Evangelical Presbyterian Church (United

States)
The Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) is an American
church body holding to presbyterian governance and Reformed Evangelical Presbyterian
theology. It is a conservative Calvinist denomination. It is most Church (United States)
distinctive for its approach to the way it balances certain liberties
across congregations on "non-essential" doctrines, such as
egalitarianism in marriage or the ordination of women, alongside
an affirmation of core "essential" doctrinal standards.

The motto of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church is "In

Essentials, Unity. In Non-Essentials, Liberty. In All Things, Classification Protestant
Charity; Truth In Love." The Office of the General Assembly is in Orientation Reformed
Orlando, Florida.[2] Evangelical
Polity Presbyterian
History Associations World
Communion of
The EPC began as a result of
prayer meetings in 1980 and 1981 Reformed
by pastors and elders increasingly Churches, World
alienated by liberalism in the Reformed
"northern" branch of Fellowship,
Presbyterianism (the United National
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., Association of
a predecessor of the Presbyterian Evangelicals
Church (USA)). Two cases served
Headquarters Orlando, Florida
as important catalysts in their
separation: the Kenyon Case of Origin 1981
1975 and the Kaseman Case of Separated from United
1981.
Presbyterian
Wynn Kenyon was a seminary Church in the
Second Presbyterian Church United States of
graduate who in good conscience
in Memphis, Tennessee
declared that he would refuse to America
participate in the ordination of a (UPCUSA) later
woman, although he affirmed that he would willingly serve in a the PC(USA)
pastorate with ordained women on the staff. Though he had been Congregations 627 (2022)[1]
ordained by the Pittsburgh Presbytery, in 1975 the Permanent
Judicial Commission of the UPCUSA General Assembly Members 125,870 (2022)[1]
overturned Kenyon's ordination because accepting women's Official website www.epc.org (htt
ordination was "an explicit constitutional provision." Mansfield p://www.epc.org)
Kaseman, meanwhile was ordained as a minister by National
Capital Union Presbytery in 1979 and accused of denying four traditional attributes of Christ: his deity,
sinlessness, vicarious atonement, and bodily resurrection. By 1981, his case had worked its way to the
Permanent Judicial Commission of the UPCUSA, which affirmed his ordination. In contrast with the
UPCUSA, the EPC permitted differing views on women's ordination and emphasized traditional teachings
on the nature of Jesus Christ.[3]

The first general assembly of the church met at Ward Presbyterian Church in Livonia, Michigan in late
1981, drafting a list of essential beliefs. This list was intentionally short in order to help preserve the unity
of the church around the essentials of the faith in theology, church government, and evangelism.[4]

At its foundation, the EPC adopted a list of essential beliefs, "The Essentials of Our Faith," to state what
the EPC views as the sine qua non of Evangelical Christianity (see below), in part to seek to guarantee that
it would not succumb to the theological problems that had plagued its parent denominations during the
Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy. "The Essentials" is a fuller version of the "Five Fundamentals"
that many PCUSA ministers had rejected in the Auburn Affirmation of 1923. Originally titled "The
Fundamentals of Our Faith," the name was changed to avoid the negative connotations that the term
"fundamentalism" had gained. This document has served to assure that the EPC has always kept what is of
primary importance for all evangelical Christians (namely the Gospel, or Good News about Jesus), as well
as to maintain the irenic orthodoxy that has always been the hallmark of the denomination. (See "Ethos,"
below.)

In the more than forty years of its existence, the EPC has become
active as a missional church,[5][6] through church planting in the
United States as well as in a variety of foreign fields, particularly in
the 10/40 Window. One significant step was the incorporation of
the St. Andrews Presbytery (Argentina) as one of its presbyteries.
This presbytery was released to independence as the national St.
Andrews Presbyterian Church of Argentina after many years of
mutual cooperation and benefit.

At 2007 General Assembly, the EPC created[7] a temporary, non- Central Presbyterian Church in New
geographic "New Wineskins Presbytery" (NWEPC) to provide a York City
home for churches associated with the New Wineskins Association
of Churches (NWAC) that are seeking to find a new
denominational home after finding that their home in the PC(USA) is no longer suitable to them
theologically, organizationally, or missionally. The New Wineskins Presbytery was dissolved in 2011, as its
mission was completed.

