The Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) has announced that BLESS Sunday, its annual focus on evangelism, will move from the Sunday after Easter to the Sunday after Midwinter, beginning on 24 January 2027. The denomination said the new timing gives pastors the chance to return from Midwinter with a teaching plan already in place, keeping the call to share the gospel at the front of the year’s programme.
BLESS is a missional framework that Covenant congregations and households have used for the past decade, built on five practices: beginning with prayer, listening with care, eating a meal together, serving together, and sharing the story of Jesus. The ECC said it expanded the resources this year with new materials for youth and for children and families, and made all BLESS resources available in both English and Spanish. Through the framework, congregations are equipped to make evangelism a priority in ways that grow out of authentic relationships and shared Scripture study.
The change ties the annual observance to Midwinter, the Covenant’s annual gathering, rather than to the weeks after Resurrection Sunday. In its announcement the denomination quoted John 15:16 — “I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” — and said it was grateful for the fruit BLESS has already produced. It described the initiative as a way of joining God in God’s mission “to see more disciples among more populations in a more caring and just world”. Covenant congregations will mark the first January BLESS Sunday on 24 January 2027.
Source: Evangelical Covenant Church USA — covchurch.org/2026/10/26/new-rhythm-announced-for-bless-sunday/
