The birth of The Evangelical Church of North America took place formally, in Portland,
Oregon on June 4, 1968. Nevertheless, while it is one of the newest denominations,
its roots go deep into history. It's heritage in this country goes back to the revivals
on the East Coast of our nation in the 1780's during the days of John Wesley. Beyond
that, it goes back to the great commission of Jesus Christ our Lord (Matthew 28:
18-20) and to the Church that was born at Pentecost (Acts 2).
The Pacific Conference is made up of a about 55 churches of all sizes in Oregon and
Washington.
The Evangelical Church was born June 4, 1968, in Portland, Oregon, when 46 congregations
and about 80 pastors met in an organizing session. Within two weeks a group of about
twenty churches and thirty pastors from Montana and North Dakota became a part of
the new church. These congregations and ministers had been a part of the Evangelical
United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church.
The spiritual roots of The Evangelical Church go back to the ministry of Arminius,
the 17th century theologian, and to the Wesleyan revival. Certain distinctives were
prominent in motivating the people who formed the new denomination, and those distinctives
continue to guide the church's life, program and devotion, which includes:
- Interchurch relationship limited to Biblically sound spiritual fellowship.
- Faithful, Biblical and sensible preaching and teaching of those truths proclaimed
by the scholars of the Wesleyan-Arminian viewpoint.
- An itinerant system which reckons with the rights of individuals and the desires
of the congregations.
- Local ownership of all local church properties and assets.
The former Holiness Methodist Church became a part of The Evangelical Church in 1969,
bringing its local churches, ministry and membership, along with a flourishing mission
field in Bolivia. The Wesleyan Covenant Church joined in 1977, along with its missionary
work in Mexico and Brownsville, Texas, as well as its work among the Navajo Indians
in New Mexico.
From the beginning the Evangelical Church has affiliated with the Christian Holiness
Partnership and the National Association of Evangelicals and has representation on
the boards of these agencies. We have official relationship, through board representation,
with World Gospel Mission and OMS International. Through these two agencies and the
mission in Bolivia, close to half the missionaries of the denomination have been
appointed. We also have official relationships with CityTeam Ministries, Hope Teams
International and Wycliffe Bible Translators.
God continues to build The Evangelical Church. This expansion is taking place as
new congregations join and new churches are planted.
Article I - The Triune God ¶101. The Holy Scriptures declare there is but one true
and living God, 1 an eternal being without a body, indivisible, of infinite power,
wisdom and goodness. He is the Creator and Preserver of all things visible and invisible.
2 He rules with gracious regard for the well-being and salvation of all men, to the
glory of His name. In this Godhead there is a Trinity 3 of one substance and power,
and coeternal, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 1 Genesis 1:1;
Exodus 3:14; Deuteronomy 6:4; John 8:58 2 1 Timothy 1:17 3 Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians
13:14
Article II - Jesus Christ, The Son of God ¶102. The Holy Scriptures declare that
Jesus Christ is truly God 1 and truly man, 2 in Whom the divine and human natures
are perfectly and inseparably united. He is the eternal Word made flesh, 3 the only begotten
Son of the Father Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
4 As ministering Servant, He lived, suffered and died on the cross. He was buried,
rose from the dead 5 and ascended bodily into heaven to be with the Father, from
whence He shall return. 6 He is eternal Savior and Mediator, 7 Who intercedes for
us, and by Him all men will be judged. 8 1 Acts 17:3; Colossians 2:9 2 Hebrews 2:16,
17; Acts 2:22; 4:10 3 John 1:14 4 Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23 5 Acts 1:3; 1 Corinthians
15:3-8 6 Acts 1:9-11; Acts 2:22-24 7 Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 7:25; 1 Timothy 2-5
8 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:11-15
Article III - The Holy Spirit ¶103. The Holy Scriptures declare that the Holy Spirit
proceeds 1 from and is one Being with the Father and the Son. 2 He convicts the world
of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. 3 He leads men, through faithful response
