Evangelical Christian Church in Canada

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Historical Background
The Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) is a Radical Pietistic denomination in the evangelical Christian tradition.[1][2] The denomination has more than 875 congregations and an average worship attendance of 280,000 people[3][page needed] in the United States and Canada with ministries on five continents. Founded in 1885 by Swedish immigrants, the church is now one of the most rapidly growing and multi-ethnic denominations in North America.[4] Historically Lutheran in theology and background, it is now a broadly evangelical movement. Swedish immigrants breaking off from the Lutheran (State Church of Sweden) began the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant of America (now ECC) on February 20, 1885, in Chicago, Illinois. A pietistic religious awakening had swept through Sweden around the middle of the 19th century. Before leaving their homeland some Swedes met in people's homes, as they felt the state church was becoming overly powerful. There they conducted private services including hymn singing accompanied by guitars and read scripture from their Bibles, but they’d often hear an ominous authoritative knock at the door from a church official. This only reinforced their yearning to be in a church where they could worship freely. With this awakening and reformation came the Swedish Mission Church in 1878. The state church discouraged the gathering of these believers. It was people from this movement who emigrated to America and formed the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant of America. Early leaders and influences included PP Waldenström, 1838–1917 and David Nyvall, 1863–1946, among others. They desired to create a voluntary “covenant of churches” that were committed to sharing the Gospel of Jesus, as well as provide means for ministerial training. The name was changed to the Evangelical Covenant Church of America in 1954 and the "of America" was eventually abandoned because the denomination includes a Canadian conference.

The Evangelical Free Church of Canada (EFCC) is an association of autonomous and interdependent evangelical Christian congregations in Canada. Its home office is located in Langley, British Columbia, on the campus of Trinity Western University. EFCC is an affiliate of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the International Federation of Free Evangelical Churches. The EFCC was founded in 1917 at Enchant, Alberta. It merged with the Fellowship of Gospel Churches in 1957 and was incorporated under federal charter in 1967. It became autonomous from the Evangelical Free Church of America in 1984. In 1962, the Evangelical Free Church of Canada and the Evangelical Free Church of America founded Trinity Western University as a college. Trinity Western Seminary became a graduate division of the University, and the EFCC is uniquely partnered with several other denominational seminaries under the name Associated Canadian Theological Schools (ACTS). The EFCC operates an international mission arm known as Evangelical Free Church of Canada Mission (EFCCM). The EFCCM provides care and administrative help to about 100 missionaries in more than 16 countries. In 1990, there are 10,000 members in Canada. In 2017, there are about 150 Evangelical Free Churches throughout Canada.

Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center Augustana College 639 38th Street Rock Island, Illinois, 61201 Toll-free phone:800-798-8100 Phone: 309-794-7000 Most of the Lutheran, Covenant, and Free churches listed below are also indexed and available to search on Ancestry.com. Access them at Ancestry.com Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center'''. This was made possible by a collaboration between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Covenant Archives at North Park University, the Evangelical Free Church of America, the Swedish Emigrant Institute in Växjö, Sweden, and the Swenson Center.
 * Swedish-Canadian Church Records
 * Visiting for Genealogy Research
 * Genealogy Research Services


 * Included data collections
 * U.S., Evangelical Covenant Church, Swedish American Church Records, 1868-1970, index and images, incomplete, ($)
 * '''U.S., Evangelical Free Church of America, Swedish American Church Records, 1842-1947, index and images, incomplete, ($)