The word "Reformed" is confusing in that it can be used in different ways. At the broader level, "Reformed" refers to those denominations separated from the Lutheran (Protestant) churches of the Reformation. This began as early as 1529 when Zwingli disagreed with Luther on the Lord's Supper. Calvin then agreed with Zwingli and since he was more influential in his writings, churches which followed his theology were called Calvinistic (or Reformed) but did not take Calvin's name as the name of the denomination as Lutherans did. Thus Reformed denominations took on various names, some including the term "Reformed' in a narrower sense, such as the Reformed Church in America, the Gereformeerde Kerken in the Netherlands and the Reformierte Kirche in Germany. In Scotland, however, the Reformed or Calvinistic denomination called itself Presbyterian, after their polity of being ruled by elders or presbyters. So the Presbyterian theology is really Reformed, in the broader use of the term, but the Presbyterian denominations are separate from the Reformed denominations, in the narrower use of the term Reformed.
Although the list of churches in this category is primarily Reformed in the narrower sense, the other subcategories use the term in the broader sense.
A small denomination founded in the 1950s, following a wave of Dutch immigration to North America after World War II. The Canadian and American Reformed Churches, present in five provinces and four states, see themselves as the North American counterpart of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) / Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (Vrijgemaakt).
Please submit sites here if they are related to the confederation known as Canadian and American Reformed Churches.
The Christian Reformed Church, founded in 1857, is a Protestant Church in the Calvinistic tradition. It is associated with Calvin College, Calvin Seminary, a number of publications, and a relief organization.
The FRCNA is committed to the infallibility of Scripture and subscribes to the Three Forms of Unity. North American counterpart of the Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken in the Netherlands, which seceded from the state church in 1834, holding it no longer bore the marks of the Church delineated in Belgic Confession Article 29.
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The HRC, also known as the Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregations, begin in America in the 1870's. It is rooted in the tradition of the Dutch Reformed Churches Under the Cross (Gereformeerde Kerken onder het Kruis) (1838) and places a particular emphasis on experiential grace as understood by the Puritans and the Dutch Second Reformation.
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"Reformed" in this category is understood in the narrower sense that it designates a denomination or family of churches which followed John Calvin's teachings in such areas as theology, liturgy and church government. The term "reformed" in this context came to be used of almost all Calvinist churches on the continent- "Eglise Reformed" in France, "Reformierte Kirche" in Germany and the German -speaking part of Switzerland (Often preceded by the word "Evangelische") "Hervormde" or "Gereformeerde Kerken" in the Netherlands.
The creeds used in these Reformed churches are typically the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dort
The contribution of the Reformed churches to music was in the area of using the Psalms for congregational singing in worship. In Protestant Geneva, most church music was banished by the austere reformer Calvin who strongly opposed all music "composed solely for the pleasure of the ear". If music were to be retained in any form in the church service, an entirely different repertoire of religious songs had to be created.
In Loys Bourgeois, Calvin found a musician who was willing to help him in this undertaking. In 1547, Bourgeois published his 'Psalms of David', compositions in a simple four-part setting, to be sung by the congregation during the services.
The OCRC was organized in 1988 as the culmination of meetings, starting in 1979, between three CRC congregations against the increasingly liberal tendencies of the CRC.
The PRC was founded as a separate denomination of Reformed churches in 1924 over disputes between Herman Hoeksema and the Christian Reformed Church's understanding of common grace. Particular emphases include the absolute sovereignty of God and the antithesis between the Christian and the world.
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The Reformed Church in America was founded in 1628, just twenty-one years after the colony at Jamestown was established, by the Dutch who settled in New Amsterdam (now New York City). Its history is rooted in the Reformation of the 1500s.
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The RCUS is the continuing remnant of the German immigrant denomination of the same name which was founded in 1725 by the Rev. John Philip Boehm. The old RCUS continued as a separate denomination until 1933-34 when the larger part of it united with the Evangelical Synod of North America to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church, eventually becoming the United Church of Christ.
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URCNA is a small, young denomination, formed in 1996. Many of its early congregations were disaffected former members of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. It has local churches in Canada and the United States.
Please submit sites here if they pertain to the federation known as the United Reformed Churches in North America.