The Evangelical Covenant Church's (ECC) annual meeting, known as Gather 2026, will take place 25–27 June in Scottsdale, Arizona, bringing together delegates from across the denomination for worship, business, and celebration.
A centrepiece of this year's gathering is the commemoration of 50 years since the ECC began ordaining women as pastors — a milestone the denomination will mark with gratitude and reflection. The ECC has long held that questions of women in ministry belong to the category of secondary doctrines on which the church grants freedom of conscience, while affirming the gifts of all believers for ministry. Five decades of women's ordination is thus a story about the tradition's own Alliance principle in action: conviction about what is essential, and liberty on what is not.
The Annual Meeting serves as the ECC's highest legislative body, approving budgets, welcoming new churches into the fellowship, ordaining and consecrating ministers, and making leadership decisions. This year's gathering also follows the recent nominations process for a second presidential term for Tammy Swanson-Draheim, making it a particularly significant assembly.
The Evangelical Covenant Church is a member of the International Federation of Free Evangelical Churches (IFFEC) and maintains active global partnerships across dozens of countries.
