Evangelical Covenant Church?

RileyG

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Hello all,

I was curious if anyone has heard of the Evangelical Covenant Church? There is a very small congregation in my hometown. From what I understand, it was founded by Swedish Lutheran immigrants and has since developed more Evangelical Protestant theology. Do they fall under the same umbrella? (for example: lutherans, Moravians etc) .

Thank you
 

Albion

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It is not recognizable as Lutheran today, if that's what you suspect. And is not part of any other denominational umbrella. The ECC is a basically liberal Protestant denomination that emphasizes diversity, outreach, charity, and social activism. In feel, it seems to me to be similar to a liberal Presbyterian or Disciples of Christ church.
 
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LizaMarie

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I have. That is the faith of my Mom's family in the small town they emigrated to from Sweden in the 19th century. My Mom left it and joined the Lutheran church when she went to college. In those days(1940's) there were a lot of limitations (no dancing, makeup, alcohol, card playing, movies,ect.)That was too restrictive for my Mom so she left and joined a Lutheran church in college.. I don't believe they practice the Lutheran liturgy but Mom told me they did baptize their infants and confirm by Luther's catechism. I'm not sure what they look like today. No one close to me attends that church we live in a different state.

ETA: I looked at their website and what Albion says seems to be correct. They've changed a lot in the last 70 or so years.
 
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RileyG

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It is not recognizable as Lutheran today, if that's what you suspect. And is not part of any other denominational umbrella. The ECC is a basically liberal Protestant denomination that emphasizes diversity, outreach, charity, and social activism. In feel, it seems to me to be similar to a liberal Presbyterian or Disciples of Christ church.
That's interesting. Some of the members I know from my town are very conservative in their religious practices/beliefs, but I guess that is because they are older and its a small midwestern town.
 
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RileyG

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I have. That is the faith of my Mom's family in the small town they emigrated to from Sweden in the 19th century. My Mom left it and joined the Lutheran church when she went to college. In those days(1940's) there were a lot of limitations (no dancing, makeup, alcohol, card playing, movies,ect.)That was too restrictive for my Mom so she left and joined a Lutheran church in college.. I don't believe they practice the Lutheran liturgy but Mom told me they did baptize their infants and confirm by Luther's catechism. I'm not sure what they look like today. No one close to me attends that church we live in a different state.

ETA: I looked at their website and what Albion says seems to be correct. They've changed a lot in the last 70 or so years.
This is very interesting. I don't think they have a liturgy either. I only know that because one of the members talked about what happens in her Church. Thanks for the response.
 
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FireDragon76

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They are not Lutheran, they are a Pietist group that broke away from Lutheranism. They baptize adults or children and have general doctrinal indifference or comprehensiveness, and they deny baptismal regeneration and sacramental realism. They are relatively liberal as compared to many American evangelicals, but they are not as liberal as mainline churches on social issues or personal morality. They have very conservative stances on homosexuality, for instance.
 
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ViaCrucis

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I have. That is the faith of my Mom's family in the small town they emigrated to from Sweden in the 19th century. My Mom left it and joined the Lutheran church when she went to college. In those days(1940's) there were a lot of limitations (no dancing, makeup, alcohol, card playing, movies,ect.)That was too restrictive for my Mom so she left and joined a Lutheran church in college.. I don't believe they practice the Lutheran liturgy but Mom told me they did baptize their infants and confirm by Luther's catechism. I'm not sure what they look like today. No one close to me attends that church we live in a different state.

ETA: I looked at their website and what Albion says seems to be correct. They've changed a lot in the last 70 or so years.

The no dancing, alcohol, etc sounds like Scandinavian Pietism to me.

And seeing FireDragon's post, seems like that assessment is accurate.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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LizaMarie

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The no dancing, alcohol, etc sounds like Scandinavian Pietism to me.

And seeing FireDragon's post, seems like that assessment is accurate.

-CryptoLutheran
Yes. I should ask my relatives who still attend that church, (whom I haven't talked to in a long time)if those rules still hold and if they don't, when they were discarded. From looking at their website I get the impression they are no longer in force.
I attended that church during my younger years when I visited my Grandparents(now long deceased). It reminded me very much of a non denominational evangelical church-nothing Lutheran that I could see.
Wikepedia does say it was started by pietists in 1885.

And yes I'm half- Swedish on my mother's side!
 
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