Calvin saw RED

Posted: April 23, 2011 by Dan Borvan in Dead RED
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“It might therefore be wished, not only that there exist a perpetual consent by all in pious doctrine, but that there be also a single form of Catechism for all Churches. But since for many reasons it will hardly ever be otherwise than that each resist it; provided, however, that the variety in the kind of teaching be such that we are all directed to the one Christ, by whose truth, if we be united in it, we may grow together into one body and one spirit, and with one mouth also proclaim whatever belongs to the sum of the faith.”
Calvin: Theological Treatises, pp. 88-89

Luther on the Beauty of the Church

Posted: April 18, 2011 by niclazz in Dead RED
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“The form and aspect of the world is like a paradise; but the true Christian church, in the eye of the world, is foul, deformed, and offensive; yet, nevertheless, in the sight of God, she is precious, beloved, and highly esteemed.” -Luther, Table Talk

Luther here speaks of the true nature of the church. He says, most bluntly, that she is not to be cool, will never be cool, nor is that her purpose. But the true gospel going out from the church will be an offense to this world but an honor to God. Also, the church is the beloved of God and highly esteemed in his eyes. And it is in this sight that RED lives, to bring, to show, the church, through unity how precious she is in the sight of God.

Unity and Paul as Churchman

Posted: April 13, 2011 by redpooba in Evangelicalism
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What does it mean to have unity, or be united?  And what could it possibly mean to be zealous for such a thing?  I find that today’s market for churches shows we are not sure what unity means, and we are especially not un-zealous to change the situation.   Just Google ‘reformed churches in America’, and you will not find naparc.org come up on the first page.  Instead you will find individual denominations and hundreds of churches.  Seriously, go through some of the pages – it’s crazy.   What does this tell us about ourselves and what could it be saying about how we are operating as a catholic confessional church?  It might say something more about our condition than Google’s.  This post kicks off a series that will explore some ways that Paul was zealous to serve the church, not just as an Apostle, but as a churchman, a true servant of the church for Christ’s sake.

It is very fitting to start with Eph. 4:3, ‘being zealous to keep the unity of the Spirit in the fetter/bond of peace.’  This battle cry flows through the blood-RED veins of the men who write on this blog.  We desire to see a day when we are truly working to be obedient to Paul’s exhortation, but we will not sit idly by and wait for it.  We shall seek it as Paul exhorts us.  How?  By noting that Paul calls upon every Christian to bear with one another in true humility and patience.  Calling us to overlook ourselves and to love one another.  And since as Christians we are One body, holding to One faith, having One baptism, living under One God, why would we not be zealous for unity under One Spirit?  Paul states that he is a prisoner for the Lord, and calls us to likewise wear chains with one another for Christ’s sake.  To wear chains that unite us in peace with those who serve the same Lord and have the same Spirit working within us.

Is this not what NAPRC is intended to be?  A way of clearly seeing that we are united in doctrine, so therefore let us unite in practice.  Let us memorize this call and exhortation from the messenger of the Lord, as we walk through Scripture and see some of the ways in which the Apostles sought to accomplish this in the early days of the church.

Robert Godfrey Goes RED

Posted: April 12, 2011 by Dan Borvan in RED Meetings
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RED is pleased to announce that Dr. Robert Godfrey, President of Westminster Seminary California, will be the featured speaker at our meeting on May 7.  Dr. Godfrey will present his Reformed Dream 2.0, a follow-up to his article from 1997.  The Reformed Dream inspired the founding of RED, and we eagerly anticipate Dr. Godfrey’s update.  Please join us on this momentous occasion. The talk will be steaming live from this website on Saturday. Come join in!

Details:

Date: Saturday, May 7, 2011

Time: 6:30pm

Location: The chapel of Westminster Seminary California

Light refreshments will be provided.

All are welcome to attend.

What is RED? Click here to find out.

The Dead (Theologians) are going RED

Posted: April 8, 2011 by Zac Wyse in Ecclesiology, NAPARC
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One way that Reformed Christians may support one another in the Great Commission is in the sharing of resources.  “Re-inventing the wheel” takes valuable time and resources away from actually feeding Christ’s sheep and loving and serving one’s neighbor.

Here is one way in which this is taking place.  On April 27, URCNA Pastor Daniel Hyde will be speaking to a group from the RPCNA, the LARPC Dead Theologians’ Society, on the topic of church planting.  Pastor Hyde has recently co-edited the book Planting, Watering, Growing: Planting Confessionally Reformed Churches in the 21st Century.

Though the RPCNA and URCNA express the Reformed faith in slightly different ways, this is not preventing cooperation from occurring.  Through friendships and dialogue that cross congregational and denominational borders, we can see similar things take place throughout our churches.

Bridges Have A Purpose

Posted: April 7, 2011 by Zac Wyse in NAPARC, RED Cred, RED Identity, Uncategorized
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Bridges are built with a purpose

In my last post, I noted the importance of ecclesiastical fellowship in the life of Christians.  The Reformed and Presbyterians find and exercise this, albeit imperfectly, in our own denominations.  Our ecclesiastical unity goes even further than our own denomination, though.  We also have it with our brothers and sisters in NAPARC (and the ICRC, too!).  The existence of this unity is surely a reason to celebrate.  Christ is building His Church throughout the world; the old truths that were confessed by our fathers have gone far beyond Europe.

