About us

What We Teach

Conover Evangelical Free Church is part of the Evangelical Free Church of America – an association of over 1500 churches that all affirm the EFCA statement of faith, which you can access online by clicking below.

What Can I Expect

At Conover Evangelical Free Church, you can expect to come in and feel welcomed by the body of Christ. CEFC encourages all to put forth their best for the Lord in all things. As we come to worship the Lord Jesus Christ, we seek to give Him our best in attitude, appreciation, and attire. Worship services on Sundays are followed by a time of fellowship where coffee and homemade snacks are served regularly. CEFC has been a part of the Northwoods community since 1971, and we encourage you to join us in making, maturing, and multiplying for Christ in the Northwoods.

Our Mission

At Conover Evangelical Free Church, our mission statement of Making, Maturing, Multiplying for Christ expresses our primary biblical responsibility as followers of Jesus Christ from Matthew’s Gospel 28:19-20. CEFC is committed to making disciples by sharing the hope for all mankind that is only found through the Good News of Jesus Christ. We do this by going out into the world with the promise of salvation and redemption offered by grace through faith in the atoning sacrifice and promise found alone in the death and resurrection of Jesus. CEFC is committed to maturing followers of Jesus Christ by being a disciple-making church which purposefully invests in the spiritual growth and nurturing of believers. CEFC is committed to multiplying disciples by taking our faith in the Gospel message seriously, training and equipping others for ministry, and affirming that CEFC has been set aside by God for both the preaching of the Gospel message and as a witness to the Northwoods.

Membership

CEFC encourages regular attenders to consider becoming members as it allows them to contribute to the local body of believers more fully.

Why does someone become a member of the local church?

In the early church, coming to Christ was coming to the church. The idea of experiencing salvation without belonging to a local church is foreign to the New Testament. When individuals repented and believed in Christ, they were baptized and added to the church (Acts 2:41, 47; 5:14; 16:5). More than simply living out a private commitment to Christ, this meant joining together formally with other believers in a local assembly and devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer (Acts 2:42).

The New Testament teaches that the church is the body of Christ and that God has called every member to a life devoted to the growth of the body. In other words, Scripture exhorts all believers to edify the other members by practicing the “one-anothers” of the New Testament (e.g., Heb. 10:24-25) and exercising their spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-7; 1 Pet. 4:10-11). Mutual edification can only take place in the context of the corporate body of Christ. Exhortations to this kind of ministry presuppose that believers have committed themselves to other believers in a specific local assembly. Church membership is simply the formal way to make that commitment.

Church membership means:

  • Recognition of what it means to worship with other believers
  • Willingness to serve/contribute to the Body of Christ
  • Willingness to submit to the authority of those that God has established to protect truth, protect the purity of the body, and promote the Gospel.
  • Fully engaged with the spiritual gifts God has given us Love the Lord fully and love the body fully in the process

CEFC Elders

Baptism

Have you been baptized as a believer in Jesus Christ? Looking for information about what Believer’s Baptism is? Click the button below for more information.

What is Believer’s Baptism?

  • Believer’s Baptism is the public identification of God’s saving work within a person’s life. It is purely symbolic in nature and is the outward sign of belonging to the family of God—those who have repented and put their faith in Jesus Christ for eternal life (John 1:12; John 3:16). The Bible makes it clear that all persons who have placed their faith and trust alone in Jesus Christ for the atonement of their sins and eternal salvation should be baptized (Acts 2:38). Two conditions must be met for you to be eligible for baptism: 1) You have repented of your sins and believed by faith on Christ’s atoning sacrifice alone for salvation (Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9). 2) You have not already been baptized as a believer by immersion (Romans 6:3-4).

How do I get baptized at CEFC?

  • If you are interested in getting baptized at CEFC, one of our pastors would be delighted to speak with you. Please call us at 715-479-4327 for more information or to speak with one of our pastoral staff.

Marriage At CEFC

CEFC Statement and Position on Marriage

Our understanding of marriage is derived exclusively from the inspired Word of God, the Bible, which this local body of the greater Body of believers will support and elders will defend as charged by God. In seeking to keep our demonstrated commitment to our Creator sound and complete, we express our witness to the veracity of the Scriptures and their application to all areas of faith and practice by affirming the following:

A. Marriage – We believe that marriage has been instituted and ordained by God, and is defined as the exclusive conventional union of one man and one woman in which such union is a lifetime commitment, a covenant. It is neither lawful for any man to have more than one wife nor any woman to have more than one husband. Marriage is ordained by God both for believers and unbelievers but Christians are to marry only Christians. A civil government’s sanction of any union will be recognized as legitimate marriage by the church only to the extent that it is consistent with the Biblical definition of marriage.

