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BACKGROUND Swedish Lutheran immigrants founded the ''Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant of America'' (now ECC) on February 20 , 1885 in Chicago, Illinois . A , 1863-1946; et al.). They desired to create a voluntary covenant of churches that were committed to sharing the Gospel of Jesus , as well as provide means for ministerial training. The name was changed to the ''Evangelical Covenant Church of America'' in 1954 and the "of America" was eventually abandoned because the denomination includes a Canadian conference. FAITH AND PRACTICE The ECC believes that the Bible is the inspired word of God and "the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct." They also affirm the historic creeds of the church, especially the Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed , while maintaining that the Bible is sovereign over all creedal interpretations. Even though the church is non-confessional it often references six main affirmations: 1) the centrality of the word of God 2) the necessity of the new birth 3) the church as a fellowship of believers 4) a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit 5) a commitment to the whole mission of the church 6) the reality of freedom in Christ The church practices both Infant Baptism and Believers Baptism (by any method) and observes Holy Communion (monthly in most congregations). Both men and women can be ordained into the church's ordered ministry. According to the official Pamphlet "Covenant Distinctives," the church is " Evangelical , but not exclusive; biblical, but not doctrinaire; congregational, but not independent; traditional, but not rigid." Recent annual meeting resolutions have demonstrated that the ECC opposes abortion (with a life of the mother exception, but as of 2004 no longer excepting cases of rape and incest), affirms marriage as between a man and a woman, and opposes assisted suicide. The ECC has been described as "non-dogmatic - open to differences of opinion while remaining orthodox." STATUS The Denomination's headquarters are located in Chicago, Illinois, where they also operate North Park University , North Park Theological Seminary and Swedish Covenant Hospital . There are related Bible colleges in Alberta, Colorado, Ecuador, Alaska, and California. (See Covenant Bible College , Alaska Christian College , and Centro Hispano de Estudios Teológicos ). The church is divided into ten regional conferences - ''Canada Conference, Central Conference, East Coast Conference (org. 1890), Great Lakes Conference, Midsouth Conference, Midwest Conference, North Pacific Conference, Northwest Conference, Pacific Southwest Conference, and Southeast Conference'' - and one administrative region - ''Alaska''. The highest authority is an annual meeting of delegates sent by the local congregations. ''Covenant Publications'' is the publishing arm of the denomination. The denominational hymnal is ''The Covenant Hymnal: A Worship Book''. A major church ministry is not-for-profit senior housing, the ECC being one of the top ten suppliers of such housing in the United States. As Of 2005 , membership was 114,110 in 735 congregations in the United States (42 states) and an estimated 1500 members in 22 congregations in Canada (5 provinces). Average attendance in 2006 was 160,811. The denomination also has ongoing missions work in 23 countries worldwide, with 105 career and project missionaries, 29 short-term missionaries. The ECC has a worldwide membership of almost 260,000. OTHER Historically Swedish and Lutheran in background, the ''Evangelical Covenant Church'' is now a rapidly growing multi-ethnic broadly-evangelical denomination. Forerunners of the ''Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant'' were the ''Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Ansgar Synod'' and the ''Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Mission Synod''. When members of the two synods dissolved and the ''Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant'' was formed, some of those who did not enter the Mission Covenant formed the ''Swedish Evangelical Free Mission'' (now the Evangelical Free Church Of America ). The ''Evangelical Covenant Church'' maintains ties with the ''Swedish Mission Church'' (formerly known as the ''Svenska Missions-forbündet''; see '' Svenska Missionskyrkan '' and '' CIPE ''), and the other churches in the '' International Federation of Free Evangelical Churches ''. Many figures in the Jesus Movement and the Emerging Church have formally linked themselves to the ECC. NOTABLE MEMBERS OF THE EVANGELICAL COVENANT CHURCH Seattle Seahawks Coach Mike Holmgren, ABC News Medical Editor Dr. G. Timothy Johnson, Il. State Senator Peter Roskam and actor Tom Hanks attended the Marin Covenant Church as a youth. EXTERNAL LINKS
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