In another thread, I asked for input in compiling a list of major confessional Dutch Reformed denominations, already noting the URCNA. Bruce responded, to which I then responded:

The situation to which I referred is that I'm setting out to write (and hopefully publish) a small book to serve as a Reformed primer if you will, and at the end, I plan to have a brief "Recommended Web Resources" section, with arguably the most important category being churches. So as you said Bruce, in light of their mentality, I'm not sure whether or not the PRCA would be a good church to link to people that are either investigating the Reformed faith for the first time or just getting into it - the audience for which the book is indended.

The strict "primer" nature of the work is the reason I cannot include the masses of micro-denominations that exist within the Reformed community. So far, I have listed the following:

-Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (http://www.arpsynod.org)
-Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America (http://65.71.233.194/arbca)
-Bible Presbyterian Church (http://www.bpc.org)
-Fellowship of Independent Reformed Evangelicals (http://www.firefellowship.org)
-Orthodox Presbyterian Church (http://www.opc.org)
-Presbyterian Church in America (http://www.pcanet.org)
-Reformed Baptist Fellowship (http://www.reformedbaptistfellowship.org)
-Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America (http://www.rpcna.org)
-United Reformed Churches in North America (http://www.urcna.org)

__________________
Chris


A passion to know and reflect Christ by living and demonstrating the truth and richness of the historic Reformed faith

Visit My Website Here

Christopher Blum
Member of Trinity Presbyterian Church of Northern Kentucky (PCA) in Burlington, KY

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Not sure if my denomination meets the criteria you have in mind, but I thought I would plug the Presbyterian Reformed Church. It's the other PRC.

It's small in terms of the number of congregations, large in terms of geographic territory, and to my knowledge the only North American denomination which adheres to the 1646 Westminster Confession without exceptions, as well as the Directory for Publick Worship and other Westminster Standards.

We welcome all who are seeking a church which is reformed (and reforming) in faith, worship and practice, whether young in the faith or not. Soli Deo gloria!

__________________
Andrew Myers
Husband of Jessica, Father of Jackson, Katie and Samuel
Member, Presbyterian Reformed Church of Northern Virginia
Warrenton, VA USA
Editor, The Matthew Poole Project

"Let your Morning Thoughts, and your last Evening Thoughts, be what shall become of you to all Eternity." -- Matthew Poole

I don't mean to hijack this thread, and if it is more apporpriate to move to another thread please tell me.

What is the difference between the Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPCNA) and Presbyterian Reformed Church (PRC)?

__________________
Steve Tijerina
<a href="http://www.nccopc.org/" target="_new" style="text-decoration: underline;color:blue;">New Covenant Community Church (OPC)</a>
New Lennox, IL

[i]Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
(Hebrews 12:1-3 ESV)

As a member of the PRC and former officer (deacon) in the RPCNA, I will be glad to answer and if this needs to be moved to another thread, that's fine with me as well.

Both denominations are on the small side of the Presbyterian spectrum in terms of congregations, but the RPCNA has quite a few more congregations than the PRC. The RPCNA was founded in 1798 and the PRC was founded in 1965 (by John Murray). Both have a Scottish lineage, and both have congregations in Canada as well as the U.S. (the PRC also has a congregation in England), but both are really and truly North American Presbyterian denominations.

The PRC, as I mentioned, adheres to the 1646 Westminster Confession and other Westminster Standards without exceptions or modifications. The RPCNA Constitution includes the 1646 Westminster Confession and a Testimony. When they conflict (as they do on many points), the Testimony has higher Constitutional authority. The RPCNA has a more modern Directory of Worship.

Both practice Exclusive Psalmody in worship (a cappella) as an application of the Regulative Principle. The RPCNA uses a 1970's psalter called the Book of Psalms for Singing. The PRC uses the 1650 Scottish metrical psalter.

The RPCNA has divergent views and practices concerning which version of the Bible to use in public worship. The PRC uses the King James Version only in the pulpit (but to clarify, the PRC is not a KJVO-type denomination, just strives for uniformity and believes the KJV to be the best and most appropriate pulpit/pew Bible).

The RPCNA is known for its adherence to the doctrine of Christ's mediatorial kingship and historically has advocated 1) the duty of nations to covenant with the Lord (based on Biblical and Scottish precedents) and 2) political dissent from governments which do not acknowledge the kingship of Christ. There is some variety of views on civil government and the duties of citizens within the RPCNA today, however. The PRC is known for its adherence to the Establishment Principle.

The RPCNA has divergent views and practices on the use of wine or grape juice in the Lord's Supper. Historically, the RPCNA has had an aversion to alcohol in general, but the use of alcoholic beverages in moderation in general is gaining more acceptance today. The PRC generally uses wine in the Lord's Supper.

The RPCNA permits women deacons; the PRC does not.

Both denominations adhere to the Reformed doctrine of common grace (I mention this because the Protestant Reformed Church opposes this doctrine).

There are other differences and commonalities. I hope this brief comparison, though, is helpful.

[Edited on 6-13-2005 by VirginiaHuguenot]

"Not sure if my denomination meets the criteria you have in mind, but I thought I would plug the Presbyterian Reformed Church. It's the other PRC."

Any denomination of which Andrew is a member at least deserves mention.

__________________
Scott Roberts
Ruling Elder, Lakeside Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Southlake, Texas

Very helpful indeed (I always find your posts very insightful)! If there was a vote for PuritanBoard Historian , you would get my vote.

