Pact of Formation

Our name is Puritan Church in America

We are formed as a synod managed Christian Church
with all local parishes having the authority to elect their clergy, manage their finances, and manage their operations.

We are formed in perpetual operation as a Free Church
Our national synod is located at:
Puritan Church in America, US Synod
Plymouth, MA

The principal officer is US Synod President, Bishop Peter Morimoto
Other officers of the US Synod are:
Bishop Davenport, Vice President
Bishop PJ Duff, Secretary
Rev. Mark Clark, Treasurer
Ms. Shelia Marcum, Advisor

We are open to full communion with any Christian denomination that in good will is in agreement with our articles of beliefs, found here, and we unite ourselves to all people of good will who believe Jesus Christ is the only Son of God born of the Virgin Mary, the Scriptures are the true revelation of God, that the age of Apostolic authority is past and we are currently in the age of waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus.  We reject the following unbiblical theologies (heresies): Liberation, Prosperity, Dominion, Word of Faith, Oneness, Rapture, and Unlimited Social Justice.

All correspondence may be sent to:

Puritan Church in America
using the Contact Form on this web site.

Simply state what you are inquiring or the information needed.
Please be advised that when inquiring about ministerial members by law we can only provide:

Whether the minister is affiliated with our church or not
Dates and places of ministry
Any ministerial credentials earned in our denomination

Chapter Meeting Day 2

Fellowship Pact of the Puritan Church in America

The Puritan Church in America is a free church.  Following Puritan Church traditions. A "free church" is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separated from civil government.  Refuses incorporation. It is A fellowship of believers. A free church recognizes strict separation of church and government.  

We Believe:

1. The Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men and the Divine and final authority of Christian faith and life. 
    
2. In one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
    
3. That Jesus Christ is true God and true man, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He died on the cross, a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. Further, He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, where, at the right hand of the Majesty on High, He is now our High Priest and Advocate.
    
4. That the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and, during this age, to convict men, save the believing sinner, and indwell, guide, instruct and empower the believer for godly living and service.
    
5. That man was created in the image of God but fell into sin and is, therefore, lost, and only through by the power of the Holy Spirit can salvation and spiritual life be obtained.
    
6. That the shed blood of Jesus Christ and His resurrection provide the only ground for justification and salvation for all who believe, and only such as receive Jesus Christ are born of the Holy Spirit and, thus become children of God.
    
7. That water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances to be observed by the Church during the present age. They are, however, not to be regarded as means of salvation. 
    
8. That the true Church is composed of all such persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united together in the Body of Christ of which He is the Head.
    
9. That only those who are, thus, members of the true Church shall be eligible for membership in the local church.
    
10. That Jesus Christ is the Lord and Head of the Church and that every local church has the right, under Christ, to decide and govern its own affairs. In consultation with the bishop.
     
11. In the personal pre-millennial and imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and that this “Blessed Hope” has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer.
     
12. In the bodily resurrection of the dead; of the believer to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord; of the unbeliever to judgement and everlasting conscious punishment.

The full statement of our faith is found in the Westminster Confession of 1649 and the Large and Small Westminster Catechisms.

Approved this 11th day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand nine-hundred and eighty five.

With a majority of churches approving. This statement is not a replacement but a modern English rendering of the Plymouth Statement of Faith adopted in 1651

Chapter Meeting Day 1

The results of the Chapter Meeting of Congregational, independent Episcopal Churches seeking reform, and Reformed Anglican Churches are as follows.

27 Congregational Churches
19 Episcopal Churches
10 United Churches of Christ
5 Reformed Anglican
Have accepted invitation to form the Puritan Church in America

We offer full communion with all Congregational Churches outside the NACCC, with the Free Episcopal, Reformed Anglican, Anglican Orthodox, and Catholic Episcopal Church in America.

Do form the Puritan Church in America.  Accepted today are the nine bishops who shall preside over their diocese and shall be consecrated in a ceremony on Palm Sunday in First Congregational Church in Barnstable. Massachusetts.  The national office shall be located in Washington DC at Potomac Congregational Church.  It shall be principal church of the church and an elder bishop shall be elected from among the nine presiding bishops for a period of a two year term.  The first head of the Bishops Council shall be Bishop Morimoto with his home seat in San Francisco, California.   

Province II shall be the province with care of new European churches.  Province III shall be the province with care of new African churches, Province VIII shall be the province with care of new Asian churches, and province IX shall be the province with care for Latin American and Carribean churches.

The leadership of the national board shall be:
Bishops Council (The nine bishops)
Council of Clergy Education and Ordination (one ordained minister from each province)
Council of Deacons (one deacon from each province)
General Council (2 elected members from each province over seeing finances and administration)
Council of Missions and Evangelization (coordination between the Bishops, Clergy, and Deacon councils)

Local leadership shall be 
Bishop
Administration Board
Education and History Board
Parish Coordination
All posts shall be by appointment of the bishop with approval by a majority of parishes in the diocese.