to the Gospel, into the fellowship of the Church. He comforts, sustains, empowers
and sanctifies the faithful, and guides them into all truth. 4 1 John 15:26, 27;
John 14:16, 17 2 Acts 5:3, 4 3 John 16:8-11 4 John 16:7, 12, 13; John 14:26
Article IV - The Holy Scriptures ¶104. The Holy Scriptures in their entirety are
the inspired, inerrant, written Word of God. 1 They alone contain the will of God
as far as it is necessary for us to know it for our salvation, so that whatsoever
is not contained therein, nor can be proved thereby, is not to be enjoined on any
as an article of faith, or as a doctrine essential to salvation. 2 By the Holy Scriptures
we understand those sixty six canonical books of the Old and New Testament. In both
the Old as well as the New Testament, everlasting life is offered to mankind by Christ,
Who being both God and man, is the only Mediator 3 between God and man. Even though
Christians are not bound by the ceremonies and rites of the Old Testament 4 they
are nevertheless not exempt from the keeping of the moral laws. 5 1 2 Timothy 3:15-17;
2 Peter 1:19-21 2 Galatians 1:8, 9; Revelation 22:18, 19 3 1 Timothy 2:5 4 Galatians
3:11, 24, 25; Galatians 4:9, 10; Colossians 2:16 5 Matthew 22:37-40; James 2:8;
1 Timothy 1:5
Article V - Depravity and Prevenient Grace ¶105. The Holy Scriptures declare that
through the transgression of Adam man is fallen from original righteousness 1 and
apart from the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, is not only entirely destitute of
holiness, but is inclined to evil, and that continually, 2 and except a man be born
again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. 3 Man in his own strength, without divine
grace, cannot do good works pleasing and acceptable to God. The Holy Scriptures
further declare that man is a free moral agent and that he is responsible for his
eternal destiny, and that, influenced and empowered by the Holy Spirit and due to
the prevenient grace of God 4 is enabled to exercise his will for good and to the
glory of God. 5 1 Ephesians 2:1; Romans 3:10-18, 23 2 Genesis 6:5; Psalm 51:5; Psalm
58:3 3 John 3:3-7 4 Romans 2:4 5 Acts 17:24-28; Romans 5:15-21; Philippians 2:13;
Titus 2:11; Ephesians 2:8-9
Article VI - Provision for Salvation ¶106. The Holy Scriptures declare that God
was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. The offering of Christ freely made
on the cross through the shedding of His blood is the perfect and sufficient sacrifice for
the sins of the world, both original and actual, so that no other satisfaction is
required. John 19:30; Hebrews 7:26,27; 9:26; 10:12
Article VII - Justification, Regeneration, Adoption ¶107. The Holy Scriptures declare
that we are never accounted righteous before God through our works or merit, 1 but
that those who fully repent of their sins are justified or accounted righteous before
God only by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Regeneration 3 is the renewal of man
in righteousness through Jesus Christ after the image of God by the power of the
Holy Spirit, whereby we are made partakers of the divine nature and experience newness
of life. This is initial sanctification. By this new birth the believer becomes a
child of God, receives the spirit of adoption, 4 and is made an heir of the Kingdom
of Heaven. The Holy Spirit bears witness to this gracious work 5 and immediately
assures the regenerate believer that he has passed from death unto life, that his
sins are all forgiven and that he is a child of God. 1 Isaiah 64:6; Galatians 2:16
2 Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 5:1,2; Romans 4:3-5; Galatians 5:5,6 3 Titus 3:5; 2 Corinthians
5:17; John 1:12 4 1 John 3:1; 2 Corinthians 6:18 5 Romans 8:14-16; Galatians 4:4-7
Article VIII - Sanctification ¶108. The Holy Scriptures declare that sanctification
begins in the new birth and is the work of God's grace through the Word and the Holy Spirit,
by which those who have been born again and delivered from the willful practice of
sin are enabled to live in accordance with God's will, 1 and to seek earnestly for
holiness without which no one will see God. 2 There is a clear distinction that
must be made between consecration and entire sanctification. Consecration is that
more or less gradual process of devoting oneself wholly to God, consummating in the crucifixion
of the old self or death to the Adamic nature, by the help of the Holy Spirit which
comes to a completion at a point in time. Total consecration of necessity precedes
