The Evangelical Covenant Church is a Christian denomination founded in 1885 by Swedish immigrants in North America. It is a rapidly growing multi-ethnic denomination in the United States and Canada with ministries on five continents of the world. The Covenant Churchs background is in free-church Swedish immigrants known as Mission Friends who had broken off from the Lutheran Church of Sweden. The Covenant denomination was born out of the centuries-old tradition of the Lutheran church, particularly in its Swedish form. The Covenant has a rich history of allowing individuals and churches to read and think for themselves, engaging in the lifetime process of wrestling with God and with scripture with a spirit of unity and grace.

The Evangelical Covenant Church is a congregational church, which values the authority and diversity of local congregations as they seek to follow God’s call in their own unique contexts. The Covenant Church places high value on knowing and applying scripture to our lives as God’s word to us as they are rooted in this narrative of God’s interaction with the ancient people of Israel and, later, with the church of Jesus Christ. Doctrinally, the Evangelical Covenant Church is a little hard to pin down. They are “non-confessional, non-creedal and non-doctrinaire,” although they value the Apostles’ Creed and promote the study of the Bible. They also hold the Word of God as the only perfect rule for faith and practice. When a person joins the Evangelical Covenant Church, he or she is asked two basic questions regarding belief: “Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior and promise to follow him as Lord?” and “Do you accept the Holy Scriptures, the Old and New Testaments, as the word of God and the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct?” Then he or she is asked one basic question regarding practice: “Do you intend to live as a faithful follower of Christ and member of the church and denomination?” .