[Edited on 6-13-2005 by sntijerina]

The OPC has a list of Reformed denominations that it has fellowship with on it's website, here: http://www.opc.org/relations/links.html

Some of them are international - not sure if you want to go that broad - but I think there's a couple of US ones that aren't on your current list (the RCUS), but I was getting rather confused with all the names since they're all alike, so I decided to just post the link as opposed to sort through which ones you've got and which you don't. :-)

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Jessica H.
Church: www.eopckent.org (OPC)
Work: www.uwmedicine.org/Facilities/Harborview/

Oh make this heart rejoice or ache; / Decide this doubt for me; / And if it be not broken, break -- / And heal it, if it be. ~William Cowper

Thanks, all. What are people's thoughts on the Bible Presbyterian Church, the Free Reformed Churches of North America, the Korean American Presbyterian Church and the Free Presbyterian Church?

Chris, will your book include these denominations in some kind of chart or spectrum that shows where they stand in relation to one another? (i.e. ultra-conservative---------->full blown liberal) I understand that may be a difficult venture, but I was just wondering.

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Allan
attending CPC (PCA)
St. Louis, MO

Thanks gentlemen for your kind words!

I think our Webmaster or others may be more qualified to "serve" as the "official" PB historian, but I'm happy to offer my anytime.

Chris, do you mean the Free Presbyterian Church of North America? Also, just wondering, are you also including the new Evangelical Reformed Presybyterian Church and the Associated Presbyterian Churches?

I'm not planning on it, since in many cases that would be a controversial classification. I don't plan to go into which particular churches are "more Reformed," since it is intended as a primer on the Reformed faith as a whole, largely for those investigating it for the first time. Thus, "Churches" will simply be another bullet-point list of links along with things like "Confessions, Commentaries & Articles," "Websites and Archives," "Books, Journals & Publications" and "Seminaries," all with little or no comment from me. That is why I am also purposefully including Presbyterian, Dutch Reformed and Reformed Baptist churches. I will definitely address the differences between those branches in the book, including noting the historical majority on surrounding issues such as baptism - but specifically recommending some over the others would be quite a different thing, and one which I do not intend to touch.

I'm just not sure whether or not to include churches of the sort that deny common grace or allow some congregations to ordain women, and I think everyone knows what I'm talking about. Furthermore, I don't really know anything about the churches I asked about in my previous post.

By the way Andrew, to the other comments - I always greatly benefit from your input here and commitment to the faith!

Yes. On that site they simply refer to themselves as the Free Presbyterian Church.

Yes on the former (as a side note, I actually don't see any noticeable difference between them and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States). Regarding the latter, yes if I decide to include international denominations, in which case many others would be included as well.

Thanks, brother! Likewise!

It will be interesting to see what comments folks may have on some of these denominations. It's hard to keep track of them all. I'm glad you're putting this together, Chris. Good job!

Another denomination you may wish to consider is the Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church.

Here is the updated list:

-American Presbyterian Church (http://www.americanpresbyterianchurch.org)
-American Reformation Presbyterian Church (http://www.fpcr.org/arpc.htm)
-Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (http://www.arpsynod.org)
-Associated Presbyterian Churches (http://www.apchurches.org)
-Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America (http://www.reformedbaptist.com)
-Bible Presbyterian Church (http://www.bpc.org)
-Canadian and American Reformed Churches (http://www.canrc.org)
-Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church (http://www.covref.org)
-Covenanting Association of Reformed and Presbyterian Churches (http://www.carpc.ccrmin.com)
-Evangelical Reformed Presbyterian Church (http://www.erpchurch.org)
-Fellowship of Independent Reformed Evangelicals (http://www.firefellowship.org)
-Free Presbyterian Church (http://www.freepres.org)
-Free Reformed Churches of North America (http://www.frcna.org)
-Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregations (http://www.hnrc.org/gr/Find_A_Church/find_a_church.html)
-Hungarian Reformed Church in America (http://www.calvinsynod.org/church/location.htm)
-Korean American Presbyterian Church (http://www.kapc.org)
-Orthodox Christian Reformed Church (http://www.burlingtonocrc.com/directory.html)
-Orthodox Presbyterian Church (http://www.opc.org)
-Presbyterian Church in America (http://www.pcanet.org)
-Presbyterian Reformed Church (http://www.presbyterianreformed.org)
-Protestant Reformed Churches in America (http://www.prca.org)
-Reformed Baptist Fellowship (http://www.reformedbaptistfellowship.org)
-Reformed Church in the United States (http://www.rcus.org)
-Reformed Church of Québec (http://www.erq.qc.ca)
-Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly (http://www.rpcga.org)
-Reformed Presbyterian Church - Hanover Presbytery (http://www.rpchanover.org)
-Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States (http://www.rpcus.com)
-Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (http://www.reformedpresbyterian.org)
-United Reformed Churches in North America (http://www.urcna.org)
-Westminster Presbyterian Church in the United States (http://www.wpcus.org)

Any other suggested denominations or information on those above would be welcomed.

[Edited on 1-17-2006 by Me Died Blue]

I am only asking out of curiousity: Why include the Reformed Church in America (RCA) if you are not including the Christian Reformed Church (CRC)? It was my understanding (and I could be wrong) that the RCA was "more liberal" than the CRC. Is this not correct?

__________________
Seth Stark
Member, Communion Presbyterian Church (ARP), Irvine, CA
Biola University, Graduate Student, M.A. - Science and Religion
Seth's Blog