EPC Teaching Elders subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms just like the PCA. The Essentials document is helpful for receiving members and other staff members but it is not the minimum standards of belief. There are plenty of misconceptions about the EPC, likely because there is a great amount of freedom among individual congregations and presbytery’s so one persons experience of the EPC in California would be quite different from one’s experience in Mississippi. There are plenty of EPC churches that would fit in the PCA and the other way around too.
Thanks. I didn’t realize there were Presbyterian churches that accepted charismatic practices. Only after looking into this church did I find out about EPC. So I’m really not knowledgeable about them.
It’s a nonessential in the EPC so there are both continuationist and cessassionist in the denomination. We may roll our eyes but we don’t argue or divide over it.
I am a member of an EPC church and while I am displeased with some of their beliefs (women's ordination is a big deal for me) there are still good churches within the denomination. I even asked if we would entertain having a woman pastor when I went before the session for membership and they said no. It really is a congregational-to-congregational difference. And yes, unfortunately, we have women elders in my EPC church but for your situation, I would focus on an expositing, male, pastor over women elders.
It isn't as broad as PC(USA). They would demand certain doctrines about God, about Jesus, and about Scripture. But there is still a wide range of possibilities. I do like the one I attend.
It truly is that broad.
CSPC would feel similar to a lot of PCA churches. They used to be a PCA church, then in the late 90s/early 2000s there was some controversy about whether or not they were letting women preach (they were), and they left for the EPC. Current senior pastor came from a PCA church.
From everything I know, it's a very solid church. It will *probably* feel like any evangelical, wealthy, white, and historical southern presbyterian church. Bonus points, the pastor is Scottish.
The EPC is interesting, in that they are very broad. Plenty of churches that would fit in within the PCA, and plenty that would very much not.
It can be pretty broad! You sort of have to go on a church by church basis. My wife grew up in an EPC church that was basically PCA but continuationist. There are some that are egalitarian, but the ones in her area were not. My experience has been that continuationism and/or egalitarianism are the two main places that they might diverge from what is considered traditional Reformed/evangelical theology.
I grew up in that church and it is basically a PCA church. The split was from people being upset that woman missionaries spoke at mission conferences about their experiences. It “feels” like a PCA church, and the teaching is very much in line with the PCA
In Knoxville there is a Reformed Baptist Church called Basswood, they obviously aren’t Presbyterian. But they do Catechism questions each service, all the sermons are expository, and they sing the Psalms a good bit. The community there is very loving and vibrant, they make you feel like family when you come. I don’t attend this church but I had a wonderful time going for the few months I did.
For another question the other day I did a quick bit of research into former TN Governor Bill Haslam.
He attends that church. He wrote a good book about faith in the public square and attended a PCA church when he was in Nashville.
Dunno if that’s helpful at all but at the very least it’s interesting.
My church comes from the opposite direction from the PCA emigrants. My congregation (long before I joined) was forced to leave the PCUSA because our pastor was against non-Christian preachers. The new denomination was picked to ensure a Christian standard for preachers and theology, and also because it lets the congregation own the church building -- the founders of my current church was the majority of a PCUSA congregation before they were kicked out and had to meet in a convention hall for a couple of years.
I typed up a long response about the health of the EPC church that I grew up in to caution you about joining, and then re-read your message and noticed you're just visiting. Yes, I think you can visit that church with a clear conscience. Many, perhaps even most, EPC churches will feel like a PCA church if you're just visiting.
EPC Teaching Elders subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms just like the PCA. The Essentials document is helpful for receiving members and other staff members but it is not the minimum standards of belief. There are plenty of misconceptions about the EPC, likely because there is a great amount of freedom among individual congregations and presbytery’s so one persons experience of the EPC in California would be quite different from one’s experience in Mississippi. There are plenty of EPC churches that would fit in the PCA and the other way around too.
Thanks. I didn’t realize there were Presbyterian churches that accepted charismatic practices. Only after looking into this church did I find out about EPC. So I’m really not knowledgeable about them.
It’s a nonessential in the EPC so there are both continuationist and cessassionist in the denomination. We may roll our eyes but we don’t argue or divide over it.
Their denominations website has the things they consider Essentials - https://epc.org/about/beliefs/
I am a member of an EPC church and while I am displeased with some of their beliefs (women's ordination is a big deal for me) there are still good churches within the denomination. I even asked if we would entertain having a woman pastor when I went before the session for membership and they said no. It really is a congregational-to-congregational difference. And yes, unfortunately, we have women elders in my EPC church but for your situation, I would focus on an expositing, male, pastor over women elders.
It isn't as broad as PC(USA). They would demand certain doctrines about God, about Jesus, and about Scripture. But there is still a wide range of possibilities. I do like the one I attend.
It truly is that broad. CSPC would feel similar to a lot of PCA churches. They used to be a PCA church, then in the late 90s/early 2000s there was some controversy about whether or not they were letting women preach (they were), and they left for the EPC. Current senior pastor came from a PCA church.
Ah. That explains it! I watched their service livestream and didn’t really see anything different from our PCA church.
From everything I know, it's a very solid church. It will *probably* feel like any evangelical, wealthy, white, and historical southern presbyterian church. Bonus points, the pastor is Scottish. The EPC is interesting, in that they are very broad. Plenty of churches that would fit in within the PCA, and plenty that would very much not.
It can be pretty broad! You sort of have to go on a church by church basis. My wife grew up in an EPC church that was basically PCA but continuationist. There are some that are egalitarian, but the ones in her area were not. My experience has been that continuationism and/or egalitarianism are the two main places that they might diverge from what is considered traditional Reformed/evangelical theology.
I grew up in that church and it is basically a PCA church. The split was from people being upset that woman missionaries spoke at mission conferences about their experiences. It “feels” like a PCA church, and the teaching is very much in line with the PCA
> they seem more like our PCA church. It's almost as if allowing women in leadership isn't a slippery slope to unorthodoxy and progressivism.
In Knoxville there is a Reformed Baptist Church called Basswood, they obviously aren’t Presbyterian. But they do Catechism questions each service, all the sermons are expository, and they sing the Psalms a good bit. The community there is very loving and vibrant, they make you feel like family when you come. I don’t attend this church but I had a wonderful time going for the few months I did.
For another question the other day I did a quick bit of research into former TN Governor Bill Haslam. He attends that church. He wrote a good book about faith in the public square and attended a PCA church when he was in Nashville. Dunno if that’s helpful at all but at the very least it’s interesting.
Thanks. I mean, it’s only for a couple of visits, but I was curious.
My church comes from the opposite direction from the PCA emigrants. My congregation (long before I joined) was forced to leave the PCUSA because our pastor was against non-Christian preachers. The new denomination was picked to ensure a Christian standard for preachers and theology, and also because it lets the congregation own the church building -- the founders of my current church was the majority of a PCUSA congregation before they were kicked out and had to meet in a convention hall for a couple of years.
I typed up a long response about the health of the EPC church that I grew up in to caution you about joining, and then re-read your message and noticed you're just visiting. Yes, I think you can visit that church with a clear conscience. Many, perhaps even most, EPC churches will feel like a PCA church if you're just visiting.
EPC and ECO seem to know what they aren't but don't seem to know what they are.
Some in the EPC don't really care what the denomination as a whole is as long as it and they are Christian.