Jeff Jeremiah, the stated clerk (2006 - 2021), announced at the 2012 General Assembly, held at the First
Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that the number of EPC congregations had increased from
182 in 2007 to 364 in 2012, exactly doubling in number. The number of congregations had further
increased to more than 600 by August 2017.[8]

Statistics
Between 1982 and 2016, EPC grew steadily.[9] In 2016, the denomination reached 150,042 members.[10]
However, since then, it has reported a decline in subsequent years.[11][12]

In 2022, it had 125,870 members and 627 churches.[1]

Essentials
The church has an official seven point statement of the "Essentials Of Our Faith".[15]
These Essentials are set forth in greater detail in the Westminster Year Churches Membership
Confession of Faith.
1982 35 19,000[9]
The EPC has also adopted an explanation of the relationship between the 1992 174 55,008[9]
"Essentials of Our Faith" and the Westminster Standards.[16]
2002 190 69,351[9]

Place in American Presbyterianism 2016 602 150,042[10]

2017 - 145,503[11]
As its name suggests, the EPC is an evangelical denomination. It
associates mainly with Reformed bodies holding similar or identical 2018 620 142,185[11]
beliefs regarding Christology, ecclesiology, and ethical/moral stances. As 2019 629 136,336[12]
with practically all orthodox Presbyterian bodies, the EPC is committed
to Biblical interpretation governed by the Westminster Confession of 2020 637 122,216[13]
Faith and Catechisms. The EPC is member of the World Communion of 2021 630 125,418[14]
Reformed Churches[17]
2022 627 125,870[1]
Being within the Reformed tradition, the EPC is far more
conservative than the PC(USA) on matters of theology and ethics,
yet is slightly more moderate than the other major conservative
Presbyterian denominations in the United States—the Presbyterian
Church in America (PCA), the Associate Reformed Presbyterian
Church (ARPC) and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC).
The EPC's middling stance is similar to ECO: A Covenant Order of
Evangelical Presbyterians, which was formed in 2012 from
churches leaving the PC(USA). The EPC's ethos (summarized in The family tree of Presbyterian
its motto) allows a greater degree of freedom in areas deemed to be denominations in the United States,
non-essential to Reformed theology than the PCA, ARP and OPC. courtesy of the Presbyterian
The EPC, like ECO and PCUSA, but unlike PCA or OPC, Historical Society
belongs to the World Communion of Reformed Churches.[18]

Women's ordination and charismatic movement

Two examples of the EPC's centrist position within American Presbyterianism are women's ordination and
the charismatic movement.

The EPC considers the ordination of women to be a non-essential matter that is left to the ordaining body.
That is, EPC presbyteries decide whether to ordain female ministers, while individual churches decide
whether to ordain female elders and deacons. In contrast, the ARP does not ordain female ministers or
elders but allows individual churches to ordain female deacons, and the PCA and OPC do not ordain
women.

The EPC is far more tolerant of the charismatic movement than other conservative Presbyterian bodies;[19]
some of the more prominent charismatic Presbyterian churches in America are members of the EPC.

Ethos
The EPC has been described as the modern-day version of New School Presbyterianism,[20] while the
PCA, ARP and OPC are essentially the modern-day equivalent of Old School Presbyterianism. The way
that this is expressed is in the motto of the denomination: "In Essentials, Unity; In Non-Essentials, Liberty;
In All Things, Charity. Truth in Love." Functionally, this works out with a three-tiered approach to
theological issues. These may be thought of as "A," "B," and "C" issues.

"A" issues are those which have to do with the "Essentials of Our Faith." This is a summary of those issues
which are foundational to Christian faith. In the EPC, there is no allowance for disagreement among church
officers (ministers, elders, and deacons) on these issues. Indeed, it is expected that all communicant
members will affirm these tenets of the faith.

"B" issues are those which are essential to the Reformed understanding of the faith, such as the so-called
"Five Points of Calvinism," Covenant Theology, Presbyterian government, etc. The definition of "B"
issues for the EPC is found in the Westminster Confession of Faith[21] and in the Westminster Larger
Catechism[22] and Westminster Shorter Catechism.[23] As these issues aren't as foundational as the
Essentials of Our Faith, the EPC allows ministers, elders, and deacons to state exceptions to the
Westminster Standards, so long as these exceptions do not violate the system of doctrine contained therein.
While non-ordained members aren't expected to adhere to the Westminster Standards, it is understood that
the teaching position of the EPC is found in the Westminster Standards.

Finally, "C" issues are those on which Reformed, orthodox Christians can disagree, and which do not
violate the system of doctrine of the EPC. As stated above, this would include the issues of women's
ordination and the charismatic movement, as well as issues such as eschatology (views on the End times),
worship preferences, or liturgy.

Notable Members
Andrew Brunson - A missionary to Turkey who was imprisoned and then released after pressures by
President Donald Trump[24]

R. Craig Strickland - Founding pastor of Hope Presbyterian Church

Dr. Dean Weaver - Stated Clerk

Josh Hawley - Junior Senator from Missouri (R)[25]

Dr. Paul Branch - President of Central American Theological Seminary (SETECA (https://seteca.edu/))

