We believe that churches can accomplish more for the spread of the gospel of Christ in partnership together than they can as independent entities. That's certainly what caused us to form GracePointe in the first place. But creating partnerships between churches happens at a lot of different levels...it doesn't usually mean uniting two distinct congregations into one new body as we did when we established our church.

But it does mean that we intentionally choose to associate with other good churches to accomplish our part of God's mission in the world. GracePointe has chosen to be a part of a movement called the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA). We're one of several Evangelical Free Churches in Tucson.

The EFCA isn't a traditional, top-down denomination. It is an association of autonomous churches united around certain theological convictions. We're not a group of independent churches...we're an association of autonomous but interdependent churches. We band together on purpose to further God's mission and even work side-by-side with other like-minded churches and organizations to futher the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps you're wondering about the meaning of the unique name of the movement...

What does "Evangelical" mean?

The term "Evangelical" refers to our faith and our theology. We are committed to the proclamation of the gospel (the good news of Jesus Christ), and to the Scriptures as being the inspired, inerrant, authoritative and sufficient word of God.

What does "Free" mean?

The term "Free" refers to the movement's structure and organization. While our churches associate together, we are committed to a congregational form of government. That means each local church in the movement still governs it's own affairs under the rule of Jesus Christ, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the authority of God's word. 

To learn more about the EFCA, visit www.efca.org, where you may find it especially helpful to read about the movement's distinctives.