Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Reformed Church in America

 
 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Reformed Church in America
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Columbia Encyclopedia
Reformed Church in America, Protestant denomination founded in colonial times by settlers from the Netherlands and formerly known as the Dutch Reformed Church. The Reformed Church in Holland emerged in the 16th cent., after Calvinism gained influence in the northern provinces of the Netherlands. In 1571 a synod held at Emden laid the foundation for the Reformed Church. A liturgy was formulated along Reformation lines, and a modified Presbyterian form of polity was adopted. The Belgic Confession of Faith (1561) and the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) were made the basis of the new church; later, the canons of the Synod of Dort (1619) were added. After 1581, when the northern provinces of the Netherlands declared their independence from Spain, the Reformed Church grew even stronger.

In America, the early Dutch settlers in New Netherland held informal meetings for worship until Jonas Michaelius organized (1628) a congregation in New Amsterdam, called the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. Four churches in New York City (the Fort Washington Collegiate Church, Middle Collegiate Church, Marble Collegiate Church, and West End Collegiate Church) are descendants of this early activity. Until the English conquest of New Netherland in 1664, the Reformed Church was the established church of the colony. After that, while still owing ecclesiastical allegiance to the classis (i.e., governing body) of Amsterdam in Holland, the church gave civil allegiance to England. However, the church continued to expand.

Permission was given (1747) to form an assembly in America, which in 1754 declared itself independent of the classis of Amsterdam. This American classis secured a charter (1766) for Queens College (now Rutgers Univ.) in New Jersey. The appointment (1784) of John Henry Livingston as professor of theology marked the beginning of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. In 1792 a formal constitution was adopted; in 1794 the Reformed Church held its first general synod; and in 1867 the present name became the official one.

The church embraces many of the historic colonial churches of New York and New Jersey, the denominational stronghold; fresh immigration from the Netherlands in the mid-19th cent. led to the development of the church in the Midwest. Hope College and Western Theological Seminary were founded in Holland, Mich., and Central College at Pella, Iowa. In 1857 a group of Dutch settlers in Michigan separated from the Reformed Church and organized the Christian Reformed Church; in 1922 that body received most of the American congregation of the Reformed Church of Hungary.

A small part of the Eureka classis, organized in 1910 in South Dakota, continued as the Reformed Church in the United States after the majority of the body merged (1934) into the Evangelical and Reformed Church, which joined (1961) the Congregational Christian Churches to become the United Church of Christ. The Reformed Church in America, which has long been active in the foreign mission field, numbers about 305,000 (1997). Several attempts at unification between the Reformed Church and other Reformed and Presbyterian groups have proved unsuccessful.

Bibliography

See M. G. Hansen, The Reformed Church in the Netherlands, 1340-1840 (1884); J. J. Birch, The Pioneering Church in the Mohawk Valley (1955).

Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Wikipedia: Reformed Church in America
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Reformed Church in America
{{{imagealttext}}}
Classification Protestant
Orientation Mainline
Polity Presbyterian
Associations National Council of Churches; World Council of Churches; Canadian Council of Churches; Christian Churches Together; World Alliance of Reformed Churches; Evangelical Fellowship of Canada; National Association of Evangelicals
Geographical area Canada, USA
Origin 1628 (first Dutch Reformed congregation organized in New Amsterdam); 1754 (American classis gains independence)
Branched from Dutch Reformed Church
Separations Christian Reformed Church (separated 1857; further congregations join the CRC in 1882)
Congregations 931 (2007)
Members 270,858 (2007)

The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a Mainline Reformed Protestant denomination that was formerly the Dutch Reformed Church and known as the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of North America. The denomination has about 270,000 members and has congregations in both the U.S. and Canada. The RCA is a founding member of the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches, Christian Churches Together, World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and some parts of the denomination belong to the National Association of Evangelicals, the Canadian Council of Churches and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

The Reformed Church confesses several statements of doctrine and faith. These include the historic Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creed; the traditional Reformed Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, and Canons of Dort. As of June 2009, the Belhar Confession has been accepted as a fourth standard, contingent on 2/3 classes approval.

