Our place in the worldwide Christian Church...

 

We are an apostolic church. We confess Jesus Christ and the

faith of the apostles as recorded in the Holy Scriptures. We believe

the authority of the Bible is supreme in all matters of faith, doctrine,

and conduct, and it is to be trusted. "Where is it written?" was and

is the Covenant's touchstone of discussion with regard to faith and

practice.

 

We are a catholic church. The word catholic literally means universal.

This means we understand ourselves to be a part of the community

of believers that began with Jesus's first followers, is alive

today, and will continue until Christ comes again.

 

We are a Reformation church. We stand in the mainstream

of a church renewal movement of the sixteenth century called the

Protestant Reformation. Especially important is the belief that we

are saved by God's grace alone, through faith alone, not by anything

that we can do. The Covenant Church is also shaped by Pietism, a

renewal movement that originated in seventeenth-century Europe

and emphasized the need for a life that is personally connected to

Jesus Christ, a reliance on the Holy Spirit, and a call to service in

the world.

 

We are an evangelical church. A series of religious awakenings

flowered in Europe and America during the nineteenth century

and provided rich soil for the early growth of the Covenant

Church with our passion for mission. Evangelicals historically have

been characterized by a strong insistence on biblical authority, the

absolute necessity of new birth, Christ's mandate to evangelize the

world, the continuing need for education and formation in a Christian

context, and a responsibility for benevolence and the advancement

For Covenant people, our essential beliefs are summed up in

what we call Covenant Affirmations:

 

We affirm the centrality of the word of God. We believe the

Bible is the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct. The

dynamic, transforming power of the word of God directs the church

and the life of each Christian. This reliance on the Bible leads us

to affirm both men and women as ordained ministers and at every

level of leadership. It is the reason we pursue ethnic diversity in our

church and is the inspiration for every act of compassion, mercy,

and justice.

 

We affirm the necessity of the new birth. The Apostle Paul

wrote, "If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come" (2 Corinthians

5:17, TNIV). New birth in Christ means committing ourselves

to him and receiving forgiveness, acceptance, and eternal life.

It means being alive in Christ, and this life has the qualities of love

and righteousness, joy and peace. New birth is only the beginning.

Growing to maturity in Christ is a lifelong process for both individuals

and communities of believers. God forms and transforms

us-and it is through people transformed by Christ that God transforms

the world.

 

We affirm a commitment to the whole mission of the

Church. The early Covenanters were known as "Mission Friends"-

people of shared faith who came together to carry out God's mission

both far and near. Mission for them and for us includes evangelism,

Christian formation, and ministries of compassion, mercy, and justice.

We follow Christ's two central calls. The Great Commission

sends us out into all the world to make disciples. The Great Commandment

calls us to love the Lord our God and our neighbors as

ourselves.

 

We affirm the Church as a fellowship of believers. Membership

in the Covenant Church is by confession of personal faith

in Jesus Christ and is open to all believers. We observe baptism and

Holy Communion as sacraments commanded by Jesus. We practice

both infant and believer baptism. We believe in the priesthood of

all believers-that is, we all share in the ministry of the church. We

also affirm that God calls some men and women into professional,

full-time ministry. The church is not an institution, organization, or

building. It is a grace-filled fellowship of believers who participate

in the life and mission of Jesus Christ. It is a family of equals: as the

New Testament teaches that within Christian community there is to

be neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, but all

are one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).

 

We affirm a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit.

The Covenant Church affirms the Trinitarian understanding of

one God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The New Testament

tells us that the Holy Spirit works both within individuals and

among them. We believe it is the Holy Spirit who instills in our

hearts a desire to turn to Christ, and who assures us that Christ

dwells within us. It is the Holy Spirit who enables our obedience

to Christ and conforms us to his image, and it is the Spirit in us

that enables us to continue Christ's mission in the world. The

Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to us as individuals and binds us

together as Christ's body.

 

We affirm the reality of freedom in Christ. The Apostle

Paul wrote, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free" (Galatians

5:1, TNIV). This freedom is a gift of God in Christ, and it manifests

itself in a right relationship with God and others. It is not a private

gift to be used selfishly, but is given to serve the community and

the world. For Paul, this freedom means that we are set free from

the power of those things that on their own tend to divide. United

in Christ, we offer freedom to one another to differ on issues of

belief or practice where the biblical and historical record seems to

allow for a variety of interpretations of the will and purposes of

God. We in the Covenant Church seek to focus on what unites us

as followers of Christ, rather than on what divides us.

 

Conclusion...

Crossroads and The Evangelical Covenant Church is a pilgrim church. Until

Christ comes, we worship, serve, and witness so that the whole

earth may hear God's voice, learn of God's love, and experience

God's joy.

Service Times