What We Believe
Monroe Covenant is a member of the Evangelical Covenant Churches of America.
The Evangelical Covenant Church is a rapidly growing multiethnic denomination in the United States and Canada with ministries on five continents of the world. Founded in 1885 by Swedish immigrants, the ECC values the Bible as the word of God, the gift of God’s grace and ever-deepening spiritual life that comes through a faith with Jesus Christ, the importance of extending God’s love and compassion to a hurting world, and the strength that comes from unity within diversity.
Affirmations
The Evangelical Covenant Church seeks to form and nurture communities that are deeply committed to Jesus Christ and passionately engaged in Christ’s mission in the world. The purpose of Covenant affirmations is to make clear the values and principles that have guided the Evangelical Covenant Church since its founding in 1885. 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 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.
The Evangelical Covenant Church is:
Evangelical, but not exclusive
Biblical, but not doctrinaire
Traditional, but not rigid
Congregational, but not independent
Identity and Biblical Mission
We are united by Christ in a holy covenant of churches empowered by the Holy Spirit to obey the great commandments and the great commission: to love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to go into all the world and make disciples.
Vision for Mission
We covenant:
to cultivate communities of worship committed to: prayer, preaching, and study of the word; the celebration of the sacraments; and fellowship across gender, race, age, culture, and class.
to equip loving, giving, growing Christians to reach out with the good news of Jesus Christ – evangelizing the lost, ministering to those in need, and seeking justice for the oppressed.
What We Do as the Covenant Church
These are important days of partnership among our more than 800 congregations in this movement known as the Evangelical Covenant Church. Together, we are making a real difference in real people in real places with the good news of Jesus Christ as we pursue five strategic priorities. God has critically important things for us to accomplish in a world of great need. It will happen as we live into this mission together.
Statement on Solidarity
We affirm that racial inequality continues to exist in our society today. The Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) takes seriously our call to practice solidarity with all who are vulnerable, marginalized, and oppressed as our biblical witness calls us to do, while paying special attention to the anti-black racism that has created recent increased trauma and injustice in our nation.
We pledge to support the dismantling of systemic oppression and racism in our communities through listening, prayer, and action. We will practice intentional listening, engagement in corporate and personal prayer to name and repent of the sin of racism, and corporate action through our discipleship pathways across the country and worldwide.
We must continue this work. It is our foremost desire to link arms with our brothers and sisters in order to reflect how precious each person is in God’s sight, and we trust Jesus Christ to guide us as we seek to humbly listen and respond.
John Wenrich, President of the Evangelical Covenant Church
Paul Robinson, Executive Minister of Love Mercy Do Justice
Dominique Gilliard, Director of Racial Righteousness and Reconciliation
Covenant Offices Leadership Team
Council of Administrators
Council of Superintendents
ECC Ministerium
Mosaic Commission
Mary Chung March, Chair of the Mosaic Commission and President of the Covenant Asian Pastors Association
Juana Nesta, President of the Associación Latina de la Iglesia del Pacto Evangélico T.J. Smith, President of the Indigenous Ministers Association Bryan Murphy, President of the African American Ministers Association
Jenell Pluim, Chair of the Covenant Executive Board
David Holder, Vice-Chair of the Covenant Executive Board
Julie Persson, Secretary of the Covenant Executive Board
Liz Mosbo VerHage, President of the Ministerium
Peter Hedstrom, President of National Covenant Properties
Mary Surridge, President of North Park University
Dave Kersten, Dean of North Park Theological Seminary and Vice President of Church Relations for North Park University
Ann Wiesbrock, President of Covenant Trust Company
Roger Oxendale, President of Covenant Ministries of Benevolence
Terri Cunliffe, President and Chief Executive Officer of Covenant Living Communities and Services
Rachel Gough, Pastor at Monroe Covenant Church and Michelle Huskamp, Pastor at Monroe Covenant Church
Mission Friends from throughout the globe
Covenant Mission Priorities
We are committed to start and strengthen healthy, missional churches, much like the Apostle Paul started and continued to strengthen churches in the New Testament. We believe the local church is God’s basic strategy to carry out mission in the world.
We are committed to reach people with new life in Christ, and then to help them grow deeper in Christ. It is a lifelong journey of faith.
We are committed to our clergy, through investing in their ongoing personal and professional growth. We also see very real opportunities to expand the training of our laity. In multiple venues we seek to develop all leaders or the church – both clergy and lay.
We are committed to pursuing compassion and justice through our world. From our inception the Covenant has been concerned with helping hurting people (love mercy), and addressing the causes of that hurt (do justice). From a biblically rooted perspective, we provide tangible ways of extending the love of Jesus in deed as well as work, and speak as an advocate.
We are committed to a global gospel – extending the whole gospel to the whole world. Through global partnerships and our own missionary team, we make and deepen disciples, start and strengthen churches, develop leaders, and love mercy and do justice.
To learn more about the Covenant Church please visit www.covchurch.org
We are part of the Pacific Northwest Conference of Covenant Churches. Visit: www.pacnwc.org
