Evangelical Free Church of America
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The Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) is an association of autonomous evangelical Christian congregations.
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[edit] 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, in Boston, Massachusetts and Tacoma, 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 the National Association of Evangelicals since 1943, the year after that organization was formed.
[edit] Doctrine
The Evangelical Free Church of America claims six distinctives: that it "is inclusive not exclusive...evangelical but not separatistic...ecumenical in spirit though not in structure...believes in liberty with responsibility and accountability...believes in both the rational and relational dimensions of Christianity...and...affirms the right of each local church to govern its own affairs." The church is Trinitarian in theology, moderately Calvinistic in soteriology, congregational in ecclesiology and polity, and premillennial in eschatology. The church holds two ordinances, water baptism and the Lord's supper. They summarize their doctrinal position in a twelve-article statement of faith (available on the church web site).
The EFCA in December 2005 unveiled a proposed revision of its statement of faith. The revision is longer than the denomination's original statement, adds language that excludes Open Theism, and seeks to eliminate premillennialism and congregational polity as doctrinal standards. The accompanying explanatory document also expresses the intent of accepting the Reformed view of the Lord's Supper alongside the denomination's historic memorial view. The current statement of faith, as well as the proposed drafts of the revision are available at the EFCA website.
[edit] 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 2006 the denomination had 1,278 autonomous member congregations, with an average weekly attendance of 349,795. 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 the Trinity International University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, Trinity Law School in Santa Ana, California, and Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.
[edit] Notable EFCA Leaders & Pastors
[edit] 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: 1950-1951
[edit] Others
Radio teacher/preacher Chuck Swindoll is a former EFCA pastor. He is also a former president of Dallas Theological Seminary.
Donald Arthur (D.A.) Carson is an evangelical Christian scholar. He is currently a research professor of the New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, which is based in Deerfield, Illinois, USA.
[edit] External links
- Evangelical Free Church of America - official Web Site
- Trinity International University
- Adherents.com
[edit] References
- 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 Center
