Our Mission

The mission of the Iowa City Area Evangelical Pastors In Covenant (EPIC) group is to extend the kingdom of God through a fellowship of like-minded pastors. Therefore, Believing that God desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (I Tim. 2:4), and Believing that we are called to be active participants in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-30), and Believing that we can reach our community far more effectively together than separately, and that the church of Jesus Christ is ultimately one, (John 17:11) We covenant together to be a people of: Fervent Prayer – praying together in faith for the salvation of the lost in our community and for a greater effectiveness and health in our churches.

Loving Fellowship – meeting as pastors for encouragement, accountability and support, knowing that we must lead in modeling Christian unity, submission and koinonia to our churches. We are dedicated to presenting a unified pastoral presence throughout the Iowa City area and to casting vision in our separate congregations regarding the extension of the Kingdom of God in our community. We anticipate that our prayer and fellowship exchanges may well lead to cooperative events such as unified praise gatherings and joint evangelistic activities.

Statement Of Faith

  1. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God (We endorse the Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy).
  2. We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  3. We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He is fully man and fully God, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
  4. We believe that all people are born in sin and in need of salvation.
  5. We believe that repentance, faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ and regeneration by the Holy Spirit are absolutely essential for the salvation of lost and sinful people. (We endorse The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration.)
  6. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
  7. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
  8. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Moral Issues

As representatives of the Body of Christ, we have the responsibility to uphold biblical morality and to be “salt and light” in a society which is constantly challenging and redefining that morality. While we recognize that there are some issues on which unanimous agreement may not be reached, we are convinced that certain “non-negotiable” standards must be upheld. We choose to focus on certain key issues that are vitally relevant to our culture. We are convinced that the following standards must be included as being non-negotiable:

  1. We affirm the unique value of all human life from the moment of conception through eternity. We consider the conscious choice of abortion (except when the physical life of the mother is clearly threatened) and euthanasia to be sinful acts.
  2. We define the family as one man and one woman, married in covenant, and their children. This is not to deny that due to unfortunate circumstances, families exist with only one parent. We affirm that God intends that sexual intimacy should take place within the bounds of covenant marriage between a man and a woman. We recognize that God judges adultery and fornication, as defined in the Bible, as sin.
  3. We affirm that homosexual sex is a sin as defined by God’s Word. We believe that God loves all mankind, including homosexuals, and desires that all come to Christ for forgiveness of sin. Accordingly, we desire to reach out to homosexuals as persons in need of ministry and God’s grace.
  4. While we do not condone sinful behavior in any form, we desire to express sincere Christian love to all people, encouraging them towards repentance and appropriation of the forgiving grace of God. Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Heb12:14) For God did no call us to uncleanness, but in holiness (I Thess 4:7).

 

Unity

While we acknowledge that there are many expressions of the one true church in our community, we recognize that we are all members of one church, the body of Christ. We acknowledge our need for one another, our need to work together, and our need to demonstrate our unity in the community to be effective in fulfilling our purpose.

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ (1 Cor 12:12).

Meeting Together

The purpose of our meeting together is for Fervent Prayer and Loving Fellowship, as defined in the Mission section above. The location of these gatherings will rotate between the churches of member pastors with the host pastor leading the gathering that day. While member pastors are free to present causes or activities they think others may be interested in, the cumulative total time given to such items should be kept to ten minutes.

Cooperative Events

As the Mission section of this document indicates, we fully anticipate and look forward to sub-groups of pastors and their congregations desiring to participate in joint efforts and activities together. Planning of cooperative events is highly encouraged, but needs to be done outside this group's gatherings. We fully recognize that different individuals have different passions, callings and interests. In that light we give each other full freedom to participate, and not participate, in events as they feel led.

Steering Committee

On-going oversight and direction of this group is in the hands of a Steering Committee comprised of four EPIC members. Steering Committee members will serve four-year terms, with terms staggered such that one term is ending each year. When a vacancy occurs due to the ending of a term, or for any other reason, the Steering Committee shall fill such vacancies from among the general membership of EPIC. The Steering Committee shall meet as needed and shall designate one of its members to serve as Chairman and one to serve as Secretary of the committee. The committee shall have the freedom to determine how frequently the positions of Chairman and Secretary change.

Membership

Membership in Iowa City Area EPIC is subject to signing a statement indicating agreement with all sections of the Concepts & Covenant document.

Receiving Individuals Into our Churches

It is our desire to make every reasonable effort to uncover any root of bitterness and prevent conflict resulting from people moving from church to church with unresolved issues. Therefore, we agree to receive individuals into our congregations, who are coming from a congregation pastored by another EPIC member, only after communication with the person's previous pastor. We recognize that there is a difference between members and attenders and that there are many dynamics to "receiving" individuals into our congregations. Therefore, we agree to interview new people concerning their previous church experience before placing them in any position of influence or leadership. Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; (Hebrews 12:15 NKJV)

Navigation

EPIC Members