What do you believe about the Bible?
We believe that the Bible, the Old and New Testaments, is God’s Word and the only perfect guide for faith, doctrine, and conduct. The Bible plays an important role in the life of our congregation. Preaching is Biblebased and individuals are encouraged not only to study the Bible personally but to be a part of a small group or Sunday School class which is exploring the scriptures.

Are you catholic?
The word catholic refers to the common or universal faith. In the broadest sense we are catholic because we see ourselves as carrying on with the faith that was handed down by the apostles. At times we use some of the common Christian creedal statements in our worship and they include the word catholic. But we are not Roman Catholic. We are Evangelical Protestants who recognize that we are a part of what God has been doing in his church throughout the ages.

A lot of churches are struggling with the issue of sexuality. Where do you stand on issues of homosexuality and couples living together before being married?
One of the best responses to these questions is a statement adopted by the annual meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church. Click here to read it.

Our former pastor, Brad Boydston, has a short paper on cohabitation on his website.

Are women involved in church leadership?
In Evangelical Covenant churches women are involved in all areas of leadership. Our conference superintendent is a woman. And a woman has been the chair of our congregation. For a fine biblical discussion on women in leadership click here.

The Covenant

Cornerstone Covenant Church is a congregation of the Evangelical Covenant Church. The Evangelical Covenant Church is an extended family of churches with over 125,000 members and 730 congregations in the US and Canada.

In addition there are related Covenant churches in Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Europe, and throughout Latin America.

Our roots are firmly set in historical Christianity as it emerged in the Protestant Reformation, in the biblical instruction of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, and in the great spiritual awakenings of the nineteenth century.

We emphasize basic Christian beliefs and just as importantly the living out of these beliefs. Each congregation in the Covenant is organizationally autonomous from the denomination.

The local church is in charge of calling pastors and administering its own affairs. The everyday operation of the church is delegated to the pastor and a church council.

From the Preamble to the Constitution of
The Evangelical Covenant Church

The Evangelical Covenant Church is a communion of congregations gathered by God, united in Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit to obey the great commandment and the great commission. It affirms its companionship in faith with other church bodies and all those who fear God and keep God’s commandments.

The Evangelical Covenant Church adheres to the affirmations of the Protestant Reformation regarding the Bible. It confesses that the Holy Scripture, the Old and the New Testament, is the Word of God and the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct. It affirms the historic confessions of the Christian Church, particularly the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed, while emphasizing the sovereignty of the Word of God over all creedal interpretations.

In continuity with the renewal movements of historic Pietism, the Evangelical Covenant Church especially cherishes the dual emphasis on new birth and new life in Christ, believing that personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is the foundation for our mission of evangelism and Christian nurture. Our common experience of God’s grace and love in Jesus Christ continues to sustain the Evangelical Covenant Church as an interdependent body of believers that recognizes but transcends our theological differences.

The Evangelical Covenant Church celebrates two divinely ordained sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Recognizing the reality of freedom in Christ, and in conscious dependence on the work of the Holy Spirit, we practice both the baptism of infants and believer baptism. The Evangelical Covenant Church embraces this freedom in Christ as a gift that preserves personal conviction, yet guards against an individualism that disregards the centrality of the Word of God and the mutual responsibilities and disciplines of the spiritual community.

The Evangelical Covenant Church has its roots in historical Christianity, the Protestant Reformation, the biblical instruction of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, and the great spiritual awakenings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These influences, together with more recent North American renewal movements, continue to shape its development and distinctive spirit. The Evangelical Covenant Church is committed to reaching across boundaries of race, ethnicity, culture, gender, age, and status in the cultivation of communities of life and service.

The Evangelical Covenant Church, in order to accomplish its mission and purposes, has formulated and adopted this Constitution and Bylaws. The Constitution recognizes that the highest constituted authority of the Evangelical Covenant Church is the convention of delegates known as the Annual Meeting, which alone can adopt and amend the Constitution and Bylaws. The Evangelical Covenant Church shall be governed by this Constitution and Bylaws, its Articles of Incorporation, and all applicable laws.

(Updated July 1, 2008)