ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians
ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians is a Reformed, evangelical, and egalitarian denomination that provides accountability, connection, and shared mission with like-minded churches all over the country.
The mission of ECO is to build flourishing churches that make disciples of Jesus Christ.
We seek to facilitate relationship building among neighbors and life transformation by Jesus' love, leading men, women, and children to use the gifts Jesus has given them to honor Him in our community and beyond.
What is Reformed?
Reformed churches vary in denomination, stemming from the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation seeking to purify the church from abuses and return to the foundations of the Christian faith. Reformed Christians consider the Old and New Testaments to be the written word of God and the overarching authority of faith and life. Reformed theology emphasizes grace - that we don't strive to be good in order for God to love us, but that He loved us before we turned our hearts to Him. Grace means that God loves us so much, He walked among us as Jesus, took on the fury of our selfish rebellions (sin) at the cross, and rose from the grave, defeating death so that we can live as his friends forever. Reformed theology reminds us that in a world where we grasp for control, actually God is in control, lovingly working redemptive outcomes from our messes. Reformed churches guard against amassing power by an individual and have presbyters, elders, or boards elected by the congregation in which each person, including the pastor, gets one vote. We believe in the priesthood of all believers. There is no such thing as a better, elite Christian.
What is evangelical?
British pastor and author John Stott gave this definition, "An evangelical is a plain, ordinary Christian. We stand in the mainstream of historic, orthodox, biblical Christianity."
Though the word "evangelical" has often been co-opted by political movements, there are progressive, conservative, and apolitical evangelical Christians. At Sojourners Church, we strive to keep the main thing, the main thing: the healing love of Christ transforming ourselves and our community, a love too great to keep to ourselves. We welcome diverse thought, doubt, probing intellectualism, scientific inquiry, mystery and conviction, without getting sidetracked by the culture wars.
What is egalitarian?
We believe in the equality of women and men to lead in serving Christ.
Jesus chose Mary Magdalene to arguably be the first Christian (John 20). Encountering an empty tomb on the first Easter Sunday, Jesus walked up to Mary who was overcome with grief. Joyfully surprised as Jesus called her by name, Mary Magdalene and a group of women were the first to carry the exhilarating message of Jesus' life to well-known male disciples including Peter and John. In a first-century world in which women were treated as second class citizens and in which women's testimony was not allowed in Roman or Israel's courts, Jesus always treated women with the highest dignity. Sojourners Church has women and men pastors and elders. We strive for healthy gender equality in our church life, knowing both sexes have vital contributions to help us grow and mature as a church.