Copyright © 2003 by Wesleyan Episcopal Assemblies Pentecostal

We are a non-Denominational fellowship called the Wesleyan Episcopal Assemblies Pentecostal. We are sometimes referred to as shouting Methodists or as Pentecostals. We are a part of the Restorationist Movement because our plea is to restore unity in the church by restoring the full gospel of the new testament apostolic teachings and eliminate the toxic effects of traditionalism.

In America, where we have many denominations and finding a church home is a difficult task at best, the confusion is overwhelming. Our answer is to set aside the distinctives that have lead to dissention and conflict, and concentrate on those teachings that are essential to authentic Biblical Christianity; to the church so eloquently described in the New Testament.

This early church began in the 1^st century on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) when Peter preached the very first gospel sermon, and where the act of prayerful worship in an unknown tongue (glossolollia) was first poured out in the body. In those early years, guided by the Apostles and kept pure by persecution from both the Jews and the Pagans, this church experienced a remarkable period of growth, purity, and simplicity. The New Testament tells us about Jesus Christ, how he established the seeds of His church, how it grew, and records letters of the Apostles to many missions and indigenous works. These Early Christians existed primarily to share the truth about Jesus and grow in personal maturity to be more like Him.

Around 300 AD, the Roman Empire decided to make Christianity not only legal, but also mandatory of all its citizens. This enforced ecumenicism brought believers and non-believers into corporate worship and prayer. For the first time you had people involved in the church who in many cases did not know Christ as their Savior and Lord. The simplicity of the early church was changed into an elaborate system of doctrines, creeds, and confessions. The informal worship and fellowship of the early church was changed into a dead system of rituals and regulations. Great cathedrals replaced the intimacy of private homes and synagogues. A formulaic religion was established and right relationship with Jesus was relegated to small cloisters and remote parishes. Trapped in the external forms of a counterfeit, many lost the incentive to live for Jesus. History reminds us of the Chaos and confususion that resulted from this tragic period. All through history, Godly men tried to reform the corrupted church and bring people back to Christ. Beginning in the 16'th century, men like Martin Luther, Joseph Arminius and John Wesley gave a noble attempt to reform this huge political machine.

America was founded people from many different movements that had at their core the intention of establishing an environment wherein Civil Government and its goals would no longer dictate tenets of faith, where a body of people hungry to rediscover right and full relationship with Jesus could flourish. In the 1800's a revival began where men like Thomas Campbell, Barton W. Stone, John P. Brooks, John Alexander Dowie and Alexander Campbell called for a back to the bible approach to Christianity. They called for unity based on stressing the essentials of Biblical Faith and disregarding the non-essential trappings of traditionalism. Their appeal was summed up in several succinct mottos:

1. Christians Only, but not the Only Christians.
2. No book but the Bible; no Creed, but Christ; no Name but God's Name.
3. In Essentials, Unity; In Opinions, Liberty; In All Things, Love.
4. Where the Bible Speaks, We Speak. Where the Bible is Silent, We are Silent.
5. Nothing should be made a requirement for church membership that Christ has not made a requirement for salvation.
6. We will speak the truth in love.

Men and Women like Bishop William Seymour of the Azusa Street Revival, Maria Woodworth Etter, Dwight L. Moody, Agnes Ozman, E. N. Bell, J. R. Flower, and Smith Wigglesworth, continued the process of restoration into the 20'th century. People were excited to discover that they could not only understand the Bible, but that the gifts and miracles recorded there can be a part of daily life for present day believers. We have no denominational headquarters but recognize the Godly purpose of the Wesleyan Episcopal Assemblies Pentecostal to provide a credentialing body and to provide infrastructure accountability and support that can only be provided through such a body. We recognize that this movement transcends the boundaries of traditional denominations and we are bound in love and spiritual unity to those who are lead to this same work within the boundaries of traditional denominations.

Our Structure

We believe the Nature of the Church Determines its Structure

1. The Church is a Fellowship.

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Acts 2:42

We place a top priority in our fellowship on compassion, harmony and biblical teaching.

2. The Church is a Family.

"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble." 1 Peter 3:8

We operate on the basis of relationship and accountability, not public gossip, in our church family.

3. The Church is a Corporate Body.

"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues." 1 Corinthians 12:27, 28

We function on the basis of officers selected by the body for their gifts, not denominational hierarchy.

4. The Church is a Flock.

"To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers--not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock." 1 Peter 5:1-3

Our Flock is lead by overseers who are submitted to the authority of the Great Shepard and who are accountable to the sheep.

Who We Are Not

As Pentecostals we have often been subjected to pejorative and unfounded criticisms throughout the history of the church. Often we are simply dismissed as mystics or delusional. In fact, our teachings could not be more securely founded in the essential teachings of authentic Christianity. However, to be fair to our critics there are those extremist and heterodox sects which have misappropriated the name Pentecostal, in order to attempt to lend legitimacy to their unscriptural and in some cases abherent or heterodox practices.

As Pentecostals we categorically disapprove the testing of one's own spiritual standing, or that of another person, by intentionally administering poisons, handling of dangerous or venomous animals or otherwise tempting God by unnecessarily endangering oneself or another. We do believe God provides protection and healing to those who are inadvertently poisoned or otherwise threatened with life and limb, but such protection is provided as an encouragement of bold evangelism not of theatrical performance. We strongly disapprove the those who conduct such demonstrations in the course of a worship service or who use such measures in a misinterpretation of the commandment to "test the spirits" of prophets.

It is an essential teaching of the scripture, that the father God who created all things and revealed himself to Abraham and the Prophets, is in some means the begetter, or biological father of Jesus. It is also an essential of orthodoxy, that Jesus embodied the Holy Spirit from birth and is therefore God as well. This relationship of fatherhood versus sonship is critical to Biblical Christianity, and any contradiction of this teaching is a clear indicator of the Spirit of Antichrist. For this reason we strongly disapprove of any teaching which denies the relationship or distinction between the Father and the Son. We strongly disapprove of any teaching that denies the eternal nature of the Son or relegates him to the order of created beings.

We as Pentecostals place a high premium on recognition of the deity and personhood of the Holy Spirit which in the Hebrew text is referred to as the Ruach `Elohyim. We make a point of contention the necessity of relationship with the Spirit in the life of a believer. However we strongly disapprove of those who have taken the concept of marital relationship, described in the Bible as a metaphor for relationship between God and his people, to absurd extremes. We do not endorse or offer fellowship to those who have taken this metaphor to the extreme of seeking sexual fulfillment in the influence of the Holy Spirit. Such a teaching is a slanderous offense against the Holy Spirit.