Reformed Church in America
The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 84,957 members. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed Church.
This article is about a church in the Dutch Reformed tradition. For the German Reformed denomination, see Reformed Church in the United States.Reformed Church in America
Canada, U.S.
Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
1628 (first Dutch Reformed congregation organized in New Amsterdam);
1754 (American classis gains independence)
Christian Reformed Church in North America (separated 1857; further congregations join the CRC in 1882)
Alliance of Reformed Churches (2021)
877 (2016)
84,957 as of 2023[1]
The RCA is a founding member of the National Council of Churches, the World Council of Churches (WCC), Christian Churches Together, and the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC). Some parts of the denomination belong to the National Association of Evangelicals, the Canadian Council of Churches, and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. The denomination is in full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), and United Church of Christ and is a denominational partner of the Christian Reformed Church in North America.[2]
Names[edit]
The Reformed Church in America is sometimes colloquially referred to as the Dutch Reformed Church in America, or simply as the Dutch Reformed Church[3] when an American context has already been provided. In 1819, it incorporated as the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. The current name was chosen in 1867.
Polity[edit]
The RCA has a presbyterian polity where authority is divided among representative bodies: consistories, classes, regional synods, and the General Synod. The General Synod meets annually and is the representative body of the entire denomination, establishing its policies, programs, and agenda. Measures passed at General Synod are executed and overseen by the General Synod Council. Council members are appointed by the General Synod. A General Secretary oversees day-to-day operations.[36] The Rev. Eddy Alemán, D. Min., was installed as the General Secretary at the 2018 General Synod.
The Constitution of the RCA consists of three parts: the Liturgy, the Government, and the Doctrinal Standards. The Government, along with the Formularies and the By-laws of the General Synod, are published annually in a volume known as The Book of Church Order.[37]
Officially Related Seminary
Ecumenical relations[edit]
Through a document known as A Formula of Agreement, the RCA has full communion with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the United Church of Christ, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 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 ELCA's affirmation of the ordination of homosexuals as clergy in 2009 prompted some RCA conservatives to call for a withdrawal from the Formula of Agreement. In 2012 RCA discussed its own position regarding homosexuality.[39] The two denominations undertook a dialogue and in 1999 produced a document discussing their differences (PDF).
Along with their Formula of Agreement partners, the RCA retains close fellowship with the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC). In 2005 the RCA and CRC voted to allow for the exchange of ministers. Faith Alive Christian Resources, the CRC's publishing arm, is also used by the RCA and in 2013 published a joint hymnal for use in both denominations. The two denominations have also collaborated on various other ministry ventures, voted to merge pension plans in 2013 in conformity with the Affordable Care Act, and plan to hold back-to-back General Synods at Central College in Pella, Iowa, in 2014.