The Evangelical Covenant Church’s Response to the Civil Rights Movement, 1963–1968

Abstract

In this article I examine whether denominational resolutions on racial relations were in fact increasingly followed by action during the civil rights era. Focusing on the years 1963–1968, my study begins by considering broad denominational engagement through attention to the work of the Christian Citizenship Committee and to Covenant publications. Two congregational case studies follow. After briefer attention to Community Covenant Church of Minneapolis, I consider North Park Covenant Church of Chicago as an in-depth case study, enabled by extensive archival records housed at the Covenant Archives and Historical Library. My research bears witness to the leadership of the Holy Spirit in the church and denominational leaders that defied the status quo and proclaimed through their actions the presence of the kingdom of God on earth.