Evangelical Catholic Church (Independent Catholic)

This article is about the independent Catholic church. For the Lutheran denomination of the same name, see Evangelical Catholic Church (Lutheran).

The Evangelical Catholic Church (ECC), formerly known as the Independent Evangelical Catholic Church in America (IECCA), is an Independent Catholic church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1997,^[1][2] it claimed about 1,500 members in three parishes in 2014.^[2][3] In 2017, the ECC claimed four parishes in Chicago, Illinois; Bend, Oregon; Providence, Rhode Island; and Watertown, Wisconsin.^[4]

Evangelical Catholic Church
Type	Catholic
Classification	Independent Catholic
Orientation	Evangelical Catholic
Bishop	James Alan Wilkowski
Origin	July 7, 1997 Chicago, Illinois
Separated from	Roman Catholic Church
Separations	North American Catholic Ecumenical Church
Congregations	4
Members	1,500
Other name(s)	Independent Evangelical Catholic Church in America
Official website	evangelicalcatholicchurch.org

The Evangelical Catholic Church professes two creeds: the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed.^[5] Its theology differs from that of the Roman Catholic Church in that it permits both men and women, married as well as unmarried, to become deacons, priests and bishops; accepts gay marriage; encourages divorced and remarried worshipers to receive Communion; and allows birth control.^[2]