Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly
Encyclopedia
The Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly is a conservative Presbyterian denomination in the United States
. It was founded in 1991 by members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the Americas. It admits only men into church office and holds to Young Earth creationism
. It forbids the "teaching or practice" of: Charismaticism, Dispensationalism
, Arminianism
, Altar Calls, Abortion
, Homosexuality
, Freemasonry
, Neo-Orthodoxy
, Modernism
, Humanism
, Feminism
, Evolution
, Roman Catholicism, and Liberalism
.
and formed the United Synod of the Presbyterian Church. In 1861, the Old School movement of the South withdrew from the national church and formed the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America, a continuing church of the former body. Near the end of the American Civil War
, the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America
and a few smaller synods formed the Presbyterian Church in the United States
. In 1972, a conservative movement removed itself from the Presbyterian Church in the United States to form the Presbyterian Church in America
, a continuing church. In 1982, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod merged with the Presbyterian Church in America.
and ecclesiastical practices, calling themselves Covenant Presbytery. In 1985, Covenant Presbytery formed the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States
as a continuing church
. In 1990, the Reformed Presbyterian Church divided into four presbyteries and changed its name to the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the Americas.
The following year three of the four presbyteries chose to depart, citing the Reformed Presbyterian Church in America's failure to establish and maintain a system of church discipline and inability to finalize on a constitution.
After the departure, the Western Presbytery dissolved itself with several churches electing to join with the Westminster Presbytery. One member church left the Hanover Presbytery (which chose to stand alone to this day) and also joined the Westminster Presbytery. During this time, the Westminster Presbytery sought counsel with representatives of several other denominations, some of whom requested that the presbytery join with their denomination.
Its first General Assembly adopted a Book of Church Order utilizing large parts of the original from the Westminster Assembly
. Boundaries for four presbyteries were laid out, with churches established in each.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was founded in 1991 by members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the Americas. It admits only men into church office and holds to Young Earth creationism
Young Earth creationism
Young Earth creationism is the religious belief that Heavens, Earth, and all life on Earth were created by direct acts of the Abrahamic God during a relatively short period, sometime between 5,700 and 10,000 years ago...
. It forbids the "teaching or practice" of: Charismaticism, Dispensationalism
Dispensationalism
Dispensationalism is a nineteenth-century evangelical development based on a futurist biblical hermeneutic that sees a series of chronologically successive "dispensations" or periods in history in which God relates to human beings in different ways under different Biblical covenants.As a system,...
, Arminianism
Arminianism
Arminianism is a school of soteriological thought within Protestant Christianity based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic followers, the Remonstrants...
, Altar Calls, Abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, Homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, Neo-Orthodoxy
Neo-orthodoxy
Neo-orthodoxy, in Europe also known as theology of crisis and dialectical theology,is an approach to theology in Protestantism that was developed in the aftermath of the First World War...
, Modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
, Humanism
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
, Feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, Evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
, Roman Catholicism, and Liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
.
American Presbyterian history
The First American Presbytery was formed in Philadelphia in 1706, and in 1716 it became the Synod of Philadelphia. In 1729, the Synod of Philadelphia adopted the Westminster Confession and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms as its confession of faith. In 1788, the Synod adopted the official name of "The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America" and held its first meeting in 1789. In 1857, the New School movement became divided over the issue of slaveryHistory of slavery in the United States
Slavery in the United States was a form of slave labor which existed as a legal institution in North America for more than a century before the founding of the United States in 1776, and continued mostly in the South until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in...
and formed the United Synod of the Presbyterian Church. In 1861, the Old School movement of the South withdrew from the national church and formed the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America, a continuing church of the former body. Near the end of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
and a few smaller synods formed the Presbyterian Church in the United States
Presbyterian Church in the United States
The Presbyterian Church in the United States was a Protestant Christian denomination in the Southern and border states of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1983...
. In 1972, a conservative movement removed itself from the Presbyterian Church in the United States to form the Presbyterian Church in America
Presbyterian Church in America
The Presbyterian Church in America is an evangelical Protestant Christian denomination, the second largest Presbyterian church body in the United States after the Presbyterian Church . The PCA professes a strong commitment to evangelism, missionary work, and Christian education...
, a continuing church. In 1982, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod merged with the Presbyterian Church in America.
Founding of the RPCGA
In 1983, a few churches in the North Georgia Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America withdrew from the denomination over purity of doctrineDoctrine
Doctrine is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system...
and ecclesiastical practices, calling themselves Covenant Presbytery. In 1985, Covenant Presbytery formed the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States
Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States
The Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States is a small Presbyterian denomination with twelve congregations in the United States. The RPCUS was established in 1983, subscribes to the unrevised Westminster Confession and upholds biblical inerrancy...
as a continuing church
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....
. In 1990, the Reformed Presbyterian Church divided into four presbyteries and changed its name to the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the Americas.
The following year three of the four presbyteries chose to depart, citing the Reformed Presbyterian Church in America's failure to establish and maintain a system of church discipline and inability to finalize on a constitution.
After the departure, the Western Presbytery dissolved itself with several churches electing to join with the Westminster Presbytery. One member church left the Hanover Presbytery (which chose to stand alone to this day) and also joined the Westminster Presbytery. During this time, the Westminster Presbytery sought counsel with representatives of several other denominations, some of whom requested that the presbytery join with their denomination.
Its first General Assembly adopted a Book of Church Order utilizing large parts of the original from the Westminster Assembly
Westminster Assembly
The Westminster Assembly of Divines was appointed by the Long Parliament to restructure the Church of England. It also included representatives of religious leaders from Scotland...
. Boundaries for four presbyteries were laid out, with churches established in each.