Evangelical Free Church of America
The Evangelical Free Church of America is an association of independent evangelical Christian congregations. They are united by a common commitment to serve Jesus Christ with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and obedience to the Word of God. It is Trinitarian in its theology and moderately Calvinistic in its Christian doctrine that salvation has been brought about by Jesus Christ.
The Evangelical Free Church of America is congregational in history, theology and policy making. They are committed to fulfilling the Great Commission of Christ by cooperating with one another in both ministry and in fellowship.
They have a free form of congregational church government. They depend on lay people to actively participate in the direction and the decisions of the church. They share their early history with those who formed the Swedish Evangelical Covenant Church.
Both the international and national offices of the Evangelical Free Church of America have been located in Minneapolis, Minnesota since June of 1950, when the Church Association merged to form the Evangelical Free Church of America. This merger conference took place at the Medicine Lake Conference Grounds near Minneapolis.
The Evangelical Free Church of America operates the Trinity International University, the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, the Trinity Law School in Santa Ana, California and the Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia.
Chuck Swindoll was a pastor of the Evangelical Free Church of America as well as a past president of Dallas Theological Seminary.
History
The Evangelical Free Church of America was formed by the merging of two other church bodies in June 1950. They were the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church Association and the Swedish Evangelical Free Church. Both of these churches came out the revival movements of Protestant Reformation and the great spiritual awakenings of the nineteenth century.
The Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church Association began worshipping in Boston and Concord, Massachusetts and in Tacoma, Washington in 1884. There was a growing need for a Norwegian language services in the Scandinavian community of believers. The Norwegian-Danish Free Church Association began Trinity Seminary and Bible Academy in Rushford, Minnesota, in 1910. The Norwegian-Danish school was renamed Trinity Seminary and Bible Institute in 1941.
The Swedish Evangelical Free Church had its beginnings in Boone, Iowa in October 1884. The Swedish speaking believers formed the Swedish Evangelical Free Mission and joined with the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Ansgar Synod and they organized a voluntary fellowship. They began a ten week Bible course in 1897 in the basement of a Chicago church. This is considered the official beginning of the Trinity International University. They relocated the school to Minneapolis in 1910 then moved back to Chicago in 1916 and this became the Swedish Department of Moody Bible Institute and Seminary.
The Evangelical Free Church of America is a fellowship of independent Christian churches in the United States and developed from several free churches, mostly from the Scandinavian descent. It remains congregational in its church government with each local congregation being self-governing. They elect their delegates to annual conferences and each has their own advisory body which does not control the activities or beliefs of the local congregations.
The church members are required to experience conversion and live a Christian life. There is a significant amount of freedom for the interpretation of doctrine.
Belief
The Evangelical Free Church of America believes the Holy Scriptures, which include both the Old and New Testaments, are the inspired Word of God and that they are without error in their original writings, contain the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men and the Divine and final authority for Christian faith and life.
They believe in one God who is the Creator of all things, is infinitely perfect and eternally exists in three persons; the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
They believe Jesus Christ is true God and true man. They believe He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. They believe He died on the cross, as a sacrifice for sins according to the Scriptures. They further believe He rose bodily from the dead, and ascended into heaven, where he sits at the right hand of the Majesty on High. They believe He is now the High Priest and Advocate.
The Evangelical Free Church of America believe the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, to convict men, regenerate the believing sinner, be an indwelling, guide, and instructor and to empower the believer for godly living and service.
The Evangelical Free Church of America believe men were created in the image of God, but they fell into sin, making them lost and only able to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, to be brought to salvation where a new spiritual life can be obtained.
The Evangelical Free Church of America believes justification and salvation for all believers can be provided by the shed blood of Jesus Christ and His Resurrection. They believe in two ordinances that are observed by the church; water Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. They believe these are ordinances not regarded as means of salvation.
The Evangelical Free Church of America believe the true Church is composed of people who are saved through faith in Jesus Christ who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit united together in the Body of Christ who is the Head of the Church.
The Evangelical Free Church of America believe only those who are eligible for membership in the local church must be members of the true Church. They think every local church has the right to decide and govern their own affairs under the guidance of Jesus. They believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead. They believe the believers will have everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord, and the unbelievers to judgment and everlasting conscious punishment. The Evangelical Free Church of America revised their Statement of Faith in December of 2005 to eliminate premillennialism (the belief that Jesus Christ will return to earth for the Last Judgment just before the one thousand year reign of peace).
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “Evangelical Free Church of America: .” Becker Bible Studies Library Jan 2006.<https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2684,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2006, January) “Evangelical Free Church of America:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2684,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2006) “Evangelical Free Church of America:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (January), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2684, (accessed).