See also
New School Presbyterians

References
1. "Statistical Report of the 43rd General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church" (ht
tps://epc.org/wp-content/uploads/Files/4-Resources/5-Downloadable-EPC-Resources/N-An
nualChurchReports/2022AnnualChurchReports.pdf) (PDF). June 20, 2023. p. 1. Retrieved
July 7, 2023.
2. "Contact Us" (http://epc.org/contact). epc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
3. "Two cases established precedents for today's battles in PCUSA - The Presbyterian Lay
Committee" (https://layman.org/news7a4f/).
4. Evangelical Presbyterian Church > History (http://www.epc.org/about-the-epc/history/)
5. "Missional Church and Denomination | EPC" (https://epc.org/about/values/missional/).
epc.org. Retrieved 2019-04-18.
 6. Billings, J. Todd (March 5, 2008). "What Makes a Church Missional?" (https://www.christianit
ytoday.com/ct/2008/march/16.56.html). ChristianityToday.com. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
7. "EPNews_6.28.07" (https://web.archive.org/web/20071013140546/http://epc.org/general-as
sembly/EPNews2007/EPNews_6.28.07.html). Archived from the original (http://www.epc.or
g/general-assembly/EPNews2007/EPNews_6.28.07.html) on 2007-10-13. Retrieved
2007-12-26.
8. "Locate a Church" (http://www.epc.org/). Retrieved 24 November 2015.
9. "Statistics of Evangelical Presbyterian Church: 1982-2007" (https://www.thearda.com/denom
s/D_1483.asp). Retrieved 2021-05-16.
10. "Growth of Evangelical Presbyterian Church" (https://layman.org/epc-continues-grow-2016/).
Retrieved 2021-05-01.
11. "Statistics of Evangelical Presbyterian Church (2018)" (https://epc.org/wp-content/uploads/Fi
les/2-What-We-Do/2-General-Assembly-Meeting/2019/OtherDocuments/2018AnnualChurch
Report.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 2021-05-16.
12. "Minute of 40ª General Assembly of Evangelical Presbyterian Church" (https://epc.org/wp-co
ntent/uploads/Files/2-What-We-Do/2-General-Assembly-Meeting/2020/OtherDocuments/20
19AnnualChurchReport.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 2021-07-27.
13. "Minute of 41ª General Assembly of Evangelical Presbyterian Church" (https://epc.org/wp-co
ntent/uploads/Files/2-What-We-Do/2-General-Assembly-Meeting/2021/OtherDocuments/20
20AnnualChurchReport.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 2021-07-27.
14. "Statistical Report of the 42nd General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church" (h
ttps://epc.org/wp-content/uploads/Files/2-What-We-Do/2-General-Assembly-Meeting/2022/O
therDocuments/2021AnnualChurchReport.pdf) (PDF). June 20, 2022. p. 1. Retrieved
June 24, 2022.
15. Essentials Of Our Faith (http://www.epc.org/beliefs)
16. www.epc.org (http://www.epc.org/about-the-epc/beliefs/essentials-of-our-faith/) Archived (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20150311234245/http://www.epc.org/about-the-epc/beliefs/essentia
ls-of-our-faith/) 2015-03-11 at the Wayback Machine Essentials of Our Faith
17. "Members" (https://web.archive.org/web/20131221035027/http://wcrc.ch/wcrc-member-churc
hes/). World Communion of Reformed Churches. Archived from the original (http://wcrc.ch/w
crc-member-churches/) on December 21, 2013. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
18. https://World Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20221128004901/http://www2.world/)
2022-11-28 at the Wayback Machine Council of Reformed Churches, "Members"
//wcrc.ch/members#north_america
19. "Pastoral Letter: The Holy Spirit (1975)" (http://www.pcahistory.org/documents/pastoralletter.
html). www.pcahistory.org. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
20. Fortson, S. Donald, The Presbyterian Creed: A Confessional Tradition in America,
17291870, Paternoster Press, 2008.
21. "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110726200001/http://www.epc.org/mediafile
s/westminster-confession-of-faith.pdf) (PDF). Archived from the original (http://www.epc.org/
mediafiles/westminster-confession-of-faith.pdf) (PDF) on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
22. "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20100713065505/http://www.epc.org/mediafile
s/westminster-larger-catechism.pdf) (PDF). Archived from the original (http://www.epc.org/me
diafiles/westminster-larger-catechism.pdf) (PDF) on 2010-07-13. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
23. "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20100713065347/http://www.epc.org/mediafile
s/westminster-shorter-catechism.pdf) (PDF). Archived from the original (http://www.epc.org/m
ediafiles/westminster-shorter-catechism.pdf) (PDF) on 2010-07-13. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
24. "Free at Last: Andrew Brunson Released by Turkey After Two Years" (https://www.christianit
ytoday.com/news/2018/october/andrew-brunson-free-turkey-court-us-pastor-release-deal.ht
ml). Retrieved 2021-07-27.
25. "Missouri AG contender has deep religious liberty legal roots" (https://wng.org/sift/missouri-a
g-contender-has-deep-religious-liberty-legal-roots-1618199473). WORLD. Retrieved
2022-07-12.

External links
Official website (http://www.epc.org)
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/412024/New-School-Presbyterian-Church
S. Donald Fortson III (2009). The Presbyterian creed: a confessional tradition in America,
1729–1870. Eugene, Or.: Wipf & Stock. ISBN 978-1-60608-480-9.

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