and prepares the way for that definite act of faith which brings God's instantaneous
sanctifying work to the soul. Entire sanctification is that second definite, instantaneous
work of God, wrought in the heart of the believer, subsequent to regeneration, by
which God cleanses the heart from all inherited sin and fills the soul and spirit
with the person of the Holy Spirit, thus enabling us to love God with all our heart,
soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. 3 This gracious work
is conditioned upon total consecration of the whole self to God, total death to all
inherited sin, and faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary. 4 Entire sanctification
does not deliver us from the infirmities, ignorance and mistakes common to man, nor
from the possibility of further sin. A person is freed so that he may experience
a continued growth in divine knowledge, spiritual strength and good works to the
glory of God. 5 The Christian must continue to guard against the temptation to spiritual
pride and seek to gain victory over this and every temptation to sin. 6 There also
follows a life of Christian perfection which consists in a purity such as that of
Jesus, 7 resulting in the same mind which was also in Him, and enabling us to walk
even as He walked. 8 1 Acts 15:8-9; Romans 8:1-4; 6:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24
2 Hebrews 12:14 3 Matthew 22:37; Galatians 5:22,23; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 1:9 4
Romans 6:1, 2, 11-14; 12:1, 2 5 Hebrews 12:10-15; Philippians 2:1-5 6 Colossians
1:9-14 7 1 John 3:3 8 Philippians 2:2
Article IX - Security of the Believer ¶109. The Holy Scriptures declare that the
believer is secure in Christ as long as he walks in obedience and faith. 1 The Scriptures
also declare that it is possible after the experience of regeneration and/or the experience
of entire sanctification to depart from grace and fall into sin, and if one remains
in this state to be eternally lost. 2 However, by the grace of God, a man may through
repentance and faith rise again from a backslidden state and be restored to righteousness
and true holiness. 3 1 Philippians 1:6; 2:12 2 Hebrews 6:1-6; 10:26-31; Matthew
18:15-35; Galatians 5:4 3 Galatians 6:1
Article X - Good Works ¶110. The Holy Scriptures declare that good works are the
necessary fruits of faith and follow regeneration, 1 but they do not have the virtue to
remove our sins or to avert divine judgment. 2 We believe good works, pleasing and
acceptable to God in Christ, spring from a true and living faith for through and
by them faith is made evident even as a tree is discerned by its fruit. 3 1 Ephesians
2:10 2 Galatians 2:16 3 James 3:10-13; 2:17, 18; Philippians 1:10, 11; John 15:1-8
Article XI - The Church ¶111. The Holy Scriptures declare that the church is the
community of (born again) believers under the Lordship of Christ. It is the fellowship of
the redeemed in which the Word of God is preached by men divinely called, and the
sacraments are duly administered according to Christ's own appointment. Under the
discipline of the Holy Spirit the Church exists for the maintenance of worship, the
edification of believers and the redemption of the world. Acts 2:47; 2:41-47; 1 John
1:7; Romans 1:18, 21
Article XII - The Sacraments ¶112. The Holy Scriptures declare that the sacraments,
ordained by Christ, are not only pledges and symbols of the Christian's profession, but
they are also signs of God's love and grace toward us, by which He works invisibly
in us, quickening, strengthening and confirming our faith in Him. Two sacraments
are ordained by Christ our Lord, namely Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
1. Baptism Baptism 1 signifies entrance into the household of faith, and is a symbol of
repentance and inner cleansing from sin, a representation of the new birth in Christ
Jesus and a mark of Christian discipleship, and is to be administered to those who
receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Children are under the atonement of Christ,
and as heirs of the Kingdom of God, are acceptable subjects for Christian baptism.
The promise of God is "unto you and unto your children" (Acts 2:39). Children of
believing parents through baptism become a special responsibility of the Church.
They must, however, be nurtured and led to a personal acceptance of Christ, and by
profession of faith confirm their baptism. Every adult person being baptized and
the parents of every child to be baptized should have the privilege of choosing the
mode of baptism, namely sprinkling, pouring or immersion.
