Hi Don, and welcome!

A few years ago I was caught up in the Charismatic movement (a very widespread form of Pentecostalism) and for a part of that time attended an EPC church. I never heard any teaching about God's sovereignty and grace there (which of course is no indictment of the entire denomination - just that one church), but we loved it because the "gifts of the Spirit" were abundant and the worship was absolutely thrilling.

One of the reasons the EPC may be held in low regard by folks on this site is because "Charismania" is incompatible with Reformed theology. Now by that I don't mean that we allow our theology to "quench the Spirit" or that we're so bound to our system of theology that we can't see past the Westminster Confession of Faith and it's catechisms. What I mean by that is that biblically and in terms of how Scripture is to be used, the two are incompatible.

One of the most foundational rallying cries of the Reformation was "Sola Scriptura" (Scripture alone). In other words, whatever we believe or practice must be founded only upon the Bible (rightly interpreted) and nothing else. If one accepts "extra revelations of the Spirit" as we did in our Charismatic EPC church, he or she betrays that foundational truth.

Most reputable Reformed bodies reject Pentecostalism. The EPC permits it (most EPC churches are not Charismatic, I think, but by allowing churches to go down that path, the denomination has forsaken its members). Since it is the duty of ecclesiastical authority to protect the sheep from harmful heresies and from being enticed away from the truth by "seducing spirits" (1st Timothy 4:1), any denomination that accepts "new revelations" in any form betrays the sheep and abandons them.

I'm not advising you to leave your church! I'm merely explaining one of the reasons the denomination is regarded in less than favorable light in this forum. But it is something you should be aware of nonetheless - the denomination allows Charismatic "manifestations" and "new revelations," thus rendering their churches and members vulnerable to a myriad of abuses and deception.

Been there, done that, got the teeshirt.

-Robin