Reformed Church in the United States
Encyclopedia
The Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) is a Protestant Christian denomination
in the United States
. The present RCUS is a conservative
, Calvinist denomination. It affirms the principles of the Reformation
: Sola scriptura
(Scripture alone), Solo Christo (Christ alone), Sola gratia
(Grace alone), Sola fide
(Faith alone), and Soli Deo gloria
(Glory to God alone). The RCUS is most heavily concentrated in California
, Colorado
, and South Dakota
.
(now the Reformed Church in America
), formed their own synod
by the end of the century. The 19th century saw controversy as the German Reformed Church debated issues such as revivalism and especially the Mercersburg Theology
of John Nevin
and Philip Schaff
.
The twentieth century saw the RCUS increasingly move toward ecumenism
and higher criticism of the Bible
. Some who were more conservative in their theology united to form the Eureka Classis
of the RCUS to continue classical Reformed worship and polity. The RCUS merged with the Evangelical Synod of North America
(ESNA) in 1934 to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church
. The Eureka classis, however, abjured that move and decided to continue its existence as the "continuing
" Reformed Church in the United States. The classis principally objected to the ESNA's admixture of Lutheran teachings with Calvinist practices; most of its churches and members descended from late 19th-century immigration from parts of Germany
where Reformed confessionalism
had taken hold. By contrast, most RCUS churches, classes, and synods farther east had significantly assimilated into generalized American Protestantism, with decidedly ecumenical leanings.
The Evangelical and Reformed Church later merged with the Congregational Christian Churches
(itself a merger of Congregational
and Restorationist
churches) in 1957 to become the United Church of Christ
, a body noted for its strongly liberal doctrine and moral stances.
, with local congregations ruled by elected elder
s and deacon
s. The pastor is the presiding officer of the church council or consistory
. The RCUS has around 50 congregations with about 4,000 baptized members throughout the United States. The congregations are grouped together in four classes: Western Classis, Northern Plains Classis, South Central Classis, Covenant Eastern Classis. A classis is equivalent to a presbytery in Scots-Anglo-Irish Presbyterian denominations. A general, or national, synod
convenes annually in mid-spring.
The old RCUS, as well as the continuing RCUS, originally held only to the Heidelberg Catechism
as its statement of faith. In 1995, the Synod officially adopted the Belgic Confession of Faith
and the Canons of Dort
, which along with Heidelberg are known as the Three Forms of Unity
which are commonly used together by Reformed churches (especially those coming out of the Dutch
branch of Reformed churches). By holding strictly to these standards, the RCUS maintains a strong affiliation with Calvinism and the 16th-century Reformation.
The RCUS believes in biblical inerrancy
, including a teaching that Genesis 1:1—2:4 must be understood as a literal 24-hour, six-day creation account. Nearly all congregations prohibit women from voting in church elections (with the exception of a few congregations which joined later and where this practice was allowed). The RCUS also does not allow women to hold special office (elders, deacons, pastor), a stance in keeping with most conservative Reformed or Presbyterian bodies in the United States. Those things noted, the RCUS rejects, however, some standard positions associated with American fundamentalism
such as premillenialism and total abstinence from alcoholic beverages, preferring instead a focus on a European Calvinist orthodoxy rather than American-style revivalism.
The Reformed Church in the United States is a member of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council
as well as the International Conference of Reformed Churches
.
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The present RCUS is a conservative
Conservative Christianity
Conservative Christianity is a term applied to a number of groups or movements seen as giving priority to traditional Christian beliefs and practices...
, Calvinist denomination. It affirms the principles of the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
: Sola scriptura
Sola scriptura
Sola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid...
(Scripture alone), Solo Christo (Christ alone), Sola gratia
Sola gratia
Sola gratia is one of the five solas propounded to summarise the Reformers' basic beliefs during the Protestant Reformation; it is a Latin term meaning grace alone...
(Grace alone), Sola fide
Sola fide
Sola fide , also historically known as the doctrine of justification by faith alone, is a Christian theological doctrine that distinguishes most Protestant denominations from Catholicism, Eastern Christianity, and some in the Restoration Movement.The doctrine of sola fide or "by faith alone"...
(Faith alone), and Soli Deo gloria
Soli Deo gloria
Soli Deo gloria is one of the five solas propounded to summarise the Reformers' basic beliefs during the Protestant Reformation; it is a Latin term for Glory to God alone....
(Glory to God alone). The RCUS is most heavily concentrated in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, and South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
.
History
Originally the German Reformed Church, the RCUS was organized when German settlers in 18th-century America, who originally affiliated with the Dutch Reformed ChurchDutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
(now the Reformed Church in America
Reformed Church in America
The Reformed Church in America is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 170,000 members, with the total declining in recent decades. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1819, it...
), formed their own synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
by the end of the century. The 19th century saw controversy as the German Reformed Church debated issues such as revivalism and especially the Mercersburg Theology
Mercersburg Theology
Mercersburg Theology was a German-American theological movement that began in the mid-19th century. It draws its name from Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, home of Marshall College from 1836 until its merger with Franklin College in 1853, and also home to the seminary of the Reformed Church in the...
of John Nevin
John Williamson Nevin
John Williamson Nevin , American theologian and educationalist, was born on Herron's Branch, near Shippensburg, Franklin county, Pennsylvania.-Biography:...
and Philip Schaff
Philip Schaff
Philip Schaff , was a Swiss-born, German-educated Protestant theologian and a historian of the Christian church, who, after his education, lived and taught in the United States.-Biography:...
.
