our History

New Life Church of Chicago, a non-denominational Korean immigrant church, started in the summer of 2001 under the leadership of Rev. James Chun Chang. The church only had children’s & youth ministries and college groups during the breaks.


As the church grew older, it produced many more college students and the young adults. In the fall of 2009, the church leaders decided to launch an English speaking ministry, where the Americanized adult children of these immigrants could worship in English. This ministry reaches out not only to Korean-American young adults, but also to anyone who speaks English and wants to belong to this community.


On May 23, 2010, New Life Church English Ministry began with a mission of making radical, passionate, and intimate lovers of Christ, who are building God’s Kingdom locally and globally. 


As of May 1, 2011, New Life Church English Ministry has become New Life Covenant Church of Palatine, as it became an independent church plant with the Evangelical Covenant Church. Though the church is independent from the mother church (New Life Church of Chicago), two churches are committed to partner with one another, contributing one's own strengths to each other's ministries.  

denomination

New Life Covenant Church belongs to the Evangelical Covenant Church (Visit the Covenant Website: Click here).


The Evangelical Covenant Church is a rapidly growing multiethnic denomination in the United States and Canada with ministries on five continents of the world. Founded in 1885 by Swedish immigrants, the ECC values the Bible as the word of God, the gift of God’s grace and ever-deepening spiritual life that comes through a faith with Jesus Christ, the importance of extending God’s love and compassion to a hurting world, and the strength that comes from unity within diversity.

The Evangelical Covenant Church is:

  • Evangelical, but not exclusive
  • Biblical, but not doctrinaire
  • Traditional, but not rigid
  • Congregational, but not independent

Beliefs: When new members join a Covenant church, they are asked two questions about belief: “Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior and promise to follow him as Lord?” and “Do you accept the Holy Scriptures, the Old and New Testaments, as the word of God and the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct?” They are then asked if they intend to live as faithful followers of Christ and members of the church and denomination. That’s all. That is enough.


But on another level, of course, the answer is a good deal more complex. While the Covenant Church does not require adherence to any written creed, we take our theology very seriously, and our history as well. We are a Reformation church, a part of the Church universal, and an evangelical church. In that heritage, we share certain central beliefs, which draw us together in faith and fellowship and make possible a freedom among us on more widely ranging issues.


We describe those central beliefs as “affirmations.” We hope that as you read these affirmations you will find yourself identifying with them in your own faith experience. If they raise questions for you or you would like to read further, we would encourage you to ask your pastor (if you are already in contact with a Covenant church) or any Covenant pastor for more suggestions.


Affirmations: For Covenant people, our essential beliefs are summed up in what we call Covenant Affirmations:

  • We affirm the centrality of the word of God.
  • We affirm the necessity of the new birth.
  • We affirm a commitment to the whole mission of the Church.
  • We affirm the Church as a fellowship of believers.
  • We affirm a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit.