Our Beliefs

When new members join a Covenant church, they answer two questions about belief: “Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior and promise to follow him as Lord?” “Do you accept the Holy Scriptures, the Old and New Testaments, as the word of God and the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct?" They are then asked if they intend to live as faithful followers of Christ and members of the church and denomination. That’s all. That’s enough.

On another level, of course, the answer is a good deal more complex. While the Covenant Church does not require adherence to any written creed, we take our theology very seriously, and our history as well. We a part of the Church universal, but we also identify as a Reformation church and an evangelical church. In that heritage, we share certain central beliefs which draw us together in faith and fellowship and make possible a freedom among us on more widely ranging issues.

We also belong to the Evangelical Covenant Church, a denomination deeply committed to Jesus Christ and passionately engaged in Christ’s mission in the world. The ECC holds beliefs that are summed up as the Covenant Affirmations:

• We affirm the centrality of the word of God.

• We affirm the necessity of the new birth.

• We affirm a commitment to the whole mission of the church.

• We affirm the church as a fellowship of believers.

• We affirm a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit.

• We affirm the reality of freedom in Christ.