BETHANY EVANGELICAL COVENANT CHURCH

OUR COVENANT HISTORY

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Bethany Covenant Church is blessed with more than one hundred thirty years of continuous ministry in the Stillwater area. We are one of approximately 800 congregations of the Evangelical Covenant Church, a multi-ethnic denomination in the United States and Canada with ministries on five continents of the world.


Founded in 1885 by Swedish immigrants, the Covenant denomination values the Bible as the Word of God; the gift of God’s grace, and the deep spiritual life that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. We desire to extend God’s love and compassion to a hurting world with the strength that comes from unity within diversity.


The Evangelical Covenant Church of America (ECC) has its roots in the 16th Reformation. We developed from the biblically-centered teaching of the historic Church of Sweden and the great spiritual movements of the nineteenth century. Among the core beliefs that we affirm in our movement are the following:


Historic Covenant Affirmations


1. The centrality of the Scriptures, the Old and New Testaments, as the authoritative Word of God and the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct.


2. The necessity of spiritual regeneration or the “new birth” in/through faith in Jesus Christ for eternal life, resulting in an ongoing, growing spiritual relationship with Christ.


3. A commitment to the whole Gospel which drives us to evangelism, mission work, and ministries of compassion & social justice, bridging the boundaries of race, ethnicity, culture, gender, age and status. This commitment flows from Jesus’ teaching about the Great Commandment, in which He challenges us to love God with our whole being and to love our neighbor as we do our self. It is also part of our response to Jesus’ “Great Commission” command to His followers that we are called to make disciples of all nations. (Matt. 22:37-40; 28:18-20)


4. The Church as a fellowship of believers who share new life in Christ. All persons are invited to become part of this fellowship. Membership in the Church is based upon confession of personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.


5. The Church’s ministry and mission are centered on the Person of the Holy Spirit, who calls the church into being, empowers its witness, guides its mission, and supplies the gifts needed by the Church and its members to share, emulate, and worship Christ.


6. The reality of freedom in Christ, who delivers us from the power of sin and moves us by his grace into a whole new experience of obedience and life. This freedom allows for differences of opinion in “secondary” matters of doctrine, interpretation, and practice within the context of biblical authority.