Our
church is affiliated with the United Pentecostal Church
International (UPCI). You can click
here to visit the official
UPCI website.
The
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 3,876 churches,
reports a Sunday
School attendance of more
than 400,000, and has an estimated constituency of
at least 600,000. Moreover, it is also located in 136
other nations with 15,882 licensed ministers, 21,407
churches and meeting places, and a foreign
constituency of over 1.9
million, making a total worldwide constituency of more
than 2.6 million.
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.
Our
Mission:
To
Spread, "The Whole Gospel, to the Whole World..."
Mark
16:15 And
he said unto them, Go
ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature.
