- Evangelical Free Church of America
Infobox Christian denomination
name = Evangelical Free Church of America
imagewidth =
caption = "EFCA - Multiplying Healthy Churches Among All People"
main_classification = Protestant
orientation = Evangelical
polity = Congregationalist
founder =
founded_date = June 1950
founded_place =Minneapolis, Minnesota
separated_from =
parent =
merger = Swedish Evangelical Free Church and Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church Association
separations =
associations =National Association of Evangelicals ,Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability
area =United States
congregations = 1,280
average weekly attendance = 349,795
footnotes = The Evangelical Free Church of America ("EFCA") is an association of autonomous evangelicalChristian congregations.History
The "Swedish Evangelical Free Church" and the "Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church Association" merged in June of 1950 to form the "Evangelical Free Church of America". The merger conference took place at the Medicine Lake Conference Grounds near
Minneapolis, Minnesota . The two bodies represented 275 local congregations at the time of the merger.The Swedish group formed as the "Swedish Evangelical Free Mission" in
Boone, Iowa in October of 1884. Several churches that had been members of the "Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Ansgar Synod" and the "Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Mission Synod", along with some independent congregations, were instrumental in organizing this voluntary fellowship. Also in 1884 two Norwegian-Danish groups, inBoston, Massachusetts andTacoma, Washington , began to fellowship together. By 1912 they had formed "Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church Association".The EFCA shares some early ties with those who formed the Swedish
Evangelical Covenant Church . It has been a member of theNational Association of Evangelicals since 1943, the year after that organization was formed.Doctrine
The "Evangelical Free Church of America" claims six distinctives [ [http://www.efca.org/about/distinctives/index.html About Us - Distinctives - Distinctives ] ] :
1. Inclusive not exclusive: Believers are united in Christ by faith inJesus Christ as Lord and Savior; unity on every fine point of doctrine is not required in order to become a member of the denomination
2. Evangelical, but not separatistic: Has a strong commitment to the authority and inerrancy of Scripture, but does not over-emphasize minor issues of doctrine
3. Ecumenical in spirit, but not in structure: The church is united spiritually in Christ, but need not be united structurally
4. Affirms Christian liberty with responsibility and accountability
5. Believes that both sound Christian doctrine and an active relationship with God are essential to the life of the believer
6. Committed to a congregational form of church government
The church affirms the authority and inerrancy of the Bible; the Trinity; atonement through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ; original sin; Christ as head of the Church and the local church's right to self government; the personal, premillennial, imminent return of Christ; the bodily resurrection of the dead; and the two ordinances of waterbaptism andThe Lord's Supper . The full statement of faith is available on [http://www.efca.org/about/doctrine the church website] .
The EFCA passed a substantial revision to its Statement of Faith on June 26, 2008, the first revision since the Statement was first adopted in 1950. [http://www.efca.org/about/doctrine/] This revision was proposed in order “to update archaic language, to clarify some theological ambiguities, to seek greater theological precision, to address new issues, to have a SOF that would be better suited to be used as a teaching tool in our churches.” [Strand, Greg. "Proposed Revision of the EFCA Statement of Faith: Introduction." (http://www.efca.org/about/doctrine/sof-documents.html) accessed on March 5, 2008.] More information about the changes, as well as both the old and new Statements are available on [http://www.efca.org/about/doctrine/index.html the EFCA website] .Organizational Structure
The President, the National Leadership Team, and the Board of Directors of the EFCA provide denominational leadership. The EFCA is divided into 20 regional districts to serve the needs of the local church. In 2007 the denomination had 1,291 autonomous member congregations, with an average weekly attendance of 356,286. The denomination maintains headquarters in
Minneapolis, Minnesota , and engages in ministries in education, publications, camps, senior housing, children's homes, and camp facilities. The EFCA operates theTrinity International University andTrinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois,Trinity Law School in Santa Ana, California, andTrinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.Notable EFCA Leaders & Pastors
EFCA Presidents
* William J. Hamel: 1997-present
* Paul A. Cedar: 1990-1996
* Thomas A. McDill: 1976-1990
* Arnold T. Olson: 1951-1976
* E.A. Halleen: 1950-1951Others
*D.A. Carson,
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School New Testament research professor
*Wayne Grudem , "Systematic Theology" author and formerEvangelical Theological Society president
*Walter Kaiser, Jr. ,Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary President Emeritus andOld Testament professor
*Chuck Swindoll ,Dallas Theological Seminary former presidentExternal links
* [http://www.efca.org/ Evangelical Free Church of America] - official Web Site
* [http://www.tiu.edu/ Trinity International University]
* [http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_278.html Adherents.com]Related Readings
*"Encyclopedia of American Religions", J. Gordon Melton, editor
*"Handbook of Denominations in the United States", by Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Craig D. Atwood
*"Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States (2000)", Glenmary Research CenterReferences
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