Our unity in NAPARC doesn’t merely exist for the purpose of fellowship and theological discussion, though.  In Article III of its Constitution, its purpose and function also includes:

3. Exercise mutual concern in the perpetuation, retention, and propagation of the Reformed faith.

4. Promote cooperation wherever possible and feasible on the local and denominational level in such areas as missions, relief efforts, Christian schools, and church education.

NAPARC does not exist merely for our own covenant children.  Clearly, part of the reason our denominations came together is to take the Reformed confession beyond its own borders to bring life to a lost and dying world.

Surely, there are many wonderful ways in which NAPARC churches have worked together in the past.  But no one in his right mind would claim that we are “cooperating wherever possible and feasible”.  Relatively few church plants, whether at home or abroad, have resulted from our partnership.  Our unity has rarely been exercised for this purpose

But let’s not be discouraged; the unity does exist!  Our denominations have already approved of it and stated its purpose.  The hard work has been done.

So if you’re interested in seeing this purpose realized, here are a few places to start:

  • Inform yourself and others about other NAPARC churches in your area and their theological tradition.
  • Encourage the consistory/session to make contact with other churches.
  • Is your church already committed to church planting?  If so, are there ways to partner with neighboring churches?
  • If you’re a minister, arrange a pulpit swap and teach a Sunday school class on your denomination’s roots and identity.

 

Marching Orders For a Healthy Church: The Great Commission

Posted: April 1, 2011 by J.Beaird in Ecclesiology
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The first ever URCNA church planting colloquium was an instant success that I hope has lasting results. As a RED member, I salute Rev. Paul Murphy, who gave the opening salvo on the URCNA and the Great Commission, the dominant theme of the colloquium.  He argued that a healthy classis is one that seeks to accomplish the Great Commission.  When we do mission work, we follow the very nature of God, who is a missionary God.  Dedication to the Great Commission, therefore, should be evident in the budgets and prayers of the consistories, which in turn should motivate classes and synod.  As the church in Acts progressed from the sacred, Jerusalem, to the secular, Rome, we must continue that progress and plant churches in the least reached places in America and the world.  The URCNA must commit to always reforming (semper reformanda), not to merely preserving.  Our federation is fifteen years old, yet there is still much foundational work to be done.  We suffer from a lack of organization and cooperation, with the result that many seek to reinvent the wheel.  This wastes valuable resources and energy.

The URCNA tends to be too congregational, according to Rev. Murphy.  He explained the serious problems this causes and the need to cooperate, collaborate, and coordinate.  We must have attainable goals at the classical level, because “if we aim for nothing, we’ll hit it every time.”  A rifle approach to missionary support, with focused giving, is far superior to that of a shotgun.  The federation cannot continue its unwise missions funding.  An examination of URCNA giving reveals that the majority of the money goes to support Dispensational, Arminian, CRC, and Baptist parachurch organizations.  Meanwhile, URC church plants are starving.  The rifle approach is the fix, namely following Article 47 of the Church Order and making URCNA church plants the priority in giving.

Bridges Are Not Networks

Posted: March 30, 2011 by Zac Wyse in Ecclesiology, NAPARC, RED Identity, Uncategorized
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We live in a time when Christian networks are all the rage. Various conferences, coalitions, and associations are forming in order to encourage it amongst like-minded pastors and laity from various Christian traditions. Unlike those networks, RED works intra-church to promote unity within existing ecclesiastical structures. We are convinced that the visible Church ought to be our primary place to discover and express our solidarity with other Christians. This desire for a churchly unity compelled our Reformed forefathers to create the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC). They established our unity on the common confession of faith that Reformed denominations share, namely, The Westminster Standards and The Three Forms of Unity.  The NAPARC Constitution says this in Article II:

Confessing Jesus Christ as only Savior and Sovereign Lord over all of life, we affirm the basis of the fellowship of Presbyterian and Reformed Churches to be full commitment to the Bible in its entirety as the Word of God written, without error in all its parts and to its teaching as set forth in the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dort, the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms.

The ecclesiastical unity that exists between NAPARC churches is not found in a new method of church-planting, a liturgy or hymnal, a common ethnic background, an understanding of Christ and culture, or a theological seminary. Rather, this unity is found within ecclesiastically sanctioned statements of faith. What would happen if we returned our confessions and catechisms to their rightful place and removed extra-confessional boundary markers? What if the Presbyterian and Reformed churches began to exercise the unity that exists in print? If you would like to find out, join the conversation and start talking to your neighboring pastors and elders.

Update on URC Church Planting Colloquium: 11 Theses

Posted: March 29, 2011 by Dan Borvan in Ecclesiology
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Rev. Shane Lems, pastor of the United Reformed Church of Sunnyside, delivered a lecture this morning on 11 Theses of Church Planting at the colloquium.  Rev. Brian Cochran, pastor of Redeemer Reformation Church in Regina, Saskatchewan, outlines the lecture here.

URCNA Church Planting Colloquium

Posted: March 28, 2011 by Dan Borvan in Ecclesiology
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March 28-30, 2011.  Ministers, elders, and laymen in the URCNA, including several RED members, are currently meeting in Denver for a conference on church planting.  Please pray for the conference and the synodical study committee on missions which are meeting simultaneously this week in different locations.  May God grant a clear vision in how to spread the message of redemption in Christ to the uttermost parts of the earth.  Here’s a link for more information.  For conference updates, see facebook.com/danielrhyde Send a friend request to Rev. Hyde and he will fill you in on the latest happenings.

RED fully supports all efforts at church planting and missions within NAPARC denominations and cooperatively between NAPARC denominations.  Soli Deo Gloria!

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