 IntroductionThe United Pentecostal Church International
(UPCI) has been among the fastest growing denominations in
North America since
it was formed in 1945 by the merger of the Pentecostal Church, Incorporated,
and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ. From 617 churches listed in
1946, the UPCI in North America (United States and Canada) today lists 4,142
churches, 8,801 ministers, and reports a
Sunday School
attendance of 498,903. Moreover, it is also located in 170 other nations
with 571 missionaries and many thousands of licensed ministers, churches, and meeting places.
History of the UPCI
The UPCI emerged out of the Pentecostal
movement that began in Topeka, Kansas in 1901. It traces its organizational
roots to October 1916, when a large group of ministers withdrew from the
Assemblies of God over the doctrinal issues of the oneness of God and water
baptism in the name of Jesus Christ.
The basic governmental structure of the
UPCI is congregational with local churches being autonomous: the
congregation elects its pastor and its leaders, owns its property, decides
its budget, establishes its membership, and conducts all necessary business.
The central organization embraces a
modified presbyterian system in that ministers meet in sectional, district,
and general conferences to elect officials and to conduct business of the
organization.
The UPCI headquarters building, located in
Hazelwood, Missouri, houses offices for its general officials, the
Pentecostal
Publishing House, and a
Christian bookstore.
Among its endorsed institutions are
seven Bible colleges, a
children's
home, a
residency
for troubled young men,
ministries to those addicted to alcohol and other drugs, a
chaplaincy for prisoners, and it endorses
chaplains
to the military.
Doctrinal views
The
doctrinal views
of the UPCI reflect most of the beliefs of the Holiness-Pentecostal
movement, with the exception of the "second work of grace," the historic
doctrine of the Trinity, and the traditional Trinitarian formula in water
baptism. It embraces the Pentecostal view that speaking in tongues is the
initial sign of receiving the Holy Spirit.
The UPCI holds a fundamental view of the
Bible: "The Bible is the only God-given authority which man possesses;
therefore all doctrine, faith, hope, and all instructions for the church
must be based upon and harmonize with the Bible" (Manual of the United
Pentecostal Church, 19). The Bible is the Word of God, and therefore
inerrant and infallible. The UPCI rejects all extrabiblical revelations and
writings, and views church creeds and articles of faith only as the thinking
of men.
The UPCI holds that salvation is by grace
through faith in Jesus Christ, not by works. Faith in Jesus is the means by
which a person is justified. At the same time, a sinner must believe the
gospel; he is commanded to repent of his sinful life, to be baptized in
water in the name of Jesus Christ, and to receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit (Acts 2:38; 4:12; 8:12-17; 10:43-48; 19:1-6). Thus the various
aspects of faith and obedience work together in God's grace to reconcile us
to God.
Oneness of God
In distinction to the doctrine of the
Trinity, the UPCI holds to a oneness view of God. It views the Trinitarian
concept of God, that of God eternally existing as three distinctive persons,
as inadequate and a departure from the consistent and emphatic biblical
revelation of God being one.
The UPCI teaches that the one God who
revealed Himself in the Old Testament as Jehovah revealed himself in His
Son, Jesus Christ. Thus Jesus Christ was and is God. In other words, Jesus
is the one true God manifested in flesh, for in Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily (John 1:1-14; I Timothy 3:16; Colossians 2:9).
While fully God, Jesus was also fully man,
possessing a full and true humanity. He was both God and man. Moreover, the
Holy Spirit is God with us and in us. Thus God is manifested as Father in
creation and as the Father of the Son, in the Son for our redemption, and as
the Holy Spirit in our regeneration.
Importance of the Family Unit
The UPCI stresses and supports the family
unit as God's primary institution and teaches that the church is God's
redemptive fellowship for all believers.
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