Trinity Community Church is part of the Evangelical Free Church of America. What makes our movement unique? We are a movement that grew out of the Protestant Reformation in Europe in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth century.
SCANDINAVIAN BEGINNINGS
During the 1600s and 1700s, believers in Christ who saw problems with the state-sponsored Lutheran Church in Scandinavia met separately for bible study and began observing communion. Some of them were arrested and persecuted for doing so, since these were not official Lutheran church meetings! These believers were also influenced by the Pietist movement which began in Germany following the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). The Pietists emphasized the authority of the Scripture, the need for personal conversion and transformation, and the importance of Bible learning for all.
In the nineteenth century (the 1800’s), Scandinavian believers of Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish heritage came to the United States in large numbers. They formed what they would call “free” churches. These were churches which were not under control of a state-sponsored church. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, many new, “free” churches were formed from this common Scandinavian heritage. Many more came to the U.S., settling primarily in the upper Midwest (Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and North & South Dakota).
These new churches shared a cultural heritage, a commitment to the gospel and an urgency for evangelism. Many people attended the same revival meetings and bible conferences. These gatherings often focused on prophecy and the end times- as well as evangelistic meetings in Chicago and Minneapolis. In the year 1950, under the direction of Arnold T. Olson, the Norwegian-Danish Free churches and the Swedish Free churches merged. This merger resulted in what we know today as the EFCA, the Evangelical Free Church of America.
The term “Free” in our name refers to the fact that each EFCA church is a self-governing congregation. However, all the churches in our movement share the same statement of faith. That is, the EFCA is a voluntary association as far as local churches are concerned. What follows are four distinctives of the EFCA:
1. THE EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH OF AMERICA IS A BELIEVERS’ CHURCH. MEMBERSHIP CONSISTS OF THOSE WHO HAVE A PERSONAL FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.
The phrase among the Free Church founders was “all believers, but believers only.” This meant that a person had to give a credible profession of faith in Christ for church membership. Baptism as an infant or attending church as a youngster was not the focus. The criteria for individual membership in an EFCA church is a person’s testimony of faith in Christ alone for salvation. The groups which would become the EFCA practiced both infant baptism and believer’s baptism. Therefore baptism is not required for local church membership. This makes the EFCA different from Baptist churches.
2. THE EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH OF AMERICA IS EVANGELICAL—WE ARE COMMITTED TO THE INERRANCY AND AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE AND THE ESSENTIALS OF THE GOSPEL.
In the EFCA we believe that reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ is our biggest priority (Matthew 28:18-20). While each person may have strong convictions on certain secondary doctrines, our Statement of Faith focuses on the primary truths of the gospel. For example, our Statement of Faith does not specify divine election or human free-will. We also do not specify the age of the earth, simply that God created all things. To emphasize the authority of Scripture, one of the early principles of the Free Church leaders was the question, “Where does it stand written?” This question exhorted people to base their beliefs on what the Bible says, not just on church tradition, personal experience, or the teaching of a particular priest.
3. THE EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH OF AMERICA EMBRACES A HUMBLE ORTHODOXY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHERS OF LIKE FAITH.
Part of what makes the EFCA a vibrant movement is our willingness to partner with other like-minded groups to pursue the Great Commission. We believe in the spiritual unity of the Church, which Jesus prayed for in John 17, although we recognize that different churches have varying structure and strengths. We rejoice when we can partner with different denominations or ministries for the common cause of loving God, loving one another, and making disciples.
4. THE EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH OF AMERICA BELIEVES IN CHRISTIAN FREEDOM WITH RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
We believe in personal holiness, but we do not function as separatists from other Christians. The Church over the centuries has seen problems due to two extremes: legalism (demanding things of people which Scripture does not require), and license (allowing people to pursue sin in the name of “freedom”). As the EFCA credentialing site states: “We encourage our people to be responsible, godly men, women and young people who desire to live under the control of the Holy Spirit in obedience to the principles and precepts of God’s Word, and in harmony with God’s will for life as revealed in the Scriptures.”
To learn about Free Churches outside the U.S., go to the International Federation of Free Evangelical Churches website: