Our Mission Statement is to:
KNOW GOD
GROW TOGETHER
SHOW THE WORLD
God wants us to know Him personally, grow together as His people in that relationship with Him and each other, and show the world His great love.
Know God
- To pursue personal spiritual growth through time alone with the Lord in Bible study and prayer. (Philippians 2:12-13-/II Peter 3:18)
- To participate in the weekly worship service(s) on a regular basis through worship in song, word and sacrament. (Hebrews 10:24-25/Acts 2:42)
- To offer my life to Christ daily – surrendering my time, talent and treasure. (Rom 12:1)
Grow Together
- To join the family life of the church in a small-group context. (Acts 2:43-47)
- To exhibit the servanthood of Jesus Christ by fitting in and serving in the body according to my spiritual gifts(s) and God-given passion. (Romans 12:6/I Peter 4:10)
Show the World
- To share my faith personally. (Acts 1:8/II Corinthians 5:20a/II Timothy 4:5)
- To witness to the world as a member of Covenant Bible Church in it’s various ministries.
Our History
History of Covenant Bible Church:
In the fall of 1997, a family contacted the Evangelical Free Church about the possibility of starting a church. Lewis Wimberley, the church planting pastor with the EFC asked them to see if there were other families who were interested in starting a church and said he would be glad to meet with a group as soon as there were at 2-3 families. By the spring of 1998 there were 3 couples meeting for Bible Study and Lewis started to make the trip to Farmington, MO to meet with these couples.
By 1999, the group had grown to 5-6 families and was meeting together for public worship. A student at Covenant Seminary was traveling from St. Louis to preach for them. At this time, they began to prayerfully consider calling a pastor.
In 2000, Dan Judge became their Interim Pastor. He and his wife were regular attendees of the church and he was Chaplain of the State Mental Health facility. CBC had several resumes before them by the spring of 2000 and they narrowed the search down to Bill Younker, a former Missionary of the EFC and former Church Planter. They called him in July of 2000 and Bill and his family moved to Farmington in August. At this point there were 8 families active in the church.
The church continued to grow and in 2003, the people of Covenant Bible Church bought 20 acres of land outside of Farmington. In March of 2004, the building site was prepared and they started to build that year. They moved in October of 2004. Bill left Covenant Bible Church in December 2009 to pastor the International Community Church in Columbia, MO.
In July 2010 Marco van Raalten was installed as the pastor of Covenant Bible Church.
Evangelical Free Church of America
Covenant Bible Church became a member of the Central District of the Evangelical Free Church of America on March 4, 2003.
The History of the Evangelical Free Church
The Evangelical Free Church of America was formed June 18, 1950 by the merger of two church bodies: the Evangelical Free Church of America (Swedish) and the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church Association. Both groups had been birthed in the revival movements of the late nineteenth century.
The Swedish group had its formal beginnings in Boone, Iowa, at a conference held in October of 1884. In that same year, two Norwegian-Danish groups began to worship and fellowship together in Boston, Massachusetts and Tacoma, Washington. By 1912, both the Swedish Evangelical Free Church and the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church Association had been formed.
Those two associations, representing 275 local congregations, were formally joined together as they gathered for a merger conference in June of 1950 at the Medicine Lake Conference Grounds near Minneapolis, Minnesota. The international and national offices of the EFCA have been located in Minneapolis since the merger took place.
Our Mission:
The mission of the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) is to glorify God by multiplying healthy churches among all people.
Distinctives of the EFCA Movement:
- Inclusive not exclusive: Believers are united in Christ by faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; unity on every fine point of doctrine is not required in order to become a member of the denomination
- Evangelical, but not separatistic: Has a strong commitment to the authority and inerrancy of scripture, but does not over-emphasize minor issues of doctrine
- Ecumenical in spirit, but not in structure: The church is united spiritually in Christ, but need not be united structurally
- Affirms Christian liberty with responsibility and accountability
- Believes that both sound Christian doctrine and an active relationship with God are essential to the life of the believer
- Committed to a congregational form of church government
Structure:
The word Free in the Evangelical Free Church’s name refers to its congregational polity, meaning each member church is autonomous. The governing body of the EFCA is the Leadership Conference held annually. Delegates to the conference are credentialed ministers, chaplains, tenured university faculty, and representatives of each EFCA church. The Leadership Conference elects the board of directors which acts as the governing body between Leadership Conference meetings. As chair of the National Ministry Team, the President coordinates the work of the various national boards and ministries. The office of the President has responsibility for reviewing the licensing and ordaining of ministers and, in addition, oversees the discipline and restoration process for pastors.
The EFCA is divided into 18 regional districts which, among other responsibilities, examines and approves applicants for ordination. The denomination maintains headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and engages in ministries in education, publications, camps, senior housing, children’s homes, and camp facilities. The EFCA supports the mission of Trinity International University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois and Trinity Law School in Santa Ana, California; and supports Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.
The Evangelical Free Church is a member of the International Federation of Free Evangelical Churches
Membership:
The EFCA has experienced tremendous growth since its formation in 1950, at which time there were 20,000 members and under 300 congregations. By the 1980s there were over 800 congregations and over 100,000 members. In 2003, the Association reported 300,000 members in over 1,400 congregations. In 2010, the EFCA reported a weekly attendance of 357,709 in 1,480 congregations. As of 2000, California had the largest number of congregations with 175. However, membership is primarily concentrated in the Midwest.
Leadership:
Our pastor
Marco Van Raalten pastor@cbcparkland.org
Ministry Leaders:
Elders: Al Gainer, Mike Berg
Deacons: John & Pat van Hoogstraat, Bud & Donna Masson, Crystal Huebschen
Contact us:
Covenant Bible Church
(573) 747-0001
5165 Hwy D
Farmington, MO. 63640