The Rev. James Seawood was elected President of the General Synod in 2009 and will serve in the office until June of 2010. The general secretary is Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, installed by the General Synod in 1994. The church is ordered by the Constitution of the Reformed Church in America, consisting of The Liturgy, The Government, and The Standards of Unity. The Government, along with The Formularies and The By-Laws of General Synod are published annually in a volume known as The Book of Church Order.

Contents

History

It is the oldest non-Anglican Protestant church with a continuous ministry and also the oldest corporation in North America. The early Dutch settlers in New Netherland held informal meetings for worship until Jonas Michaelius organized a congregation in New Amsterdam in 1628, called the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, known today as the Marble Collegiate Church.

The Reformed Church was the established church of New Netherland. Although the British captured the colony in 1664, all RCA ministers were still trained in the Netherlands under the auspices of the denominational classis of Amsterdam, and services in the Reformed Church remained in the Dutch language until 1764. (Dutch language use faded thereafter until the new wave of Dutch immigration in the mid-19th century, which prompted a temporary revival of it.) In 1747 the denomination gave permission to form an assembly in America, which in 1754 declared itself independent of the classis of Amsterdam. This American classis secured a charter in 1766 for Queens College (now Rutgers University) in New Jersey. The appointment in 1784 of John Henry Livingston as professor of theology marked the beginning of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. In 1792, a formal constitution was adopted; in 1794 the Reformed Church held its first general synod; and in 1867 formally adopted the name "Reformed Church in America".

In the nineteenth century, in New York and New Jersey, the descendents of the original Dutch settlers struggled to preserve their European standards and traditions, while developing a taste for revivalism and an American identity.

The church embraced many of the historic colonial churches of New York and New Jersey, the denominational stronghold; fresh immigration from the Netherlands in the mid-19th century led to the development of the church in the Midwest. Hope College and Western Theological Seminary were founded in Holland, Michigan, Central College at Pella, Iowa, and Northwestern College at Orange City, Iowa. In the 1857 Secession, a group of Dutch settlers in Michigan led by Gijsbert Haan separated from the Reformed Church and organized the Christian Reformed Church in North America, and other churches followed. In 1882 another group of churches left for the CRCNA, mirroring developments in the church in the Netherlands. In the post-World War II years the church expanded in Canada, which was the destination of a large group of Dutch emigrants. Between 1949 and 1958 the church opened 120 churches among non-Dutch suburban communities.

Ecumenical relations

The RCA maintains a relationship of full communion with the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Church of Christ through a document known as the Formula of Agreement. The relationship between the United Church of Christ and the RCA has been the subject of controversy within the RCA, particularly a resolution by the UCC General Synod in 2005 regarding homosexuality. The two denominations undertook a dialogue and in 1999 produced a document discussing their differences (PDF). The RCA's 2006 General Synod voted to allow the exchange of ministers with the Christian Reformed Church in North America.

Noteworthy members

RCA colleges and seminaries

Colleges

Seminaries [1]

Certification Agencies [2]

  • For students who do not attend or receive their Master of Divinity degree from one of the two seminaries operated by the Reformed Church in America, they are certified and credentialed for ministry in the Reformed Church in America through the Ministerial Formation Certification Agency, Paramount, California

See also

Sources

  • M. G. Hansen, The Reformed Church in the Netherlands, 1340–1840 (1884)
  • J. J. Birch, The Pioneering Church in the Mohawk Valley (1955)
  • F. H. Fabend, Zion on the Hudson: Dutch New York and New Jersey in the Age of Revivals (2000)
  • www.rca.org
  • Minutes of General Synod (Various Years)
  1. ^ RCA - About Us: Educational Institutions
  2. ^ RCA - MFCA: Ministerial Formation Certification Agency

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Reformed Church in America".  Read more