The Pentecostal Mission (TPM) or New Testament Church (NTC) in the United States or Universal Pentecostal Church (UPC) in the United Kingdom is a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

denomination which was founded in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

, Ceylon (now

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

) in 1923. The international headquarters is now situated in Irumbuliyur,

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, India. There are over 37 million members across the world. It now has churches in over 65 countries operating under various names. It was before known as Ceylon Pentecostal Mission (CPM).

History

The church was founded by Pastor Paul Ramankutty, who was born to Hindu parents in the district of Trichur in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, India. While in Sri Lanka, at the age of 18, he became a Christian. Later, he felt a strong call and began to preach and share the gospel in various parts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka, working with other evangelists. In 1923 he founded the church with the name Ceylon Pentecostal Mission, later changed to The Pentecostal Mission.

School

The congregation in Sri Lanka operates a school for secular studies known as C.P.M Faith School in

Wattala Wattala ( si, වත්තල, ta, வத்தளை) is a large suburb of Colombo city, in Western Province, Sri Lanka, situated around 9 km from Colombo city centre. This suburb is situated on A3 highway from Colombo to Negombo. Around W ...

Columbo ''Columbo'' () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC f ...

Church leadership

The church is led by a Chief Pastor (currently Abraham Mathew). In addition, there is a Deputy Chief Pastor (currently M.T. Thomas) and an Associate Deputy Chief Pastor (currently G. Jeyam). In the United States most of the church work was pioneered by the late Don M Spiers, who had previously worked closely with

Oral Roberts Granville Oral Roberts (January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009) was an American Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christianity, Christian televangelist, ordained in both the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, Pentecostal Holin ...

. Gregg Wilson now heads the work in USA and countries around the USA. He is assisted by the sister-in-charge Lisa Billow. Full-time ministers are expected to practice an ascetic lifestyle including celibacy, obedience to the elder pastors, communal living (including disposal of private possessions) in faith homes. TPM churches are run by full-time ministers who are celibate and predominantly single. Married couples who enter full-time ministry can become celibate and may be sent to different locations by the TPM leadership if they so choose.

Doctrines and teachings

The doctrines of the church broadly align with

trinitarian The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the Fa ...

Pentecostalism Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

. However there are a few unique principles 1. Celibacy 2. Divine Healing 3. Tent life

Magazine ministry

Magazines are produced in several languages. The English language magazine published from India is called ''The Voice of Pentecost''. ''Pilgrim's Journal'' is published and printed in the USA. Other English language magazines are ''Pentecostal Messenger'' from Malaysia, ''The Youth Herald'' from Singapore, ''Power Divine'' from Sri Lanka, and ''Trumpet of the Lord'' from the UK. Church Magazines are being published in more than forty Indian languages and other foreign languages. Malayalam magazine ''Pentecost'' is one of the oldest Pentecostal magazines from Kerala. A Hindi edition ''Pentecost Ki Wani'' published from New Delhi, Tamil edition named ''Pentecosthin Peroli'' from Irumbilyur (Chennai), ''Pentecost-Chi Vaani'' from Mumbai, and ''Pentecost Da Sneha'' from Dhariwal (Punjab) are also produced.

References