(Genesis 2:24-26; Mal. 2:15; Matt. 19:4-6; Mark 10:6-9; 1 Cor. 7:39; 2 Cor. 6:14)

B. Human Sexuality – Marriage was designed solely by God and is for the mutual benefit of both husband and wife, for the increase in mankind according to biblical direction, and for the prevention of immorality while seeking sexual purity. We believe that legitimate sexual relations are exercised solely within marriage. Any sexual activities outside of marriage, including but not limited to, adultery, premarital sex, homosexuality, any form of fornication, bestiality, sodomy, transgender behavior, the creation and/or distribution and/or viewing of pornography, and pedophilia, are inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible, the church, and are incompatible with the biblical witness. The New Testament Church is described as the Body of Christ, where Jesus is united with the Body of the church in the same essence husbands and wives are united in one flesh. That unique and intimate loving relationship demonstrated in unity is the reflection of our personal relationship with Christ.
(Gen. 1:28; 2:18; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; 7:2, 9; 1 Thess. 4:3-5; Eph. 5:5, 31-32; Heb. 13:4)

C. Family – We believe that the roles of husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, and children are clearly stated in the Scriptures, including the principles of discipline, instruction, and correction. When found to conflict with laws and/or social norms, we will follow the biblical principles addressing any such issues which may arise or become apparent. God has ordained marriage and the relationship between one man (husband) and one woman (wife) who are to complement one another in mutual submission toward one another. In the relationship, the husband’s primary role is to be a loving servant leader while the wife’s primary role is to be a nurturing helpmate, both seeking to demonstrate Christ-likeness through mutual submission to Christ and one another.

(Gen 1:18, 24; Eph. 5:22-33; Col. 3:18-21; 1 Pet 3:1-7; Eph. 6:1-4)

D. Compassion – We believe that love and respect are due and are to be offered to all people, recognizing we are all created in the image of God. However, when the Scriptures speak against other philosophies, belief systems, and behaviors, we will be true to the Scriptures and will speak the truth and will do so in love.

(Rom. 3:4; Eph. 4:14-16)

Discipleship At CEFC

God’s Word makes it clear that a disciple of Jesus Christ is one who follows Jesus by accepting all he taught, imitating how he lived, and spreading the teachings he gave into the lives of others. At CEFC, we believe discipleship is biblically mandated (Matt. 28:19, John 8:31-32).

For Christians, discipleship is a life-long process that helps us to grow in the Lord Jesus Christ which is accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a commitment and a choice to grow and learn to become more Christlike. It requires the study of the Scriptures, the examination of our hearts, and faithful obedience to all that God has called us to do as his followers. Biblical discipleship is characterized by the following:

  • Putting Christ first in our lives (Mark 8:34-38) by putting off ourselves.Following Jesus’ teachings (John 8:31-32) in faithful obedience 1 (Sam. 28:18).
  • Loving others (John 13:34-35) as evidence of being a member of God’s family (1 John 3:10), knowing love is an intentional action on behalf of all disciples (1 Cor. 13:1-13), putting the needs of others first (Phil. 2:3-5).
  • Bearing fruit (John 15:5-8) by abiding in Christ and allowing the Spirit to be fruitful through our lives as our obedience advances and deepens in our hearts which have been softened by God’s divine presence in us (Ezek. 36:26; 1 Cor. 6:19).
  • Evangelizing by making disciples of others (Matt. 28:18-20) through the sharing of our faith in Christ by declaring the wonderful Good News which Christ offers (1 Cor. 9:16).

At CEFC, we believe what the Bible says—God’s call on the lives of all men and women to grow in their faith once they have been redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus demands biblical discipleship for any Christian. To begin one one-on-one discipleship within CEFC’s discipleship program, please contact Paul Newton at elderpaulnewton@conoverefc.com, who will assist you in getting started.

CEFC’s one-on-one discipleship program will bless your life and advance your faith dramatically while you honor God in the process.