Covenant Church expels congregation and pastors over LGBTQ inclusion
The vote expelling the 145-year-old First Covenant Church Minneapolis was the first time the Evangelical Covenant members have removed a congregation from the denomination.
In voting to expel a historic Minneapolis congregation and two pastors from its ranks at its annual meeting in late June, the Evangelical Covenant Church attempted to close off debate about LGBTQ inclusion.
John Wenrich, the denomination’s president, argued that the church and the two pastors were “refusing to live in harmony with our communally discerned position” advocating abstinence outside of marriage. If further discussion were allowed, Wenrich wrote to church members in May, “we will continue to devote time, energy, and resources to conversations we have held now for more than 20 years.”
Delegates to the annual meeting, which took place in Omaha June 27–29, easily surmounted the two-thirds threshold to expel the 145-year-old First Covenant Church Minneapolis, as well as its pastor, Dan Collison, and a retired pastor, Steve Armfield, from its roster of churches and clergy.
