Written by Tom Brand
What is the EFCC? What is our core identity? What are we all about, and what is our purpose?
Answering these questions clearly is critical to moving forward as the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches and for uniting us together as a network in fellowship and ministry. To state the conclusion of this article first, as the EFCC, we want to demonstrate Reformed Facing Gospel Generosity.
The Meaning of Reformed Facing Gospel Generosity
Back in 2018, we adopted the EFCC vision statement, Exalting Christ in Growing Healthy Churches. Our vision sets our direction, our purpose, our drive and ambition in the Gospel of Christ. But this clarifies where we’re heading, it doesn’t focus on what we are.
At the 2024 AGM, we approved and adopted the new EFCC Positions Paper. This, along with our Basis of Faith sets the perimeter of the EFCC, they are like stakes or pegs marking out the circle edge of the EFCC tent, the boundary markers. Churches that affirm oneness with the Basis of Faith and the Positions Paper are inside the tent, part of the EFCC family.
But still, there isn’t quite enough to tell us what the core identity of the EFCC really is. We’ve got the boundary in place, and we’ve got our direction of travel, but what is our heartbeat? What is the pole at the centre of the EFCC tent?
The last piece of the puzzle is the focal point, the centre of gravity, the posture. Put simply, and building on the tent metaphor, are we standing in the tent facing in or facing out? If we’re facing out, the danger is that the boundaries of the Basis of Faith and the Positions Paper will be pushed further outwards. But what would it mean to face in? What’s in the middle of the EFCC tent?
Reformed Congregationalism
The pole at the centre of the EFCC tent is the Savoy Declaration of Faith, the best expression of Reformed Congregationalism. It was written in 1658 as a Congregational version of the Westminster Confession of Faith the decade before.
We mention the Savoy in the new Positions Paper introduction, ‘Our theological roots lie in the Savoy Declaration of 1658 which is summarised by our Basis of Faith. The centre of gravity and the direction of travel for the EFCC is Reformed.’ And at the end, it says that we affirm these positions ‘in line with the historic Confessions and Creeds.’
But don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that suddenly we all need fully to subscribe to the Savoy Declaration, as individuals or as churches. It can’t mean that because we are a fellowship of independent churches. Instead, it means that as a fellowship we are facing this direction, we are a Reformed-facing family of Evangelical and Congregational churches. We’ve started a new series in InFellowship called ‘Engaging Theology’ which will go through the chapters of the Savoy Declaration in a clear, short and accessible way. It is a great way to familiarise yourself with the basics of Reformed Congregationalism.
Gospel Generosity
The second half of the statement we started with is Gospel Generosity. This is a little more self-explanatory and it helps us understand more about what it means to be Reformed Facing.
One of the great blessings I’ve found in being part of the EFCC as a pastor and now as the Ministry Director, is that we have a desire to understand each other’s different views on things like baptism. The baptism of the children of believing parents is the standard position for Congregationalism and Reformed theology in general. However, some pastors and elders and members in the EFCC would hold to believers’ baptism only. We want to have a spirit of warmth, charity and Gospel Generosity in our discussions, and in the strength of our fellowship. And not just on this issue of baptism, Gospel Generosity means that we show a humble orthodoxy as we embrace Reformed Congregationalism.
We want to be totally fixated on the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, when that is held centrally, we can show great generosity in our fellowship. The Gospel of Christ is utterly central to the Reformed Confessions and to us as the EFCC.
Church Practice
One of the key differences between historic Reformed Congregationalism and the Congregationalism we see in the nineteenth century onwards is that Reformed Congregationalism is elder-led Congregationalism. The authority still lies with the membership, particularly on key issues like church discipline and appointing elders, but the members are clearly led and guided by the elders. Daniel Peet’s excellent article provides a clear historical background on this.
This presents lots of challenges. Training and appointing elders in a church is a long process. In fact, 2 Timothy 2:2 presents it as a four-generation process! Paul (1) instructs Timothy (2) to entrust sound teaching and leadership to faithful men (3) who can also disciple other men (4). Four generations of discipleship in raising up and training elders. This takes long-term commitment. It’s also a huge challenge because the biblical qualifications for eldership set an extremely high standard (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:1-9), and appointing an unqualified elder is so much worse than having no elders. The EFCC runs an elder training programme according to demand. If you’re interested as a church, please do get in touch and let us know. We’re really keen to help our churches in all this. Let’s move forward by God’s grace together.
What is at the heart of the EFCC? Reformed Facing Gospel Generosity. And what is our direction? Exalting Christ in Growing Healthy Churches.
