Quest Megachurch Voluntarily Splits from the Evangelical Covenant Church

Facing possible expulsion from the Evangelical Covenant Church, Eugene Cho-founded Quest Church in Seattle, Washington, has decided to leave of their own accord.

Now helmed by Pastor Gail Song Bantum, she posted on Facebook June 5 a public statement on the departure.

The major cause for this split appears to be the acceptance of the LGBTQ lifestyle that Quest has embraced which runs contrary to the traditional, biblical views held by the ECC.

“Quest Church is unequivocal and resolute in its ongoing pursuit of radical belonging for our LGBTQIA+ siblings. Today, Quest submitted a formal letter to voluntarily disaffiliate from The Evangelical Covenant Church,” Bantum’s post read.

Founded on Oct. 14, 2001, Pastor Cho resigned from Quest effective Sept. 30, 2018, to pursue the calling God had on his life. He is currently the President/CE of the humanitarian organization Bread for the World.

It has been less than a year since Quest and another church, Awaken Church of St. Paul, Minnesota, were the subjects of involuntary removal at the upcoming 2023 Annual Meeting of the ECC.

Both were brought up for the discussion of removal based on their practices of same-sex marriage, which the ECC does not endorse it’s ministers to perform.

Notably, both churches are in heavily left-leaning areas of the country, who roundly support the LGBTQ agenda and that accepting Jesus is an affirmative practice, not a transformative one.

As reported by the Christian Post:

“The ECC quoted a 1996 resolution from its Covenant Annual Meeting, which stated that ‘God created people male and female, and provided for the marriage relationship in which two may become one. A publicly declared, legally binding marriage between one woman and one man is the one appropriate place for sexual intercourse.’

“‘Heterosexual marriage, faithfulness within marriage, abstinence outside of marriage—these constitute the Christian standard. When we fall short, we are invited to repent, receive the forgiveness of God, and amend our lives,’ it continued.”

These church splits have become common in America today, as denominations such as the United Methodist Church, have openly accepted the LGBTQ lifestyle and radical gender ideologies that has fractured today’s society.

“Every year a modest number of churches voluntarily opt to leave the Covenant for a number of different reasons. This is the normative pathway for churches who feel they cannot align with the positions of the Covenant,” stated the ECC.

“These two churches have not chosen to voluntarily withdraw, but rather to defend their actions before the Covenant Annual Meeting, which is their prerogative.”

A somber reality has set in on many Christians around the world, as the division caused amongst believers over same-sex marriage and LGBTQ ideology grows, is that the end times are being set-up by today’s culture.

The Word of God warns, many times, about the falling away and the deceiving of members of the faith:

“For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then turn back from the holy commandment that was delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, ‘The dog returns to his own vomit,'[a] and ‘the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mud,'” (2 Pet. 2:20-22).

The need for biblical literacy, boldness in faith in Jesus Christ and preaching the truth of the gospel in love has never been higher in American society.

Christians are witnessing in real-time the turning and falling away from God, creating the apostate church.

As this change in culture is occurring, spiritual warfare is a mandatory action for believers to engage in. Prayer, fasting and acts of love in ministry have power, but only if they are performed by the faithful. {eoa}

James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.