How Ethnic is The Covenant?
In America we are all immigrants, but are
we all “ethnics”? We will use “ethnic” to refer
to a member of an ethnic group, that is:
A human group bound together by ties of
cultural homogeneity. Complete uniformity,
of course, is not essential; but there
does prevail in an ethnic group a high
degree of loyalty and adherence to certain
basic institutions such as family patterns,
religion, and language. The ethnic group
often possesses distinctive folkways and
mores; customs of dress, art and ornamentation;
moral codes and value systems; and
patterns of recreation. (Berry and Tischler
1978:41).
When the Swedish Evangelical Mission
Covenant Church was established in the
United States in 1885 by the recent arrivals
to these shores, it had the characteristics of
this definition of an ethnic group. Further,
the Covenant was an aid and comfort for the
Swedish newcomers to a strange and often
hostile land. When we look at the social relationships fostered by the new denomination,
we can see that it satisfied important non-religious
needs.
The origins of the denomination in Sweden
occurred at a time of tremendous social
change and stress brought about by population
increase and changes in land ownership
and agricultural practices (Scott 1977:334-378;
Olsson 1962:32ff.). More often than not,
those individuals and social groups in Swedish
society who were most responsive to the
message of the conventicle and colporteur
were those most affected by these changes.
The Pietist movement offered, among other
things, surcease in the midst of overwhelming
economic pressures. For similar reasons, many
sought relief through immigration to the new
world. Once here, they sought communion
with those who shared homeland, language,
and religion.
The process was far from unique and exists
for other groups today. It has been noted that
the analysis of non-kin social groups in any
society must include a recognition that they
have both manifest and latent functions (Service
1971). That is, the explicitly stated purpose
for their existence must be recognized,
but so must the latent functions performed by the group which make it useful to its members
and to the society in which it exists…
[I]n Latin America it has been observed that
soccer clubs in slum barrios adjacent to major
cities are very important for migrants from
primitive villages to the urban centers. They
appear to exist for young men who enjoy playing
soccer on Sunday afternoons. Yet soccer
clubs have the more important latent function
of providing contacts for new arrivals from the
hinterlands with men from their same region
who have begun to live in the city. These men
have already succeeded in finding a niche for
themselves in the urban setting and they come
back to the barrio on Sunday to play soccer
with new arrivals and talk about the “old
country.” In this way, the new arrivals to the
barrio learn about available jobs and housing
and make valuable allies for their attempts
to establish themselves in the city (Mangin
1965:311-323)… : For new Swedes in
America, the Covenant church and other ethnic
denominations and social groups provided
the services of the “soccer club.” I have heard
from those of my parents’ generation of the
large Covenant Church buildings filled with
young people on a Sunday evening. Where
else was one to meet other young people with
whom to converse in one’s native tongue, find
out about jobs and housing, and find marriageable men and women? Many needs of
the immigrant that were satisfied by the early
American Covenant church are no longer
expressed by those of us of Swedish ancestry.
Our generation is assimilated. But those
needs may still exist for the current wave of
immigration to our land. Within little more
than one generation Swedish was dropped as
the primary language of the morning worship.

Swedish immigrants established special classes
for their children to maintain the language
and traditions of the old country but those
classes lasted, in most instances, less than one
generation although a few still exist….
Where are the ethnics in the Covenant
today? A [survey] was undertaken two years
ago by the Urban Ministries Commission.
A questionnaire was sent to 168 churches
which had mailing addresses in cities with a
population greater than 100,000. Questionnaires
were also sent to “non-Hispanic ethnic
churches” in towns of less than 100,000 and
to some non-ethnic churches in towns of less
than 100,000 but which appeared to be urban
in character. I am assuming that “non-Hispanic
ethnic churches” refers to churches comprised
of “racial” minorities, and that the use
of this phrase is an example of the problems
of the use of the word “ethnic” to refer only
to such minorities. The following table shows
the average of the ethnic percentages reported
by the responding churches. (See chart)
The data are incomplete because of the
unscientific nature of the sample. Blacks are
under-represented because none of the five
black churches responded. Also, the ethnic
categories did not include Swedes. The information does show that there is a small but
significant number of non-Anglo members in
the Covenant.

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