Is the Evangelical Free Church Becoming Woke? 

We (our extended family, including in-laws) began attending and became members of an EFCA church here in the Phoenix, AZ area about 15-20 years ago. The congregation and its pastor and other leadership were wonderful. That pastor had to retire due to severe health problems. Our new pastor has been there since then, 12 years now. It was he, at his level of denominational involvement, who became quite aware of the liberal and woke changes taking place in EFCA, and we voted 5 or more years ago to become independent and break away from that affiliation. No regrets - quite the opposite!

Woke means unforgiveness, divisiveness, and a root of bitterness that defines many.

As a pastor of a church that left the EFCA in 2020, my thanks to Pastor Jeff for fighting the good fight of the faith within the EFCA. I'm glad God has called you to speak out on these matters. Keep up the good work!

Jon, thank you so much for making us aware of this in the EF church. We must be praying for Jeff and pastors like him in our denominations that are falling into the woke wave.

To Turn the Other Cheek means to stand your ground but without retaliation.

Praying for you both!! Thank you so much for standing out and speaking truth, even if it costs you. Don't hold back. Darkness only grows when Light recedes. Keep it up!!

Thank you for platforming this pastor. I pray he will be successful in his fight.

Wokeness destroys and decimates everything it touches.

Yes, David Whitney, is a good man, a truth teacher, in a very small church. I have been listening on line to him for 2 years, yet I belong to a different denomination.Truth crosses all boundaries.

Thankful to you both fir boldness abd consistency in speaking out truth In this crazy, Woke world. God lead us out of woke church to Cornerstone...what a blessing. Praying God continues to open eyes and hearts are changed.

Finally! Oh man, so glad to see this topic being addressed. We left an EFCA church close to 3 years ago, because of all the woke nonsense. Thank you John! Looking forward to this.

I was raised in the EFCA and have never held a membership outside the denomination. This last December we walked out of the largest EFCA church in the Des Moines area and are seeking a new denomination. Yoga, the Enneagram, BLM and much more are presented as a way to "love your neighbor" or to "set your rights aside for the good of others" and I just couldn't take it any longer. I began in the EFCA in the late 1970s and now I'm seeking a biblically faithful new church family.

I went to tell my local homeschool friends about this bc the husband is an efca pastor. Turns out he designed this guy's website! Guess I have some good friends!

The answer is most certainly YES

The Catholic Church gave Luther more of a chance to address his accusers than the EFCA church gave this pastor.

I took my family out of our local EFCA congregation after 10 years of membership. The district superintendent promoted “Racial justice pilgrimages” and one of our pastors joined in on one with him and the other pastors promoted it. I saw that Social justice ideology was infiltrating the thinking of the pastors/elders. There seems to be a high value placed on “unity,” but what ends up happening is you have people in pews next to each other that inhabit morally opposite universes. Like congregants who said, “abortion should be between a woman and her doctor” can somehow coexist without feeling any pushback from the leadership because there are issues they won’t really touch with a 10-foot pole. Jon, thanks for having Craig on the podcast a few months back. I connected with him and he graciously counseled me on a few phone calls about what was going on in my congregation.

I agree with his optimism that the EFCA movement has a very, very bright future. Great optimism here. I hope he stays in our denomination and continues to influence area congregations.

Great interview. God bless this brother.

Great pod cast Jon. Good work. Praying for you and your wife.

My whole family left our EFCA church of almost 30 years because of woke ideology and theological issues. Our church was online only during early 2020, then after Floyd's death our church did a book club reading the Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby. Thanks to your program, I was aware of the book. It was a major red flag for me. Long story short, my husband and I left the church. My parents soon followed along with many other long standing members over not only the wokism, but also COVID, and theological concerns. I grew up in the EFCA and it broke my heart to leave. Thank you for fighting against this in a way I was not able to.

Our church just left the EFCA due to the woke training that they were trying to bring to the church. I am so glad our church leadership saw the training for what it is, and after trying to work with the regional leadership for two years, the elders decided to leave the denomination. EFCA regional leadership has/had an agenda, and it is not biblical.

As someone who knows some of the people Jeff criticizes personally, I would remind those listening that one side always sounds right until the other side is heard (Proverbs 18:17). Not participating in debates does not mean that that side is guilty until proven innocent.

It sounds like there is a plan to break down the church's to me... That's what it sounds like it to me...Thanks Jon.very good information.

The EFCA church I work at is certainly woke. Being in a suburb of Minneapolis we were very close to the center of the George Floyd incident. He was practically elevated to the status of a saint. For over a year after his death we didn't have one Sunday where the name of "Our Dear Brother George" wasn't brought up. They taught a class on race using "White Fragility". Last month we were encouraged to lament (and not just last month, but all the time). I would say that more than half of the congregation has left. Giving is down to the point that they just recently let 8 staff members go. There is so much more pointing to their wokeness such as the organizations they are now aligning with etc. The one bright spot is, so far they are still holding firm on the issues of abortion and traditional marriage. This might sound pretty lame, but believe me it is now being woven into the fabric of the church. You cannot question anything or you will be encouraged to check your white privilege or find another church. I will be retiring soon and we will be going to a church that recently left the EFCA.

Makes me imagine a realigning of denominations along woke vs conservative lines. (Fault lines)

Oof. This one hit me personally. I attended Pastor Kynes' church in VA for a year in 2007-2008. He was a very gifted and gracious pastor. It would be hard for me to imagine him not having an open, patient, and detailed conversation over a topic like this. I wonder how Kynes specifically treated Jeff in this situation? If there are specific problems with his behavior I might be able to get a hold of him and ask some questions.

The devil accuses with vague accusations. True conviction from God is very specific with a clear path out.

I went to Hope Community Church in Minneapolis, and I thought they were so solid. Unfortunately they were super into Keller (though I knew nothing about him at the time). I was shocked when they started going woke in 2020

Anyone who works for equality is not working for justice but injustice. See the parable of the talents.

I’ve never heard of the EFCA until this video just popped up on my feed. So many mainline denominations have been splitting further in the last so many years. We have over 40,000 denominations & growing rapidly. It’s very painful for anyone who has suffered through church splits. With the internet, many Muslims, Mormons, Scientologist, etc. have access to search for religious answers in the privacy of their homes or rooms, causing increasing numbers to leave after learning their founders were conmen. I believe God may be purging Christians of our heresies with the goal of causing sincere, searching, praying, studying Christians to join back into one single church, The Church, which Jesus founded & handed over to his apostles. May we treat each other with love & grace despite our differences during these painful times. 💒

Love Jeff! A great man of God!

I've no doubt you will find people within the EFCA who might be used as examples of wokeness but that does not mean the entire movement is woke. In fairness, now that you have had this conversation, you owe it to the EFCA leadership to reach out to them for a follow up conversation.

OH MAN OH MAN! Would I love to be involved in this conversation! OH HEY IT'S JEFF! NICE!

Great conversation. I admire this. Amen.

LOL half the pastors in the EFCA didn't believe in the EFCA's statement of faith! When they dropped their position on pre-millennialism suddenly we found out that all these amillennial guys had lied during their licensing and ordination processes

My church is still affiliated with EV Free. But, we definitely are still committed to biblical truth and have connections with Grace Community Church and Master’s. I can’t comment on whether or not our church will keep its affiliation. That’s a decision that the board will have to make.

This reminds me of the case of First Baptist in Naples when ruthless social warriors with an AGENDA stealthily with deception crept in using shaming and accusing techniques and drove out what looked like a sleepy old naive pastor and leadership and took over. Was that ever resolved and if so how? How could have it been prevented. Paul warned the elders in Ephesus in Acts 20 that this kind of thing would happen. How did he teach to prevent it?

Unfreakingbelievable!!!! My kids and I just left a seeker sensitive happy life now woke church 4 months ago to go to an EFCA church. Pastor's seem awesome and they all preach expository which I cherish beyond what I could put into words. However the Pastor's recommended reading book list was kind of alarming to me....and now this. EFCA needs to correct their coarse stat. God bless you Jeff and Jon for standing strong for the truth in Gods word.

That was a great episode, Jon and Jeff, and this idea of refusing to be specific coming from the 'committee' - it is just wicked at worst and gae at best . The fact that your ordination is suspended void of any specific charges (nothing to hang our hats on) tells me a LOT about those men.

