Evangelical Church of North America - History

History

At its annual session in 1967, the Pacific Northwest Conference of the Evangelical United Brethren (EUB) Church voted by a two-thirds majority to secede from its parent body and continue to operate as a separate denomination. The action was taken in anticipation of the upcoming merger with the Methodist Church, which they had opposed primarily over issues of Biblical authority, social activism, and the doctrine of Entire Sanctification, on all of which points the dissenters viewed the Methodists as becoming too liberal. Thus, the ECNA became the conservative counterpart to the Methodist Church.

The EUB Book of Discipline, the controlling document of church governance, made no provision of the secession of local congregations or regional conferences, and failed to recognize the validity of the Pacific Northwest Conference's action, or similar votes taken at congregational meetings. The merger was effected in April 1968, forming the United Methodist Church, which took title to all assets and properties formerly belonging to the Pacific Northwest Conference and its local churches and organizations.

The Evangelical Church in North America (ECNA) was officially formed on June 4, 1968, by a group of the dissenting ministers and laymen representing some fifty congregations in Oregon and Washington. Before the end of June laity and ministers from North Dakota and Montana, representing more than twenty additional congregations had joined their ranks.

In 1969, the Evangelical Church entered into a financial settlement agreement with the Methodists whereby the new denomination gained title to some of the facilities of the former EUB Church, including most of the secessionist congregations. That same year, the Holiness Methodist Church, united with the Evangelical Church. In 1975, the Wesleyan Covenant Church, became part of the Evangelical Church, including its Navajo missions in central New Mexico.