Each parish shall appoint at least a Board of Administration that shall be responsible for appointing clergy, approving deacons, financial disbursement, and approving parish outreach.

Bishops are to be seen as elder ministers who help and encourage clergy in their diocese.  A bishop shall be at least 45 years of age, an ordained minister, have at least 7 years of total active ministry, and be a man of good standing in their profession and in their community.  Bishops shall be single or married and have NOT BEEN DIVORCED, as scriptures warrant.  No openly homosexual man may be considered for bishop.

Clergy shall consist of men who have attained at least 30 hours of education in an accredited college or university.  Undergone approved education in ministry and Christian Theology in an accredited seminary or seminary college.  Or 45 credit hours in a college seminary.  Be at least 25 years old and a Christian for at least 3 years.  Or have the approval of the Council of Clergy and Ordination by a simple majority of approval.  Clergy shall be single or married, and have not been divorced as scripture warrants.  All appointments of clergy shall have approval of the bishop and the Board of Administration of receiving parish.  No openly homosexual man may be considered for ordination.

Deacons shall be men or women who are nominated by their local parish clergy, approved by the bishop and Administration Board of their diocese.  Deacons shall be married or single and have been a Christian for at least 3 years.  No openly homosexuals can be considered.  Deacons shall have the approval of the pastor and Board of the receiving parish.

Puritan Church Presbyteries

The following map outlines the Regions of the Puritan Church.

Bishops are:

Plymouth, MA Presbytery (yellow): Rev. James Hill

Houston, TX Presbytery (striped): Rev. Paul J. Duff

San Francisco, CA Region (maroon): Rev. Peter Morimoto

Plymouth, MA includes our missions in Africa and Europe

Houston, TX includes our missions in Latin America

San Francisco, CA includes our missions in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Australia

Our mission in Japan is headed by Rev. Daniel Joseph Rea of the Christian Church of Japan

Our mission in the UK is headed by Rev. Peter Masters, London Fellowship


*Our Puritan use of Bishop is quite different from the Catholic and Anglican use.  Our bishops are elder pastors who provide mentorship and advice to pastors in their presbytery.  Bishops ordain pastors and deacons.  Our bishops do not interfere with congregation operation unless requested by the pastor, or deacons, or congregants.

Financial Directive

As we begin our mission to form a new Christian body we must keep in mind the great financial strain some of our congregations could feel.  There are some ways to take advantage of free services to ease financial obligations.

Consider moving your parish website to a free service like Blogspot, Blogs.com, or Yahoo Blog.  Use free email providers like Yahoo, Gmail, AIM, and MSN.  Use your 501C3 registration to inquire about discounted utilities and waving of sales taxes.  Get ideas from your congregations and fellow pastors.  We at the national office got the idea to use Blogspot from a few of our pastors.

Keep in mind there is no shame in taking advantage of free services, in fact it shows stewardship for the trust our congregations have in our financial trust.  There is a fiduciary trust that we must continually remember.

Churches and International Missions

Use the Contact Form on the sidebar to the right to inquire for Puritan Church in America church locations



Churches in full communion

Free Reformed Churches of North America

Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly

Reformed Presbyterian Church North America

Church of Christ (Free Churches)

Traditional Church of Christ

Outside USA Puritan Church Missions and Churches

Christian Church of Japan

Bishop Daniel J. Rea

Nagoya, Japan

Hong Kong Puritan Mission

Pastor Paul Wong

Hong Kong, China

Puritan Church of Taiwan

Bishop Michael Zhou

Taipei, Taiwan

Puritan Church of the United Kingdom

Rev. Peter Masters

London, UK

Use contact form to inquire about UK church locations
 

Our Mission

In these times when traditional Christian values are attacked, sharp moral decline, spiritual decay and the advance of relativism; we are a Christian Church that still offers a message that refuses to compromise Biblical principles.  The focus of the Puritan Church in America  is the advance of the Gospel of Christ that is evangelical in focus.  Missionary in work and preparation.  Traditional in worship and leadership.  We focus on worship of Almighty God and not on man.  We present solid biblical preaching that is consistent with the Protestant Reformation as expressed by our Puritan and Anglican forefathers.

We are congregational in parish leadership and episcopal in confession wide leadership.  Each parish has ministers and deacons that works together with the congregation.  Each parish is part of a regional diocese headed by a bishop who supports and assists the parishes under his responsibility.  All bishops form the Puritan Church Synod which guides the doctrine of the church.  Bishops are elder pastors who offer leadership advice and mentoring to pastors.

We stand firm in our beliefs which are summed up in our creed that firmly grounded in the Gospel of Christ and the Epistles of the Apostles:

 We believe in God, the Father Almighty,

    the Maker of heaven and earth,
    and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
    born of the virgin Mary,
    suffered under Pontius Pilate,
    was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell. 

The third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,
    and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
    from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

We believe in the Holy Ghost;
    the holy catholic church;
    the communion of saints;
    the forgiveness of sins;
    the resurrection of the body;
    and the life everlasting.

Amen.