Answer:  We left the Protestant Reformed Churches in the Philippines (PRCP) because of the doctrinal controversy concerning good works and their place and function in the believer’s salvation and assurance, which became a significant matter of controversy within the Protestant Reformed Churches in America (PRCA) and the Protestant Reformed Churches in the Philippines (PRCP).

Our concern was to remain faithful to the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone, while also affirming that good works are the necessary fruit of true faith and the believer’s grateful obedience to God.

Answer:  The church’s decision to move from the Three Forms of Unity to the Westminster Standards began through our continued study of the Reformed confessions. While we remain convinced that the Three Forms of Unity are doctrinally sound and faithful to Scripture, our Wednesday study of the Westminster Standards led us to recognize that they provide a more explicit and comprehensive treatment of certain doctrines and principles that are not expressed as fully in the Three Forms of Unity. One such area is the Second Commandment and its implications for the regulation of worship, particularly our growing consideration of exclusive Psalmody.

This change does not mean that we reject the Three Forms of Unity. We continue to recognize their substantial agreement with the Westminster Standards on the fundamental doctrines of the Reformed faith. Rather, our study led us to see that the Westminster Standards more fully articulate certain theological and worship convictions that we had already begun to consider, even before the church was formally constituted as a Presbyterian church.

As a newly constituted Presbyterian church, we therefore adopted the Westminster Standards because they more comprehensively express the Reformed faith within the Presbyterian tradition and provide a confessional framework consistent with our understanding of doctrine, worship, and church government. The adoption of the Westminster Standards is thus not a departure from the Reformed faith confessed in the Three Forms of Unity, but a transition to a confessional standard that more fully expresses the convictions to which the church has come.

Answer:  The Free Presbyterian Church have a strong emphasis on the proper observance of the Christian Sabbath, which is to be kept holy unto the Lord.   We believe that the Fourth Commandment continues to have moral significance for the Christian, calling us to devote the Sabbath to the worship and service of God, to rest from our ordinary worldly employments and recreations, and to seek to keep the whole day holy to the Lord. We therefore desire to observe the Sabbath according to the principles set forth in the Westminster Confession of Faith 21.7-8, as an expression of obedience to God’s revealed will.

Answer:  Second, we particularly appreciate their firm commitment to Exclusive Psalmody.

We first came to embrace the principle of Exclusive Psalmody in 2002. However, we had understood that the Protestant Reformed Churches in America (PRCA) shared this conviction, and therefore we worshiped with them using the Psalter 1912.

It was only through the controversy that arose within the RPCA (former PRCA members) that we came to understand more clearly that the PRCA does not hold to Exclusive Psalmody as its position on public worship.

Consequently, when we began seeking a church that would maintain a consistent commitment to the Regulative Principle of Public Worship, the Lord graciously led us to a church that continues to teach and strengthen us in these convictions.

We are particularly thankful for the Free Presbyterian Church for its commitment to the principle that God alone has the authority to determine how He is to be worshiped, and that in the public worship of the church, we should do only what God has commanded in His Word.

Answer:   Another distinctive conviction concerns the Regulative Principle of Public Worship.

Since our church embraced the Reformed faith in 2002, we have maintained a firm commitment to the Regulative Principle of Public Worship. Consequently, we have not observed ecclesiastical holidays such as Christmas, Holy Week, and other days appointed for religious observance that are not commanded in Scripture as separate days of worship.

When we became affiliated with the Protestant Reformed Churches in the Philippines (PRCP), an agreement was reached between Berean PRCP and First Reformed Church of Bulacan concerning the application of Article 67 of the Church Order of Dort. At that time, it was agreed that these ecclesiastical holidays would not be observed as separate days of worship in the proposed PRCP, but that the themes ordinarily associated with these days would instead be preached on the nearest Lord’s Day.

This reflects our desire to maintain the Regulative Principle of Public Worship while giving careful attention to the biblical principles governing the worship of God.   We also found these same convictions firmly held within the Free Presbyterian Church. 

Answer:  Since June 2025, we came across the website of a Presbyterian church whose teachings, practices, and worship were distinct from those of many other Presbyterian and reformed churches. We found in the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland a commitment to preserving the historic principles and practices of the Reformation.

Although we have no formal ecclesiastical union with them, we have greatly appreciated their commitment to maintaining the historic Reformed faith and the principles associated with the Scottish Reformation, including the legacy of John Knox and the Scottish Presbyterian tradition.

It was from this Presbyterian heritage and the convictions we found reflected in the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland that we adopted the name Free Presbyterian Church of the Philippines.

Answer:  The FPCP has recently completed its study, discussion, and examination of the Westminster Confession of Faith, together with the Westminster Larger Catechism and Shorter Catechism. These studies were conducted every Wednesday, with the main study concluding on August 26, 2026, while the concluding lectures continued until September 23, 2026.

Following this period of study and examination, the FPCP formally adopted the Westminster Confession of Faith as its official confession on August 31, 2026, together with the Westminster Standards.

Answer:  On August 31, 2026, the Free Presbyterian Church of the Philippines held its First Presbytery Meeting, during which the church was formally organized and reconstituted and we also formally established our Presbyterian denomination. 

The meeting brought together FPCP Manila, FPCP Bulacan, FPCP Leyte, and the mission work in Laguna.

Among the documents and ecclesiastical materials adopted by the FPCP was the Manual of the Practice of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland and Formula of Subscription.