About the EPC

 

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) is a denomination or “family” of churches that’s home to about 200 churches comprised of about 80,000 members across the United States. The EPC is Presbyterian in government, Reformed in theology and Evangelical in spirit.  Since its inception in 1981, the EPC has embraced the Westminster Confession of Faith as its doctrinal standard and the rule of spiritually mature elders linked together regionally as the best way to guide local congregations.

Consequently, the EPC is both evangelical and Presbyterian. It is evangelical in its zeal for the Gospel and evangelism and missions and living obediently as followers of Jesus. At the same time, it is rooted deeply in the Protestant Reformation and especially the theological and pastoral work of John Calvin.
 
Despite its small size, the EPC has a solid world missions program with a priority on sending missionaries to unreached people groups. It is eager to plant churches across the United States and especially in urban communities and college towns in the hope that every one of its congregations will be an outpost of the Kingdom in post-Christian America with every member viewing himself or herself as a missionary on a mission.

The motto of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church is as follows: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity.”  The EPC is unique among American Presbyterians with its self-conscious attempt to balance essential and non-essential matters within a confessional heritage. It is unified in its commitment to the essentials of the historic Christian faith taught in the Bible, but allows liberty of conscience on those matters which are not.
 
All Scripture is self-attesting and being Truth, requires our unreserved submission in all areas of life. The infallible Word of God, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is a complete and unified witness to God's redemptive acts culminating in the incarnation of the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible, uniquely and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the supreme and final authority on all matters on which it speaks. On this sure foundation we affirm these additional Essentials of our faith:

1. We believe in one God, the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To Him be all honor, glory and praise forever!
2. Jesus Christ, the living Word, become flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. He who is true God became true man united in one Person forever. He died on the cross a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. On the third day He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, where, at the right hand of the Majesty on High, He now is our High Priest and Mediator.
3. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to our hearts. He convicts us of sin and draws us to the Savior. Indwelling our hearts, He gives new life to us, empowers and imparts gifts to us for service. He instructs and guides us into all truth, and seals us for the day of redemption.
4.  Being estranged from God and condemned by our sinfulness, our salvation is wholly dependent upon the work of God's free grace. God credits His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, thereby justifies them in His sight. Only such as are born of the Holy Spirit and receive Jesus Christ become children of God and heirs of eternal life.
5. The true Church is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit are united together in the body of Christ. The Church finds her visible, yet imperfect, expression in local congregations where the Word of God is preached in its purity and the sacraments are administered in their integrity; where scriptural discipline is practiced, and where loving fellowship is maintained. For her perfecting, she awaits the return of her Lord.
6. Jesus Christ will come again to the earth—personally, visibly, and bodily—to judge the living and the dead, and to consummate history and the eternal plan of God. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Rev. 22:20)
7. The Lord Jesus Christ commands all believers to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world and to make disciples of all nations. Obedience to the Great Commission requires total commitment to “Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.” He calls us to a life of self-denying love and service. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10)

These Essentials are set forth in greater detail in the Westminster Confession of Faith.

For more information on the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, visit  www.epc.org.