scubamama Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 This may seem really dumb, but humor me. I would like to visit a Reformed congregation. I am having trouble figuring out what "name" a church like this would have. YOu know, some places have what I call the "Christian grab bag name" like they just reached in a bag of "christian -y" names and strung a bunch together for the church but you can't really tell what their core belief is. Is there a typical name for a Reformed/Calvinist church to have? Like "Townville Reformed Calvinist Church"? Thanks in advance! Michele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3lilreds in NC Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 Honestly, I have no idea. As far as I can tell, if you can find a PCA (Presbyterian Church of America) congregation, they are supposed to be reformed. (See this link.) Since I don't really know, I probably should not be answering, I just happen to know that bit about PCA churches thanks to my good friend Frelle. :D So, if you have a PCA church near you that would be one option. FWIW, I put in "reformed church my town and state" in Google, and came up with some that had Reformed in their title and some that did not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendi Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 Hmm. My denomination is Reformed; it's called PCA (Presbyterian Church in America). There are other denominations with the word "Reformed" in the name. Where do you live? Wendi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jami Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 You can search for "Reformed Baptist" churches (I think there's a directory someone created online). "Sovereign Grace" churches. Within the conservative (confessing) Presbyterian churches there's the EPC (Evangelical Pres. church), PCA (which has been mentioned) and OPC (Orthodox Pres. church). There is also the CREC (Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches). I know there are others--Dutch Reformed, Christian Reformed, etc., but I don't know much about those. HTH, Jami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn in Ohio Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 Every reformed church I have attended had either the word Reformed or Presbyterian in the name. So that is a good place to start. But there are many presbyterian churches that are not reformed, so you will have to investigate further. If you can find out what denomination they are in, that is helpful. PCA, OPC, RP and BP are some reformed denominations that I would recommend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen in VA Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 There are "sovereign grace" churches that are not pentecostal and some that are. I go to a sovereign grace Baptist church that is not pentecostal and we hold to a reformed doctrine (doctrines of grace or T.U.L.I.P.). We do not believe in infant baptism, but rather believer's baptism - this would be a difference you would find from a reformed Presbyterian church in case that matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 We belong to a reformed church, we're Presbyterian and belong to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) Denomination. Generally you can tell by the denomination, but not all Presbyterian Churches, or should I say pastors/congregations are reformed. The pastor of our church who was there before we started attending was not reformed, but our pastor now is very much so. I think you can use the denomination as a guideline, but you'd really need to talk to the pastor to see what he preaches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 Go to a PCA church. Not a PCUSA church. Big difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jami Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 We belong to a reformed church, we're Presbyterian and belong to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) Denomination. Generally you can tell by the denomination, but not all Presbyterian Churches, or should I say pastors/congregations are reformed. The pastor of our church who was there before we started attending was not reformed, but our pastor now is very much so. I think you can use the denomination as a guideline, but you'd really need to talk to the pastor to see what he preaches. One thing to look for is whether or not a church points to either the Westminster or Heidelburg Confession as part of their statement of faith. Within the PC-USA there are still a few "confessing" churches that would hold to the Westminster. At least on paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 Every reformed church I have attended had either the word Reformed or Presbyterian in the name. So that is a good place to start. But there are many presbyterian churches that are not reformed, so you will have to investigate further. If you can find out what denomination they are in, that is helpful. PCA, OPC, RP and BP are some reformed denominations that I would recommend. A friend attended a Reformed Baptist church that did not have "reformed" in its name, and it wasn't a Presbyterian church. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SapphireStitch Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 It gets awfully confusing sometimes, but at least these days some churches have websites. Our church holds to Calvinistic/Doctrines Of Grace/Reformed teaching, but we would be similar to Baptists in terms of doing believer's baptism rather than covenant/infant baptism. Our church name, though, doesn't tell you any of that...it's Pilgrim Bible Church, named that because our founding elders have a strong admiration for John Bunyan and his book Pilgrim's Progress. If we were moving and looking for a church I would look for clues on websites first. IMO, if you want a church that is strongly committed to teaching the Bible even if it steps on toes, then you look for one that has its Doctrinal Statement clearly available. A "mission statement" or fuzzy feel-good list of "core values" may tell you some nice things about the people and how the church operates, of course. And some churches have doctrinal statements that don't have anything to do with what is REALLY preached and believed. But it's a place to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 If we were moving and looking for a church I would look for clues on websites first. IMO, if you want a church that is strongly committed to teaching the Bible even if it steps on toes, then you look for one that has its Doctrinal Statement clearly available. A "mission statement" or fuzzy feel-good list of "core values" may tell you some nice things about the people and how the church operates, of course. And some churches have doctrinal statements that don't have anything to do with what is REALLY preached and believed. But it's a place to start. We left a church when a new pastor came in and decided that the church needed a mission statement and a vision statement. His thoughts were definitely fuzzy-feel-good, athough we managed to come up with one that was not. We still left, because he was going right down the seeker-friendly track we had no interest in following. Ugh. So you're right: check out the church's Web site and look for that stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Christian Reformed Chruch ( CRC) REformed Chruch in America (RCA) Protestant Reformed Chruch (PRC) Orthodox Reformed Chruch united Reformed Chruch (URC) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mx5 Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 This may seem really dumb, but humor me. I would like to visit a Reformed congregation. I am having trouble figuring out what "name" a church like this would have. YOu know, some places have what I call the "Christian grab bag name" like they just reached in a bag of "christian -y" names and strung a bunch together for the church but you can't really tell what their core belief is. Is there a typical name for a Reformed/Calvinist church to have? Like "Townville Reformed Calvinist Church"? Thanks in advance! Michele Also, you could check church web listings in your town, or the town in which you'd like to attend a church. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 (edited) The following are Confessional Churches: PCA (Presbyterian Church of America) OPC (Orthodox Presbyterian Church) RPCNA (Reformed Presbyterian Churches of North America) URCNA (United Reformed Churches of North America) PRC (Presbyterian Reformed Church) ARP (American Reformed Presbyterian Churches) Reformed Baptist churches are generally independent, have a short statement of faith, and vary in how Reformed they are. Edited October 17, 2008 by mommaduck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christy B Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 The Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America (ARBCA) http://www.arbca.com/ Most of the Reformed Baptist Churches that I am familiar with are independent (fiercely so). Some of them are listed in various and sundry "directories" which you can google, but please be aware that there is NO central governing body, so the churches can vary from nice solid congregations to wildly cult-ish groups that used Reformed doctrine (with it's emphasis on elder rule) to facilitate abusive behavior. I would strongly urge you to seek out a church that is part of an organized denomination, such as the ones mentioned here, and avoid "Reformed" churches that refuse to be part of any group or denomination. Mind you, most of those churches are just fine, and full of lovely people, but in my experience, the very nature of the avoidance of an authority beyond the church elder opens the congregation up to all manner of difficulty and abuse. The problem is that the church could be fine *now*, but that could change, and once you're in it's very difficult to leave. Another option would be a "founder friendly church" within the Southern Baptist Convention. They tend to be Reformed in doctrine as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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