Organization
How Is the Evangelical Covenant Church Organized?
Every denomination has some way of organizing itself in order to work together. We organize around our local churches as our main center of ministry and service. People from those churches gather for an annual meeting and make major decisions together. An executive board is elected by the delegates to the annual meeting to provide oversight. Other groups are formed to focus on specific aspects of ministry.
Here is a brief, but more detailed overview of the offices, meetings, and groups that help us discover and follow God’s mission.
Local Churches
The Evangelical Covenant Church is a “Church of churches.” Member congregations carry out mission and ministry in their local context. Churches call their own pastors, own their own property, set their own budgets, and design their own ministry approach. Congregations pledge mutually to support the principles, policies, programs, and institutions of the Covenant. This includes regular financial support of the denomination, its regional conferences, and affiliated institutions.
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Regional Conferences
Regional conferences are geographical groupings of congregations that further mission to that area and its member churches. Each regional conference has its own additional board structure. View Regional Conferences >>
Annual Meeting
Just as a local congregation has its membership through individual people, membership in the the Covenant is comprised of individual congregations as the constituent element. Each year in June these congregations gather for our Annual Meeting. Every congregation is entitled to send delegates. The Annual Meeting is the highest constituted authority in the Covenant.
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Associations
Associations are voluntary groups of individuals, congregations, and ministries united for the purpose of fellowship, encouragement, and the advancement of a specific mission. View Associations >>
Executive Board
The Executive Board acts on behalf of the Annual Meeting between Annual Meetings. It is elected by delegates and provides oversight on a number of matters related to direction, policy, and financial responsibility. View Leadership >>
Additional Boards
The Annual Meeting elects representative leadership to several other oversight boards dealing with particular areas of ministry focus. Learn More>>
Our local churches, regional conferences, and the Covenant denomination are woven together so we can accomplish greater work in the mission of God’s Kingdom than we could ever accomplish on our own.
