The Evangelical Covenant Church
The Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) is an evangelical Christian denomination of more than 750 congregations in the United States and Canada with ministries on five continents of the world. Founded in 1885 by Swedish immigrants, the church is now one of the most rapidly growing and multi-ethnic denominations in North America. Historically Lutheran in theology and background, we are now a broadly evangelical movement.

Faith and Practice
We believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God and "the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct." We also affirm the historic creeds of the church, especially the Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed, while maintaining that the Bible is sovereign over all creedal interpretations.  

We also believe in these six main affirmations:

·   The Necessity of the New Birth  

·   The Bible as the Perfect Word of God  

·   A Commitment to the Whole Mission of the Church  

·   The Church as a Fellowship of Believers 

·   A Conscious Dependence on the Holy Spirit  

·   The Reality of Freedom in Christ 
 

In short, we are:

·   evangelical, but not exclusive

·   biblical, but not doctrinaire

·   congregational, but not independent

·   traditional, but not rigid

History of the Denomination
Swedish Lutheran immigrants founded the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant of America (now ECC) on February 20, 1885 in Chicago, Illinois.

- - A pietistic religious awakening swept through Sweden around the middle of the 19th century. Out of this awakening and reformation came the Swedish Mission Covenant Church in 1878. The state church discouraged the gathering of these believers. People from this movement emigrated to America and formed the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant of America.

Early leaders and influences included P.P. Waldenström 1838-1917, Frans-Gustav Petersson-Haggquist 1843-1936, Axel E. Karlson 1858-1910, and David Nyvall, 1863-1946. They desired to create a voluntary covenant of churches that were committed to sharing the Gospel of Jesus, as well as provide means for ministerial training. The name was changed to the Evangelical Covenant Church of America in 1954 and the "of America" was eventually abandoned because the denomination includes a Canadian conference.