Protestant Reformed Churches in America
| Protestant Reformed Churches in America (PRC or PRCA) | |
| Classification | Protestant |
|---|---|
| Orientation | Calvinistic/Reformed |
| Origin | 1924-1925
|
| Separated from | Christian Reformed Church in North America |
| Separations | 1953 over half of the denomination left to form the Orthodox PRC |
| Statistics | |
| Congregations | 27 |
| Members | 7,000+ |
| Source: Abstract of the Minutes of the PRCA Synod of 2006 | |
The Protestant Reformed Churches in America (PRC) or (PRCA) is a Protestant denomination of 27 churches and over 7,000 members.
History
The PRC was founded in 1924 as a result of a controversy regarding common grace in the Christian Reformed Church. At that time the Christian Reformed Church adopted three doctrinal points on the subject of common grace. Reverends Herman Hoeksema, George Ophoff, and Henry Danhof, said that they believed these three points to be contrary to the Reformed confessions of faith. When the Christian Reformed Church insisted that no one teach contrary to these three points in the churches, these men were disciplined and deposed from the ministry. Those who agreed with them left the Christian Reformed Church and organized the PRC. The PRC today continues to reject common grace as Arminian and believes that God's grace is always given only to his chosen people. The PRC rejection of common grace and the free offer of the gospel is commonly known as Hyper-Calvinism.
In the early 1950s, the churches endured a severe, internal, doctrinal controversy in defense of the unconditionality of the covenant of grace. The denomination today continues to confess that God unconditionally establishes and maintains His covenant with His elect people alone.
Doctrine
The PRC believes that the Bible is the infallibly and inerrantly inspired word of God and that the message therein is well summarized in the Three Forms of Unity: the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dordt.
In addition to the denomination's position on common grace discussed above, the PRC's understanding of their confessions leads to some other distinctive positions.
The PRC holds that God's covenant is only with his elect and that it is unconditional (meaning that there are no conditions that people must fulfill to enter into the covenant or to stay in the covenant). The PRC rejects antinomianism, believing instead that God calls the people of the covenant to believe and obey and that he personally and entirely produces in them the required faith and deeds.
The PRC holds exclusively to young Earth creationism.
In public worship services, the PRC mostly sings the Psalms with organ accompaniment, but in contrast to exclusive psalmody, it does permit the singing of certain uninspired hymns of human composition. Article 69 of the church order adopted by the Synod of Dordt states that: "In the churches only the 150 Psalms of David, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Twelve Articles of Faith, the Songs of Mary, Zacharias, and Simeon, the Morning and Evening Hymns, and the Hymn of Prayer before the sermon shall be sung." It is a common practice within PRC services to open with the singing of the "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow" doxology and some end the service with the singing of "May the Grace of Christ the Savior" doxology. Outside of the official church service, members are free to sing uninspired hymns and carols of human composition. Also, the PRC uses the King James Version of the Bible, although they do not endorse the King-James-Only Movement and members have personal liberty to use other Bible versions.
The PRC believes that marriage is a lifelong bond and that, although an individual may divorce or "put away" his or her spouse for continued infidelity, the marriage bond is not dissolved apart from death. Hence, neither party is permitted to remarry while the other person is still living.
Church government
The denomination holds to the Reformed form of church government and is organized in two classes – Classis East and Classis West (the eastern border of Illinois is the boundary between the two) – which meet two or three times a year and in an annual Synod.
The name of the denomination is not the Protestant Reformed Church (singular) but the Protestant Reformed Churches (plural). The PRC maintain that a denomination is not a church but a federation of churches, and that each of these churches is self-governing by a body of elders chosen out of the congregation. The PRC holds that God has given the "keys of the kingdom of heaven" (Mat 16:18, which is understood as granting authority for the preaching the gospel, and the exercise of church discipline) to the instituted church, not the denomination. Thus in the PRC only an instituted church can place an individual or a special office-bearer under discipline. The PRC denies that a meeting of Classis or Synod has the authority to do this, though they may advise a congregation to do so.
At the same time the PRC maintains the binding authority of the decisions of the broader assemblies (namely, the Classis and Synod). Individuals and congregations must submit to these decisions if they are going to remain in the denomination, and if an individual congregation refuses to do so, the broader assembly has the authority to declare that congregation to be outside the federation of churches.
Only male members in good standing may vote for church office bearers or be ordained in the Protestant Reformed Churches.
Churches and missions
The PRC has member churches throughout the United States and in Canada. They also have a sister church in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. A majority of the churches in the United States are located in western Michigan but there are also churches scattered across the midwestern and western United States. In recent years, the PRC has developed relationships and contacts with churches in Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, and the British Isles. Currently, the PRC is engaged in missions in various locations throughout the United States and in Canada, and they have recently organized a church in the Philippines.
Organizations
- Protestant Reformed Theological School - the seminary of the PRC, located in Grandville, Michigan.
- Reformed Free Publishing Association - publisher of theological and other Christian books by PRC authors and of a semi-monthly magazine The Standard Bearer, located in Jenison, Michigan
- The Reformed Witness Hour - a radio broadcast sponspored by the PRC.
References
- (2005) Acts of Synod & Yearbook of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America.
- (2000) Our Goodly Heritage Preserved. ISBN 0-916206-62-9.
- Hanko, Herman (2000). For Thy Truth's Sake. Reformed Free Publishing Association. ISBN 0-916206-61-0.
External Links
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