If you’ve been at Faith for a while, you probably remember one or more of the different variations of our sign on the northwest lawn. Until about five years ago, those signs read “Faith Evangelical Free Church.” Not only was our name a mouthful to say, but for those not familiar with the terminology, it was unclear and even a little confusing. A few years ago, we began referring to ourselves publicly the way most of us at Faith had been referring to ourselves for a long time: “Faith Church.” What didn’t change was our association with the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA), and our legal name remains Faith Evangelical Free Church.
What is an Evangelical Free Church anyway? In the late 1800’s, immigrant families settling in the Midwest began gathering in homes for Bible study and worship. These gatherings gave rise to a number of like minded churches, and in 1950, two of those associations of churches, the Norwegian Danish and the Swedish Evangelical Free Church Associations merged into the Evangelical Free Church of America. Today there are over 1500 EFCA congregations throughout the United States. Faith is one of those congregations.
But what about that “Evangelical Free Church” part of the name? Does it mean there are no evangelicals? Is everything free? To understand the name, it’s helpful to separate the terms “evangelical” and “free.”
The word evangelical comes from the Greek word “evangelion” which means good news or gospel. Webster’s definition of evangelical is “emphasizing salvation by faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ through personal conversion, the authority of Scripture, and the importance of preaching as contrasted with ritual.” This is at the heart of who we are at Faith.
The “free” part of our name simply means that we are part of an association of autonomous independent churches sharing the same statement of faith. As such, we are “free” to govern ourselves, elect our own leaders, and own our own property. Because we are not subject to a central denominational authority, we have complete control over our affairs while benefiting from resources available through the Evangelical Free Church of America.
To find out more about the EFCA, visit efca.org.