| Congregations | 878 |
| Members | 129,015 |
The Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) is a Christian church group. It is part of the evangelical movement. The ECC started in 1885 in North America. It was founded by Swedish immigrants. Today, it has over 129,000 members. These members belong to 878 churches in the United States and Canada. The ECC also has ministries on five continents.
Contents
How the Church Started
The Evangelical Covenant Church began with free-church Swedish immigrants. These people were known as Mission Friends. They had separated from the Lutheran Church of Sweden. In the 1880s, these groups met to decide if they should form a union of mission churches.
Most of them joined together. They formed the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant of America. This happened on February 20, 1885, in Chicago, Illinois. A smaller group, called the Free Friends, stayed independent. They later became the Evangelical Free Church.
A Religious Awakening
A religious awakening happened in Sweden in the mid-1800s. Some Swedes felt the state church was too powerful. They started meeting in people's homes. They held private services, sang hymns, and read their Bibles. Church officials sometimes stopped these meetings. This was because of the Conventicle Act, which was in effect until 1858. This law stopped private religious gatherings. This made people want a church where they could worship freely.
This awakening led to the Swedish Mission Church in 1878. The state church did not like these gatherings of believers.
Coming to North America
People from this movement moved to North America. There, they formed the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant of America. Early leaders included Carl August Björk and Paul Petter Waldenström. They wanted to create a group of churches that worked together. These churches would share the Gospel of Jesus. They also wanted to train ministers.
The name was changed to the Evangelical Covenant Church of America in 1954. The "of America" part was later dropped. This was because the church group includes churches in Canada.
Where the Church Is Today
The main offices for the ECC are in Chicago, Illinois. The church is connected to North Park University and North Park Theological Seminary there. It is also linked with Minnehaha Academy. This is a school for students from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The church is divided into eleven regions. These are called conferences. They include the Canada Conference and the Alaska Conference. The church's work in Alaska started in 1887. It began as a foreign mission. It slowly became a full conference in 2015.
The church holds yearly meetings. Churches send delegates to these meetings. These delegates then report back to their local churches.
The ECC also has a department for senior living facilities. These facilities help older people. Some of these places are considered top facilities in the United States.
As of 2011, the church had about 124,669 members. They were in 820 churches in 43 U.S. states. There were also about 1,500 members in 23 churches in Canada. The church also does mission work in 25 countries worldwide. It has about 125 long-term missionaries. The ECC has a total worldwide membership of almost 278,000.
Most members are in the Midwest, along the West Coast, and in the Great Plains region. California has the most members. However, the highest rates of membership are in Minnesota, Alaska, Kansas, Nebraska, and Washington.
Other Facts
The Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant had some earlier groups. These included the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Ansgar Synod. When these groups dissolved, some members who did not join the Mission Covenant formed the Swedish Evangelical Free Mission. This is now the Evangelical Free Church of America. The ECC still has ties with the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden.
Since 1976, the church has allowed women to become ministers. In 2022, Rev. Tammy Swanson-Draheim was elected as the first female president of the church.
Warner Sallman created illustrations for the church's magazine. One of his famous works is The Head of Christ.
Notable Members
- Lincoln Brewster, musician
- Paul Carlson, missionary doctor
- Alice Cooper, singer and actor
- Nils Frykman, hymnwriter
- Craig Groeschel, minister
- Kirsten Haglund, Miss America 2008
- Mike Holmgren, former National Football League coach
- Timothy Johnson, ABC News medical editor
- Warner Sallman, artist
See also
- Läsare – A Swedish religious movement that influenced the ECC's founders.
- Nyevangelism – A related Swedish movement connected to the Mission Friends and ECC.
Images for kids
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Carl August Björk, an early leader of the Evangelical Covenant Church.