Interesting topic, thank you for covering! Wondering how the Foursquare church is doing along this front...🤔

I was an MK in Bangladesh during the ABWE fiasco in the 70’s and 80’s and have witnessed so much harm done by powerful “Eva”. Absolute power corrupts. Why do people stay with these organizations. Just leave and live out the true Gospel.

Jesus and Paul both warned about wolves coming into the church. Read Acts 20.

Why is Bill Riedel preaching the worldly thoughts of man instead of the gospel of Christ to his flock?

How much influence into wokeness did Ed Stetzer play into this with his SBC? Ed is woke. I know they used him as a consultant on issues and rewrote their doctrinal statement with his guidance. I noticed it, new age (spiritual formation, mysticism, etc) and social justice with illegal immigrants being a part of the EFCA back in 2009-2010. We left after 15 years…I will not give totes and offerings to a church that supports the head of the EFCA. We have 3 churches in our town and they teach yoga, enneagram, and centering prayer as a part of their Bible studies in small groups. I will disagree with Jeff, the EFCA has gone woke. It’s not just tendencies towards it. They just operate it on the down low. They use to be more upfront with it on their website years ago but took much of it down but still operate positionally from the woke social justice ideology bent.

The EFCA is an association of churches not a denomination. Each church is supposed to be congregational in how it’s led.

Thank you for this video.

Our answer is and always was that all to the cross of Christ can come freely. The cross means a level playing field for all. All are welcome to come to the cross. Blessings

The underlying theme which drove them away was, they were never born again.

I am an EFCA pastor in ND. How can I take part in the monthly zoom call? I don't see anything on the website you listed?

I'm EFCA in Wisconsin, I don't think it's becoming woke?

My Free Lutheran Church is standing strong, Association of Free Lutheran Congregations.

LOL Bill Reidel thinks that WE'RE the ones conflating?! LOL

Is he a Pastor in Mt.Laurel, NJ Burlington County. In Southern New Jersey?

There is a guy that started attending my church recently who left the EFCA which he was a pastor in because it was becoming too woke and he became postmillennial which goes against their core beliefs

Don’t know much about E. Free. Are they otherwise solid?

EFCA allows churches that believe you can lose salvation with those that don’t. It’s a strange denomination.

I think that social justice is affecting EVERY church not just this denomination!

It's time to go nondenominational or strictly evangelical... to be honest it seems we now have to train/teach our children against these ideologies because they are bombarded daily from all areas.

How were these leaders appointed and by whom? Unappoint them.

The redemption of Creation is something *Jesus* will achieve when He returns, riding on the clouds, shining like the sun. He will achieve this through the resurrection of the dead, the separation of the redeemed from the unredeemed, and through the creation of a new heavens and a new earth, sinless, spotless, free of the curse and the fall. To say that the Church must redeem Creation in the here and now is to claim for the Church the right, responsibility, power, and authority which Jesus Christ claims for Himself alone. It is arrogance, usurpation, and blasphemy of the worst, most blatant kind, and anyone who teaches such doctrine is a heretic and a false teacher. Case closed.

Bill seems to be a clone of Matt Chandler. Same cadence in his voice, same mannerisms, same woke theology. Whoa.

Why is Reidel talking about politics? Why is he talking about racism? There is NO room for man's commentary from the pulpit. He is preaching at his church from the pulpit, where is God's word on this sermon? He is preaching his agenda.

Mt Laurel? NJ?

Scold the questioner's method rather than answering the question.

I go to an Evangelical Free Church and it has turned Work since covid. I have left the church.

Our EFCA has not done ANY of the woke stuff. I wonder if it's a regional thing.

Jesus taught in Matthew 11 that there are people like Herod whose philosophy is to take what they want by force and that the kingdom would suffer from their antics. John the Baptist was arrested and later beheaded by such people, mainly Herod. Such people should not be in church leadership. Jesus taught against hierarchical leaders and systems in Matthew 20 and 23. "It must never be so among you."

Watch out for Creo Collective a group of “pastors and leaders who focus on being “missional” I have written a lot about this in my blog. Red flags - Caesar Kalinowski, Alan Hirsch, Michael Frost, so many others.

