Reformed Church in the United States
The Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) is now a small conservative Christian church in the Calvinist tradition in the United States. The RCUS is a member of the International Conference of Reformed Churches (ICRC).
The Reformed Church in the United States is not to be confused with the Reformed Church in America .
Today the Reformed Church in the United States has approximately 50 wards with 5,000 members. The Church's magazine is The Reformed Herald.
Teaching
The Reformed Church in the United States represents a strictly conservative Calvinist theology based on the Heidelberg Catechism , the Dutch Creed and the Dordrecht teaching rules .
structure
The church has a synodal constitution. The highest body is the synod.
Church president is Vernon Pollema .
It is organized in four Classis (departments)
- Western Classis
- Northern Plains Classis
- South Central Classis
- Covenant East Classis
There is no ordination of women.
history
The church was built in Pennsylvania in the first half of the 18th century among German-speaking settlers from Reformed areas in Switzerland and Germany. Reformed people from other regions such as the Czech Republic and Hungary also came. The church was initially under the auspices of the Dutch Reformed Church in Holland. These connections broke off in 1793. At that time the church called the German Reformed Church had 187 parishes and 15,000 members. The synod language was German until the 19th century.
In 1810, the Church established the United States' first overseas mission society, including among the Creek and Iroquois .
A prominent member of the Church was the Swiss theologian and church historian Philip Schaff , who taught at Mercersburg Seminary.
In 1866 the German Reformed Church changed its name to Reformed Church in the United States .
In the 20th century, the greater part of the church moved towards ecumenism and liberal theology. In 1934 the larger liberal part of the church merged with the Evangelical Synod of North America to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church .
One single Classis was conservative and did not want to merge: Eureka Classis , created in 1910 (named after the city of Eureka in South Dakota ). In 1936, the North Dakota Classis joined the Eureka Classis and subsequently also individual parishes that broke away from the liberal merger. In 1970 some churches joined the General Association of Regular Baptists because they wanted to be reformed . From 1940 to 1984 the Eureka Classis existed as a permanent part of the former Reformed Church in the United States . In 1986 it was decided to use the old name Reformed Church in the United States again because it was free again. The church is organized into four classes according to geographical criteria.
links
The RCUC is a member of the International Conference of Reformed Churches and the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council .
Web links
- Reformed Church in the United States - official website
swell
- ↑ RCUC: Standards ( Memento of the original dated December 29, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Constitution of the Reformed Church in the United States ( Memento of the original from September 11, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Rolf Strasser: Churches of the USA and their Association History Text Archive of the Evangelical Remote Library 2001
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on: December 20, 2012).