The twentieth century saw the RCUS increasingly move toward ecumenism
Ecumenism
Ecumenism or oecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. It is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice...
and higher criticism of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. Some who were more conservative in their theology united to form the Eureka Classis
Eureka Classis
The Eureka Classis was part of the Reformed Church in the United States . It existed from 1910-1985. From 1940 until in 1985 the Eureka Classis served as the continuing RCUS as the rest of the denomination had merged into the new denomination, the Evangelical and Reformed Church...
of the RCUS to continue classical Reformed worship and polity. The RCUS merged with the Evangelical Synod of North America
Evangelical Synod of North America
The Evangelical Synod of North America, before 1927 German Evangelical Synod of North America, in German Evangelische Synode von Nord-Amerika, was a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States existing from the mid-19th century until its 1934 merger with the Reformed Church in the...
(ESNA) in 1934 to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church
Evangelical and Reformed Church
The Evangelical and Reformed Church was a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. It was formed in 1934 by the merger of the Reformed Church in the United States with the Evangelical Synod of North America . After the 1934 merger, a minority within the RCUS seceded in order to...
. The Eureka classis, however, abjured that move and decided to continue its existence as the "continuing
Continuing church
Continuing Churches are often numerically small denominations that formed from disputes within a larger parent organization. The ‘continuing’ organizations may be old or the split between the parent Church and the Continuing Church may be recent....
" Reformed Church in the United States. The classis principally objected to the ESNA's admixture of Lutheran teachings with Calvinist practices; most of its churches and members descended from late 19th-century immigration from parts of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
where Reformed confessionalism
Confessionalism (religion)
Confessionalism, in a religious sense, is a belief in the importance of full and unambiguous assent to the whole of a religious teaching...
had taken hold. By contrast, most RCUS churches, classes, and synods farther east had significantly assimilated into generalized American Protestantism, with decidedly ecumenical leanings.
The Evangelical and Reformed Church later merged with the Congregational Christian Churches
Congregational Christian Churches
The Congregational Christian Churches were a Protestant Christian denomination that operated in the U.S. from 1931 through 1957. On the latter date, most of its churches joined the Evangelical and Reformed Church in a merger to become the United Church of Christ. Others created the National...
(itself a merger of Congregational
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
and Restorationist
Restoration Movement
The Restoration Movement is a Christian movement that began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century...
churches) in 1957 to become the United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
, a body noted for its strongly liberal doctrine and moral stances.
Polity and beliefs
The polity of the RCUS is presbyterianPresbyterian polity
Presbyterian polity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply...
, with local congregations ruled by elected elder
Elder (Christianity)
An elder in Christianity is a person valued for his wisdom who accordingly holds a particular position of responsibility in a Christian group. In some Christian traditions an elder is a clergy person who usually serves a local church or churches and who has been ordained to a ministry of Word,...
s and deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
s. The pastor is the presiding officer of the church council or consistory
Consistory
-Antiquity:Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek synedrion ....
. The RCUS has around 50 congregations with about 4,000 baptized members throughout the United States. The congregations are grouped together in four classes: Western Classis, Northern Plains Classis, South Central Classis, Covenant Eastern Classis. A classis is equivalent to a presbytery in Scots-Anglo-Irish Presbyterian denominations. A general, or national, synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
convenes annually in mid-spring.
The old RCUS, as well as the continuing RCUS, originally held only to the Heidelberg Catechism
Heidelberg Catechism
The Heidelberg Catechism is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Reformed Christian doctrine...
as its statement of faith. In 1995, the Synod officially adopted the Belgic Confession of Faith
Belgic Confession
The Confession of Faith, popularly known as the Belgic Confession, is a doctrinal standard document to which many of the Reformed churches subscribe. The Confession forms part of the Reformed Three Forms of Unity...
and the Canons of Dort
Canons of Dort
The Canons of Dort, or Canons of Dordrecht, formally titled The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands, is the judgment of the National Synod held in the Dutch city of Dordrecht in 1618–19...
, which along with Heidelberg are known as the Three Forms of Unity
Three Forms of Unity
The Three Forms of Unity is a collective name for the Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dort, and the Heidelberg Catechism, which reflect the doctrinal concerns of Continental Calvinism and are accepted as official statements of doctrine by many of the Reformed churches.-History:From 1618 to 1619...
which are commonly used together by Reformed churches (especially those coming out of the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
branch of Reformed churches). By holding strictly to these standards, the RCUS maintains a strong affiliation with Calvinism and the 16th-century Reformation.
The RCUS believes in biblical inerrancy
Biblical inerrancy
Biblical inerrancy is the doctrinal position that the Bible is accurate and totally free of error, that "Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact." Some equate inerrancy with infallibility; others do not.Conservative Christians generally believe that...
, including a teaching that Genesis 1:1—2:4 must be understood as a literal 24-hour, six-day creation account. Nearly all congregations prohibit women from voting in church elections (with the exception of a few congregations which joined later and where this practice was allowed). The RCUS also does not allow women to hold special office (elders, deacons, pastor), a stance in keeping with most conservative Reformed or Presbyterian bodies in the United States. Those things noted, the RCUS rejects, however, some standard positions associated with American fundamentalism
Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is strict adherence to specific theological doctrines usually understood as a reaction against Modernist theology. The term "fundamentalism" was originally coined by its supporters to describe a specific package of theological beliefs that developed into a movement within the...
such as premillenialism and total abstinence from alcoholic beverages, preferring instead a focus on a European Calvinist orthodoxy rather than American-style revivalism.
The Reformed Church in the United States is a member of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council
North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council
The North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council is an association of several Presbyterian and Reformed churches in the United States and Canada...
as well as the International Conference of Reformed Churches
International Conference of Reformed Churches
The International Conference of Reformed Churches is a federation of Reformed or Calvinist churches across the world. Its theology is more conservative than the larger World Alliance of Reformed Churches and Reformed Ecumenical Council and is similar to that of the World Reformed Fellowship.-...
.