In its Statement of Faith, the Evangelical Free Church of America affirms the authority and
inerrancy of the Bible; the
Trinity; atonement through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ;
original sin; Christ as head of the church and the local church's right to
self government; the personal and imminent return of Christ; the bodily resurrection of the dead; and the two ordinances of water
baptism and the
Lord's Supper. The denomination, within its own Statement of Faith and FAQ, claims to be most similar to the
Baptist tradition, but prefers to use "baptist" with a lowercase "b" as a minor non-primary descriptor due to it primarily although not exclusively embracing the Baptist doctrine on
credobaptism, while leaving some allowances for the use of
paedobaptism because of its early history having origins within
Lutheranism, and having had an influx of former
Methodists and
Presbyterians in the denomination's early days. The EFCA passed a substantial revision to its Statement of Faith on June 26, 2008, the first revision since the Statement was first adopted in 1950. This revision was proposed in order "to update archaic language, to clarify some theological ambiguities, to seek greater theological precision, to address new issues, to have a SoF that would be better suited to be used as a teaching tool in our churches." Specific beliefs based on biblical interpretation can vary somewhat due to the congregational governance system that gives autonomy to individual local EFCA churches. The EFCA does not ordain women. The church describes its stance on homosexuality and same-sex marriage as "welcoming but not affirming," stating that the church "will not credential one who engages in homosexual conduct or one who does not believe that homosexual behavior is sinful, even though remaining celibate." ==Structure==