The Evangelical Covenant Church began in the late 1880s “in the biblical instruction of the Lutheran State Church of Sweden, and in the great spiritual awakenings of the nineteenth century.” The denomination has ministries on five continents and claims that it “values the Bible as the Word of God.” Therefore it is with sadness to report that the ECC has gone into contemplative, seeming to have no reservations in doing so. With several educational institutions, including North Park University, the ECC influences many people, including many college students.
From labyrinths to centering prayer groups and everything in between, the ECC is promoting contemplative spirituality to their members. Centering prayer groups adhere to the teachings of Basil Pennington and Thomas Keating, both of whom are panentheists (God in all things). In addition, ECC offers several opportunities for its members to participate in Spiritual Formation (an avenue through which contemplative spirituality is introduced), and a seminar called Habits of the Heart presents contemplative practices such as lectio divina. A recommended reading list for Christian Formationcontains just about every contemplative teacher one can imagine.
The denomination’s university, North Park University, is reflective of the denomination and incorporates many of the same contemplative practices and persuasions as does North Park Theological Seminary, which also has a Center for Spiritual Direction (spiritual direction – another avenue through which contemplative spirituality enters).
Many members of the Evangelical Covenant Church will be heart-broken as they are forced to leave their ECC churches (some of whom have contacted Lighthouse Trails) in search of ones that maintain biblical integrity and defend the gospel of Jesus Christ in truth and courage. Contemplative spirituality, in all its substance and form, can never do this and will only cause havoc and deception.
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