What is the relationship of IPHC to the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.

IPHC is more than one hundred years old as an organization; however, our roots are clearly in the Protestant Reformation, specifically in the Lutheran Reformation (as evidenced by some connections to the Augsburg Confession and Luther’s emphasis on justification by faith) and in the English Reformation.

It is the English Reformation with the Thirty-Nine Articles and the 18th century impact of John Wesley that IPHC has closer theological and ecclesiastical connections.

As you probably know, the English Reformation (1530s) led to a break with the Roman Church, a breach that had already been made about 10-12 years earlier by Luther.

Prior to the Great Schism of 1054 which led to the formal split between the Western Church (usually thought of as the Roman Catholic Church) and the Eastern Church (a variety of Orthodox Churches, such as Greek, Russian, etc), Christianity in the western world had been passed down through the Roman Catholic Church. That continued to the Reformation.

IPHC, like most other evangelical/Pentecostal groups, does not accept many of the teachings of the Church of Rome (such as supremacy of the Pope, veneration of Mary, etc) but does recognize that the historic core of Christianity was passed down through the centuries by this movement of the Christian church. IPHC has historically held that any person is saved who has accepted by faith the atoning work of Jesus Christ at Calvary, confessed Him as Lord, and allows Him to live in their life.

We do not “return” to the Roman Catholic Church because it holds teachings that we as Protestants to do not accept as taught in the Bible. We do not “return” to the Orthodox Churches for similar reasons, although in the Orthodox case, the historical connections to them do not go through the Protestant Reformation.


Dr. Doug Beacham
Executive Director, World Missions Ministries
International Pentecostal Holiness Church