Who We Are
First Covenant Church
Our Past
First Covenant was founded June 1, 1875 by God-honoring “Mission Friends” who had immigrated from Sweden. Within five years time they purchased their first permanent building, “the mission house”, which was located on Fifth Avenue near Kishwaukee Street and cost $1,600. Eight years later it was sold and a new church building, “the tabernacle”, was built on the corner of Third Avenue and Kishwaukee Street. After 78 years, God moved upon the hearts of these Covenanters to relocate their place of worship to its present location at 316 Wood Road. God blessed them with the resources to build a new and larger church building and dedicated January 16, 1966. A gymnasium was later added in a joint venture with Rockford Christian School at the Hemlock campus just across the street.
God has richly blessed this congregation under the leadership of pastors who have faithfully shared the Good News of saving faith through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We thank God for such a rich heritage and yield ourselves to His leading for a blessed future.
Our Present
We honor our heritage and we lean into the future to live out our mission, vision and values. First Covenant began with Swedish immigrants and has become a beautiful tapestry representing a range of nations, tribes, people and languages, classes, and religious backgrounds. It’s like a little taste of heaven on earth (Revelation 7:9). We take seriously the Great Commandment of Jesus to love God with all that we are and to love all our neighbors near and far. We take seriously the Great Commission given by Jesus to invite people to love mercy, act justly and walk humbly with God. We believe our lives should imitate the life of Jesus Christ, thus we are called to serve one another as Christ came to serve.
Therefore, we are servants of Christ, formed by the life changing power of the Bible, led by the Spirit of God to introduce people to a loving and just God, and experience new life in Christ, to heal the world and meet the needs of others. This leads us to value a transforming walk with Jesus for all ages, developing life-giving partnerships, practicing sacrificial generosity, and having visionary courage.
Denomination
First Covenant is affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church. Set in motion in 1885 by Swedish immigrants, today we are a growing, multiethnic, intergenerational mosaic of 850 churches in North America with ministry partnerships in nearly forty countries.
For Covenant people, our essential DNA can be summarized as:
- Biblical – We affirm the centrality of the Bible as the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct.
- Missional – The early Covenanters were known as “mission friends”, people of who cared about ministries of compassion, mercy and justice.
- Devotional – We affirm the necessity of the new birth and a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit
- Connectional – United in Christ, we offer freedom to one another to differ on issues of belief or practice. The Covenant Church seeks to focus on what unites, rather than what divides us.
Our Past
First Covenant was founded June 1, 1875 by God-honoring “Mission Friends” who had immigrated from Sweden. Within five years time they purchased their first permanent building, “the mission house”, which was located on Fifth Avenue near Kishwaukee Street and cost $1,600. Eight years later it was sold and a new church building, “the tabernacle”, was built on the corner of Third Avenue and Kishwaukee Street. After 78 years, God moved upon the hearts of these Covenanters to relocate their place of worship to its present location at 316 Wood Road. God blessed them with the resources to build a new and larger church building and dedicated January 16, 1966. A gymnasium was later added in a joint venture with Rockford Christian School at the Hemlock campus just across the street.
God has richly blessed this congregation under the leadership of pastors who have faithfully shared the Good News of saving faith through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We thank God for such a rich heritage and yield ourselves to His leading for a blessed future.
Our Present
We honor our heritage and we lean into the future to live out our mission, vision and values. First Covenant began with Swedish immigrants and has become a beautiful tapestry representing a range of nations, tribes, people and languages, classes, and religious backgrounds. It’s like a little taste of heaven on earth (Revelation 7:9). We take seriously the Great Commandment of Jesus to love God with all that we are and to love all our neighbors near and far. We take seriously the Great Commission given by Jesus to invite people to love mercy, act justly and walk humbly with God. We believe our lives should imitate the life of Jesus Christ, thus we are called to serve one another as Christ came to serve.
Therefore, we are servants of Christ, formed by the life changing power of the Bible, led by the Spirit of God to introduce people to a loving and just God, and experience new life in Christ, to heal the world and meet the needs of others. This leads us to value a transforming walk with Jesus for all ages, developing life-giving partnerships, practicing sacrificial generosity, and having visionary courage.
Denomination
First Covenant is affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church. Set in motion in 1885 by Swedish immigrants, today we are a growing, multiethnic, intergenerational mosaic of 850 churches in North America with ministry partnerships in nearly forty countries.
For Covenant people, our essential DNA can be summarized as:
- Biblical – We affirm the centrality of the Bible as the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct.
- Missional – The early Covenanters were known as “mission friends”, people of who cared about ministries of compassion, mercy and justice.
- Devotional – We affirm the necessity of the new birth and a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit
- Connectional – United in Christ, we offer freedom to one another to differ on issues of belief or practice. The Covenant Church seeks to focus on what unites, rather than what divides us.
