191st RPCNA Synod (June 2023)
Since our congregation was officially organized in 1834 — the same year in which Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the “prince of preachers” was born — we have been happily affiliated with the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA).
WHAT IS “REFORMED”? — We are “Reformed” in that we adhere to the principles of doctrine and worship set forth in the inspired and inerrant Word of God, the only supreme and infallible rule of faith and life.
Our understanding of Scripture is summarized in the various doctrinal summaries that we have adopted as “agreeable unto and founded upon” the Scriptures. Among these are The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.
These confessional principles were most clearly set forth during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century and its further development in the 17th Century. Our spiritual forefathers, therefore, include John Calvin, John Knox, the English Puritans, the Synod of Dort, the Protestant Scholastics, and the Scottish Covenanters.
As a church and as a nation, we are also massively indebted to the Great Awakening of the 18th Century, under the Spirit-anointed influence of George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Samuel Davies, Daniel Rowland, and others.
Finally, as staunch evangelicals (in the historic sense of the word), we seek to continue the legacy of the great 19th Century American Presbyterian institutions, such as Princeton Seminary and Columbia Seminary, which “fought the good fight of faith” against unholy compromise and liberalism, under the leadership of men like Archibald Alexander, Charles Hodge, James Henley Thornwell, Benjamin Warfield, and J. Gresham Machen.
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
WHAT IS “PRESBYTERIAN”? — We are “Presbyterian” in our form of church government. In keeping with Scripture, each RPCNA congregation elects its own ministers and ruling elders to oversee them in the Lord. These local elders then participate in higher courts of appeal called presbyteries, which are responsible for training and ordaining ministers. Each year, our presbyteries unite together to form a synod, which is our broadest and highest court of the church.
WHAT IS A “COVENANTER”? — As Reformed Presbyterians, we have historically been known as “Covenanters.” This is because of our conviction that Scripture calls individuals, churches, and nations to express their faith, obedience, and loyalty to the Triune God, through Jesus Christ, by way of covenant (Ps. 2:10-12; Jer. 50:5; Rom. 10:9-10).
Historically, the Scriptural practice of covenanting was most clearly exemplified by Scottish believers during the 16th and 17th centuries. Moved by the Spirit of God, they courageously bore witness to Christ’s sole kingship over His Church and His universal authority over every human institution, including the state.
Known to historians as the “Scottish Covenanters,” they chiefly rallied around the Scottish National Covenant (1638) and the Solemn League and Covenant (1643). Far from a mere academic exercise, many of them signed these covenants in their own blood and later, during the notorious “killing times” (1680-1688), sealed their testimony with the same.
Almost two centuries later, the RPCNA ratified its own North American covenant, The Covenant of 1871. As Reformed Presbyterians, we happily join with our godly forebearers in raising the blue banner “For Christ’s Crown and Covenant” in at least two ways: (1) By seeking to advance and apply these glorious “reformation principles” in our own day, and (2) By annually renewing our own Covenant of Communicant Membership.
WHAT ABOUT NORTH AMERICA? — The RPCNA presently has 96 congregations, organized into seven Presbyteries (including one in Japan), with a total membership of around 7,000, and a global missionary presence in more than a half dozen countries around the world. Domestically, we hold membership in the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council. Internationally, we are part of the RP Global Alliance.
The first organized RP congregation in North America was established in Middle Octorara in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1738. The Reformed Presbytery was later constituted in 1774 by ministers sent for that very purpose: John Cuthbertson, who came from Scotland in 1752, along with Matthew Linn and Alexander Dobbin, who came from Ireland in 1774.
After its dissolution in 1782, the Reformed Presbytery of the United States of North America was constituted in 1798, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The RP Synod was then constituted in 1809. In 1810, the denomination founded the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, which is presently located in Pittsburgh.