Our Beliefs
We affirm all the historic Christian doctrines and see our tradition as part of the larger experience of the Christian Church. We accept the
Apostles' Creed as the simplest definition of our doctrine that we share with all other strands of Christianity. Our church belongs to the
Evangelical Free Church of America and accepts the
EFCA Statement of Faith as our own.
Our Values
- Christian:
We are followers of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Son of God, Son of Mary. We strive to imitate him and live according to his teachings.
- Evangelical:
We believe that God accepts people on the basis of Jesus' life, atoning death and resurrection. This good news to otherwise lost people, or the gospel (euangelion in Greek), is at the center of our understanding of reality.
- Biblical:
We accept the Bible as God's communication with people. We believe in the reliability (inerrancy) and authority of Scripture.
- Spiritual:
We are unable to live lives pleasing to God without the influence of the Holy Spirit who resides in the believer. The Spirit guides and convicts us individually and as a community.
- Missional:
We participate in God's mission to bring all creation under his rule. We try to meet a variety of needs around us, including the need to know Jesus and his story.
Our History
Our church started as a young German congregation in 1930. In fact, German language services continued well into the 1970s, while English became more dominant since the 1950s. Christian Fellowship moved to its present Roscoe Village location in 1950 and has functioned as a well-established church ever since then. The congregation had not been associated with any particular denomination until joining the Evangelical Free Church of America in 1980. The church has gone through many changes through the years adjusting to demographic and economic changes of the neighborhood.
Sergei Marchenko became the newest pastor of CF in the summer of 2007. He is married to Gillian and has four young daughters. They all enjoy living in the neighborhood.