Yes! We left our EFCA church after 23 years because of “Missional” Christianity coming in and that basically is your socially acceptable, social justice junk.

Yes they are

In Luke 10 Jesus told the disciples to look for the man is peaceful ways and heart and to abide with him and his peaceful family, not with social warriors whose philosophy is to use force and violence to change and control others. People are NOT changed for the better by external force. That is not the Jesus way in the Gospel which never forces. Stand against this. It is not Jesus and the Gospel. Preach the real gospel and when these wolves in sheep's clothing are preaching their errors I think the people of God should quietly stand and maybe turn your backs in protest. Turn the other cheek means to peacefully stand your ground but to stand. My experience is that most pastors are far too timid. Stay peaceful but stand. And fast and pray. And teach

Leadership is not following Matthew 18.

Why is this type of message from Bill Riedel coming from a pulpit in the first place? Part of the reason is this is what happens when churches abandon or never focused on expository preaching of the scripture.

Somehow I always thought it was woke.

I h8 the efca church.

👍

The Marxists use the dialectic which asks how people feel and what they think and works for a consensus where people are fooled by their senses. What we see in the council in Jerusalem in Acts 15 is not that. In God's house is the central core of the teachings of the Apostles who all studied the Words of Torah and the Prophets but through the proper lense of Jesus and the New Covenant who then with the Holy Spirit's help arrive at a shared conviction. None of this force from the top stuff.

Tell this man to get ahold of Will McRaney. The SBC took him all the way to The Supreme Court and the court threw it out making a laughing stock of the SBC elites

There is an EFCA church in Lomita, CA that has a woman pastor

Stage a well orchestrated coup on the errant leadership.

The Bible there is only one race.

Have them watch Thomas Sowell on RU-vid.

Have them read DEBUNKING HOWARD ZINN by a real historian Mary ???

Now is the time to really focus on the "Church" Jesus told Peter He was building. We are living stones being built up to a holy people. We (Jesus'bride) are His Church. There are over 30 thousand different denominational and non denominational church names. These churches whom claim to belong to Jesus are not in one mind, one Accord. All believing the same and speaking the same and there are divisions among them. Jesus'church will not fall, though they will be meeting in homes or even going underground, His true bride will surface and will be shining bright in these dark times. The Lord is using theses "birth pangs" to get the dead would out of His Church.

If it is, it's not really free.

Sounds just like JD Greear and David Platt and other Southern Baptist "Rock stars" have influencedthis smaller denomination!

This man is preaching condemnation to Christians which is antigospel. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The mind ser on the flesh is death.

There is a difference between accusation and and genuine conviction of Holy Spirit. It is the devil who is tge accuser of the Brethren. Sounds like you have bad leadership in the headquarters who need to be purged.

What is an EFCA church?

We have been going to an EFCA for about 15 years but never joined. This may have changed since we researched, but one barrier to joining is that we saw the denomination created two classes of members, voting members and regular members. Only someone who is head of a household could vote, and, if you work through the document, they define a household head as exclusive to males. So this means women would not be able to vote for elders and deacons, let alone serve in those capacities. They also are prohibited from leading missions, which led to some strange situations. I have read widely and believe that 1 Timothy 3:11 qualifies women to at least deaconship using the "likewise" or "in the same way". And we see Phoebe identified as a deacon so we know the early church had them. Coincidentally, when a new, younger lead pastor was hired, the church had their first female deacon. Some may claim this is "woke" but I see it as restoring consistency with 1 Timothy 3, and recognition of the priesthood of all believers. At the church level, apparently more EFCA churches are dispensing with the 2-tier membership structure and allowing women to vote. Not all change is bad. The Reformation helped restore the church, though it was considered so bad that many leaders lost their lives over it.

Dude...EFCA is woke, he's in denial.

Top down violates Jesus in Matthew 20 and 23.

You need a forgiveness officer. Jesus taught that if a person doesn't forgive then they themselves will not be forgiven. This critical theory is sending people to hell. The Gospel says I forgive you.

What I get from this, is that this one Pastor is having difficulty with how he learns from or agrees with his peers. Tge EFCA is not in agreement with the Dallas Statement. Infact they have consistently preached a gospel that is not as theologically narrow. Unlike your guest they are open to alternate opinions.