2.2 How Canadian Pentecostals Form a Ministerial Organization

[Kylie]

I believe their can be wisdom in leaving some pieces of theological difference open, especially if there does not appear to be a super strong scriptural or spiritual defense to the issue. that being said there are certain aspects of theology that are foundational in faith that can actually cause more confusion and be detrimental to the building up of God’s Kingdom if labelled as a secondary importance. I don’t think anyone can decide what is primary and secondary apart from God and His word. Evangelism is integral to the mission of people of faith however if you do not have an understanding of who God is and important aspects of His character then the gospel you attempt to share will be shaky in my opinion. We do not need to have all the answers because we won’t have them, but I think in order to move forward we have to have a solid doctrinal basis on key things so we can correctly reflect and share Jesus.

[Caleb]

I think it may have been wise in the context of the early Pentecostal church for the PAOC to allow some leeway early on in their doctrinal beliefs as many Pentecostals early on did not want to be organized for fear of the will of God and the spontaneity of the Spirit restricted. The wrong doctrinal statement may turn off the rest of the Pentecostal churches of Canada. I do however think it would be foolish to remain vague on doctrinal values of the assembly as things would get very complicated down the road with different churches growing in different directions. The baseline to doctrine should at least be that God loves people, the trinity is true, and that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. without this universal understanding in PAOC, the assembly would have been in trouble from the start. the character of God, the work of Jesus, and the salvation of believers should at least be central and almost everything beyond that is a secondary issue.

Also while I applaud PAOC for focusing on the great commission as their number one core value, they should at least first acknowledge the reason for the great commission as one of their core values as well. that reason is the greatest commandments, to love God and love people.

[Allan]

I cant believe how something that was personal conviction divided the fellowship. Our sole focus should be evangelism

[Nate]

While I can see the wisdom in emphasizing evangelism and fellowship over doctrine, I do still think it is important to have clear doctrine. I am reminded of the early church councils of Nicea, Chalcedon and others, the purpose of these was to combat the heresy of the day and so they created creeds which answered every and all minute detail. If denominations are not clear about what we believe to be truth, it is easy to have division an confusion over our beliefs.

That being said, it is also important that the church hold “in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity.” In love we must be able to have differences, while holding in unity what it is that we must hold fast on.