SPOILER ALERT: The next six worship services will focus on the six affirmations of the Evangelical Covenant Church. I’m going to mention all six in this article, which might spoil the surprise of hearing each of them for the first time in the weeks to come.
Churches have roots. They don’t grow out of nowhere, without seeds, water, and fertilizer. Yes, even “independent” and “non-denominational” churches have roots. They may have their roots in the pastor’s history and/or education, or perhaps that of the congregation. Here at Community Covenant Church, we can recognize and celebrate our roots. As a church, our roots run first to First Covenant Church in Omaha, with whom we share a common root system: the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC). The roots don’t end there, though – the ECC’s roots are in a pietistic mission movement that came out of the Swedish Lutheran Church, which was a product of the Reformation, whose roots were in the Roman Catholic Church, which grew out of a persecuted home church movement that began with Jesus Christ but had its roots in Judaism! Our roots are deep, and they nourish us not only in times of prosperity, but also in times of drought and famine, and they allow us to bend and sway while standing strong amidst the winds of change.
This month, we’re going to celebrate our rootedness in the ECC by remembering who we are as “Covenanters.” We’ll do that during our worship services as we examine our affirmations. While some denominations have creeds and catechisms, the ECC has its affirmations. These statements serve not so much as exclusive barriers but instead as boundary markers that show us where we stand. Briefly, the affirmations are as follows (with my annotations):
- We affirm the centrality of the word of God: the Bible is our playbook.
- We affirm the necessity of the new birth: we are a new creation, marked by baptism.
- We affirm a commitment to the whole mission of the Church: we go together to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching in Jesus’ name.
- We affirm the Church as a fellowship of believers: not a club, but a church.
- We affirm a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit: the Spirit is our guide.
- We affirm the reality of freedom in Christ: We seek to unite rather than divide.
I look forward to spending time with these affirmations, as we present them, one by one, in our worship services. In addition, we’ll be posting some discussion questions from time to time at the Community Covenant page on Facebook. The ECC has done a great job by providing us with these video and study resources that help us to understand better who we are as members of a greater whole, rooted in the Evangelical Covenant Church.
- Pastor John