Why join a Denomination?
Some of our congregants might wonder why we wouldn’t just be our own church. Why join with a denomination? Doesn’t that mean a loss of some control or power? Why pay dues and have power structures above us? Isn’t this a waste of time and resources?
These questions have been around from the beginning of our formation. The ECC actually has a very close relationship with the EV Free denomination, which formed from a group of Mission Friends who decided not to participate in the original denominational formation. Led by a man named Princell, they felt that loose connections were better than formal ones. Even with those beginnings, you will note that the EV Free church is now today a denomination, because the benefits are so much greater than what we give up. In a nutshell, a denomination brings local churches together, allowing them to do more for the kingdom than they could do on their own.
Benefits Originally
“...from these (Acts 15, 2 Cor. 8, Eph. 4:1-16 and Romans 12:4-5) it became clear that a sense of community developed among the churches. Even though no distinct command appeared in God’s word as to how we should conduct ourselves in such a joint effort, we nonetheless find from these as well as other Bible references reminders of union.”
At the origin meeting of the denomination, on Feb. 25, 1885, three groups gathered to discuss joining, the Mission Friends, Ansgar Friends, and free (independent) churches. A large part of the discussion was around the rightness of this union.
There was much discussion, and it was decided that yes, congregations joining into a larger unit is right. There were three main reasons: Scripture supports it, the Christian life supports it, and experience proves that it is beneficial.
Several verses were used in support of the idea, Acts 15, 2 Corinthians 8, Ephesians 4:1-16, and Romans 12:4-5. (1) A key passage was Jesus’ prayer in John 17. It was noted that Jesus wanted individual Christians to become one. This oneness was both a witness of Christ to the world, but also a source of help both in care and resources, but also in keeping each other living right. Those same benefits for individuals were seen to also apply to unity among congregations. There was talk of congregations supporting one another, pooling resources to provide ministers and ministry, and keeping each other accountable in doctrine. And there was a passion for the world noting that congregational unity even with differences in thought would be a witness to the world. (2)
Just as the original founders found it beneficial to join together, Coastline has found incredible benefits in the ECC through both tangible and intangible support.
Benefits Today
As a church plant, we’ve worked closely with the Covenant Denomination. Here are some benefits that we have seen already experienced.
1) Mentoring and Wise Help: We have been continually impressed by the wise counsel the denomination has offered us throughout our planting and church formation stages. Neither Pastors Shawn nor Garrick had dreams of church planting, so the process has been new for both of them. It was a high learning curve. The denomination on the other hand, has seasoned veterans helping walk them through every step. Any time we have a question, there are mentors to ask, discuss with, and guide us along. When we did our “Through the Valley” teaching series, it was highly shaped by Jean Cheng-Gorman, an expert in church hurt. As we wrote and shaped our church Constitution and By-Laws, we were in constant communication with Pat Stark, and Anita Eyer, both experts in Church planting. They have given us feedback, instruction, and a starting framework. This support will continue in years to come.
2) Ordination Vetting: The denomination has a great ordination process which 2 of our pastors have been through, and another staff member has started. Many churches around us license and ordain ministers without education and solid vetting on their calling and theology. Having a denomination take this process on, keeps our theology in check, and takes this rigorous process off the shoulders of the local church.
3) Financial benefits: The denomination provides a network for us to connect to regarding employee benefits, including health insurance, retirement, disability benefits etc. They provide the structures and framework, and all we have to do is connect to them. It has freed us up from hours and hours of research and implementation. Along with this, the denomination has helped fund some of our beginning stages as a church plant and is ready to help in the search for and purchasing of a building.
4) Ministry Benefits: Being a church plant means that we aren’t a fully functioning church. As we are still in the early stages, we have passions that we haven’t started pursuing yet, particularly with local and global missions. The denomination has great ministries happening all around the world that we can jump into, rather than starting another thing from scratch. The ECC is particularly passionate about evangelism and missions, and many of these ministries have been around for years, such as the Paul Carlson Ministry in the Congo, which many of our congregants might already be familiar with. We will be looking into these ministries in the coming months and finding ways to tie into the ECC even more.
5) Check and Balances: Being attached to a structure above ourselves provides a layer of authority that helps not only guide us, but keeps us headed in the right direction. It means we have people asking tough questions about our structure, decision-making, and theology. And it also provides a layer of protection. We have seen this in action in our first two years and found it beneficial.
Bibliography
Missions-Vannen, “Official Minutes of the Organizational Meeting” In Covenant Roots Sources and Affirmations, ed. Glenn P. Anderson (Chicago: Covenant Publications, 1999), 10.
Missions-Vannen, “Report of the Organizational Meeting,” in Covenant Roots Sources and Affirmations, ed. Glenn P. Anderson (Chicago: Covenant Publications, 1999), 24-26.