2. The Lord's Supper The Lord's Supper 2 is a representation of our redemption,
a memorial of the sufferings and death of Christ, and a token of love and union which
Christians have with Christ and with one another. Those who rightly, worthily and
in faith eat the broken bread and drink the blessed cup partake of the body and blood
of Christ in a spiritual manner until He comes. 1 Matthew 28:19, 20; Acts 2:38-41;
8:36-39; 16:30-33 2 Luke 22:19-22; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29
Article XIII - Healing ¶113. The Holy Scriptures declare that God is able to heal
and that we ought to pray for the sick. Although healing cannot be demanded of God,
it may be sought in accordance with the instructions in James. God heals in three
ways: (1) through the natural processes of the human body which may be aided by
medical help, (2) through the instantaneous intervention of God bringing healing
to the body, and (3) through the death and resurrection of the body to a glorified
state. James 5:13-16
Article XIV - The Lord's Day ¶114. The Holy Scriptures declare that the Lord's Day
is divinely ordained for private and public worship, for rest from unnecessary work,
and should be devoted to spiritual improvement, Christian fellowship and service.
It is commemorative of our Lord's resurrection and is an emblem of our eternal rest.
It is essential to the permanence and growth of the Christian Church, and important
to the welfare of the civil community. Matthew 28:1; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2;
Hebrews 10:25; Revelation 1:10
Article XV - Public Worship ¶115. The Holy Scriptures declare that divine worship
is the duty and privilege of man, who in the presence of God, bows in adoration, humility
and dedication. 1 It is essential to the life of the Church, and the assembling of
the people of God for such worship is necessary to Christian fellowship and spiritual
growth. 2 The Scriptures further reveal that the order of public worship need not be
the same in all places but may be modified by the Church according to circumstances
and the needs of men. It should be in a language and form understood by the people,
consistent with the Holy Scriptures to the edification of all, and in accordance
with the order and The Discipline of The Evangelical Church. Whosoever willingly
and purposely breaks the ordinances, ceremonies and rites of the Church to which
he belongs ought to be rebuked openly, as one that offends against the order of the
Church and wounds the consciences of the weaker brethren, in order that others may
be deterred from similar neglect. 3 1 Psalm 95:1, 2, 6; Ephesians 5:19 2 Ephesians
4:11-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:11 3 Acts 5:1-11; 1 Corinthians 5:1-7
Article XVI - The Second Coming of Christ ¶116. The Holy Scriptures declare the
coming of Christ to be a bodily return to the earth and that He will cause the fulfillment
of all prophecies made concerning His final and complete triumph over all evil. Faith
in the imminence of Christ's return is a rational and inspiring hope to the people
of God. Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18; Titus 2:11-13
Article XVII - Resurrection, Judgment and Future State ¶117. The Holy Scriptures
declare that there is a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. 1
All men stand under the righteous judgment of God, both now and in that day. The
Scriptures further teach an eternal state of rewards in which the righteous dwell
in endless life in heaven 2 and the wicked in endless punishment in hell. 3 1 Ecclesiastes
12:14; John 5:22; Acts 17:31; 2 Corinthians 5:10 2 Isaiah 35:8-10; 2 Corinthians
5:8; Revelation 21:22 3 Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8
Article XVIII - Christian Property ¶118. The Holy Scriptures declare that God is
the owner of all things and that the individual holding property is lawful and is
a sacred trust under God. Private property is to be used for the manifestation of
Christian love and liberality, and to support the Church's mission in the world. All
forms of property, whether private, corporate or public, are to be held in solemn
trust and used responsibly for human good under the sovereignty of God. Ephesians
4:28
Article XIX - Civil Government ¶119. The Holy Scriptures declare the importance
of recognizing the sovereign governments under whose protection we reside. The sovereignty
of these governments should be respected. 1 Generally speaking, war and bloodshed
are not in keeping with the Gospel and Spirit of Christ, nevertheless, at times in
order to preserve orderly governments in the world, war is the unpleasant alternative.
As Christian citizens it is our duty to give moral strength and purpose to our respective
nations through sober, righteous and godly living. 2 (See¶213) 1 Matthew 22:17-21;
Romans 13:10 2 Titus 2:11, 12
