An Overview of The Fourth IPHC World Conference
by Shirley G. Spencer

The Fourth World Conference of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, which convened May 13-15, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, seemed more like an extended family reunion than an international church function. The atmosphere crackled with excitement as brothers and sisters from every continent reunited and new family members were introduced and welcomed.

At the opening banquet on Tuesday evening, Presiding Bishop James D. Leggett greeted the over 400 registered guests as well as members of the World Pentecostal Holiness Fellowship (WPHF). Then he introduced a video titled, “A Family Album.” The narrative of the presentation was interspersed with “snapshots” of individuals from various countries who gave their names then stated emphatically: “I am Pentecostal Holiness.”

Dr. A. D. Beacham, Jr. was the first speakers in the Wednesday morning plenary session. Beacham, who serves as executive director of World Missions, continued the family theme by highlighting four values that bind the church together. These include theology, relationships, a sense of being part of a larger community, and a common inheritance.

Beacham also discussed the Vision 2020 goals and strategies set by the representatives from the continents, setting the stage for reports from the Overseas Ministries Coordinators (OMC). The OMCs, in turn, introduced key leaders from their fields to report on the ministry from their unique perspectives.

These representatives provided conferees with a greater understanding of the church's global mandate and mission. Their stories - some stirring and others humorous - helped participants appreciate the diversity of the IPHC family as well as some of the struggles many leaders have faced as they persevered in taking the gospel message to the lost.

Some delegates were amazed by reports of the numbers of missionaries being deployed from places heretofore considered as receiving nations. Many countries that have received missionaries in the past are now sending missionaries into neighboring nations and around the world. These include Mexico, the Philippines, India, China, Russia, and others.

Each of the daytime sessions, as well as the evening celebration services opened with worship led by a local band and praise team from Calvary Christian Church (CCC) in Vancouver. Dr. Gordon McDonald, CCC's senior pastor, also serves as general superintendent of the IPHC of Canada and as a member of the World Pentecostal Holiness Fellowship (WPHF).

Both the Wednesday and Thursday evening services included short sermons by two speakers. The Wednesday evening service featured Donavan Ng, consulting pastor of the 6,000-member Wing Kwong PH Church in Hong Kong and a member of the WPHF, and Ron Carpenter, Jr., senior pastor of Redemption World Outreach Center, a mega church of 12,000 members in Greenville, South Carolina. Both Ng and Carpenter are men of vision who have proven apostolic leadership in their respective areas.

In the Thursday morning session, Dr. Ronald Carpenter, Sr., vice-chairman of the IPHC and executive director of Evangelism USA, underscored the significance of the international family being brought together under the banner of the IPHC. “We may be tribal in some ways, but in other senses we are united in a great organization that is making a difference in the world.

Carpenter referenced the denomination's transition from being an entity that plants churches to becoming a church planting movement. He described this change as necessary just to keep up with the population increase in North America. “America is not a Christian nation,” he declared. “It is increasingly becoming an anti-Christian nation. America is a mission field.”

A team of intercessors, led by Terry Fowler, director, and his assistant Kathy Shelley, kept the iWIN Prayer Room available throughout the conference. Approximately 40 intercessors visited the Prayer Room and prayed for the speakers and events of the conference. Conference iWIN directors from South Carolina, New Horizons, Africa, LAMCAR, Europe/Middle East and Asia and many missionaries spent time in prayer. As a capstone to the daytime sessions, Fowler taught briefly on 2 Chronicles 20 and the Fourth Day Experience and led conferees in a prayer for the nations.

Thursday evening's celebration service featured messages by Demetrius Miles, pastor of the Tucson (Arizona) Church International, and Presiding Bishop James Leggett. Miles spoke prophetically that the IPHC family is on the verse of experiencing something greater than it has even imagined.

Bishop Leggett affirmed Mile's word with a message based on Joshua 1:1-3, 7, 8. “God has a prosperous future for the IPHC,” he proclaimed. Leggett pointed the desperate situation in which Joshua and the people of God found themselves. “It was a time of transition and testing,” he said. “Moses, their great deliverer, was dead, and the Jordan River was overflowing its banks. The nation could have said, 'We can't do this,' but God said, 'You can.' When God says 'Cross the river,' hell can't stop you from doing what God says to do.”

The Presiding Bishop concluded his message with four divine commands from the text: (1) Be anchored in God's Word (v. 8); (2) Be decisive (v. 2); (3) Be strong and courageous (vv. 6, 9); and (4) Stay the course (v. 7).

The conference adjourned appropriately with members of the IPHC family gathered at the Table of the Lord to observe Holy Communion. The General Executive Board of the IPHC of Canada served the elements as Presiding Bishop James Leggett and Bishop Gordon McDonald led the congregation in celebrating the Lord's Supper.

The IPHC is a diverse family with faces and cultures to match their various ethnicities. Throughout the days in Vancouver, delegates heard members of their denominational family who speak Russian, Swahili, Hungarian, Spanish, Romanian, Portuguese, Telugu, Chinese, Filipino, Cambodian, English, as well as many other languages and dialects. Some presented their reports with the help of translators and others spoke English with regional accents and drawls. The Fourth World Conference was a testimony to the fact that people from every nation and tribe are welcome at our Father's table.

For the sake of space, this article does not include summaries of every session. To view all of the sessions and services of the Fourth World Conference of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, visit the IPHC website (www.iphc.org).