EPC has sharp growth 'without proselytizing' By Charles F. Burge Executive Director The Layman Thursday, June 19, 2008 During the opening meeting of its 28th General Assembly, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) reported adding 47 new churches this past year. Stated Clerk Jeff Jeremiah said that, as of January 1, 227 churches were a part of the EPC, a 25% increase over the past 12 months. Jeremiah also told The Layman that his office has received "a flurry of inquires" in the first half of 2008. Pastors and representatives of the new churches expressed their appreciation during the opening assembly. "We were not recruited into the EPC," Rev. Steve Bryant of Grace Chapel in Madison, Miss., told delegates. "We weren't proselytized: We were adopted." Bryant told commissioners that his church, which voted to sever ties with the PCUSA in August 2007, has since been "rebirthed, renewed as a congregation" and that belonging to the EPC "has been a great source of energy for our leadership." Bryant said they have seen growth "both numerically and spiritually … with people coming to us with worn Bibles under their arms, hungry to hear the Gospel." "I am sinfully proud to be a pastor in the EPC," Bryant told the opening assembly. "I am grateful that my children will be raised in a church that is not morally confused and bows down to moral ambiguity, but stands strong for Jesus and the Gospel." Jeremiah asked for representatives of the 47 added churches to stand for prayer. When they did, the rest of the assembly rose to their feet in applause. There were tears shed and hugs exchanged. Ruling Elder John Adamson, chair of the National Transitional Presbytery, told The Layman, "I have never, ever solicited any churches. Every one of them has come to me." Adamson said, "I was in a church that came out in 1983, and the 13 or 14 churches that I've spoken to are coming out for the same reason we did then." According to the denomination's website, the EPC was formed in 1981 by mainline Presbyterian denominational leaders who had "become increasingly distressed by liberalism (and) wanted to form a church that took seriously the words of Scripture, the theology of the historic confessions of the faith and the evangelical fervor of Presbyterian founders." Moderator Bill Vogler said in his speech that he was "encouraged to see the commitment and courage of churches joining the EPC over the past year." He spoke about the need for the EPC to define what it means to be a "missional" denomination. "We are not arguing about truth," Vogler said. "That's all done, that's all decided. Now we ask: 'How do we do church together?'" The EPC GA meets through Saturday at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Md.

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