What Is Our Denomination All About, the RCA? (2/5/12)
CCC belongs to the denomination called the RCA (Reformed Church In America).
1939 severe storm damaged church (then located on N St in the heart of the Chinese community), building had to be razed. RCA helped rebuild the church.
1951, the RCA helped CCC move to this current location.
History - RCA traces beginning to 1628 when a church in what is now NY celebrated communion, about 50 people. This church, now called the Collegiate Reformed Church of NYC, is the oldest evangelical church in North America w/a continuous ministry!
The original name was the Dutch Reformed Church in North America, changed to the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in 1819, then finally to the RCA in 1867
In 1857, several RCA churches split away and created the CRC, Christian Reformed Church denomination. None of the differences involved any of the central beliefs of our shared evangelical faith. One issue was the singing of hymns vs singing only the psalms! Good news is that God seems to be helping the RCA and CRC grow closer and closer back together, many leaders believe its very possible the 2 denominations will rejoin at some point in the near future.
Roots of the RCA go back to the Reformation in 1500’s. Martin Luther (German) influence lead to the creation of the Lutheran Church, another reformer, John Calvin (Swiss), gave rise to the Presbyterians (in Scotland) and to the Dutch Reformed Church (in the Netherlands).
Conclusion - General terms such as “Christian” and “Protestant” do not carry much clarity of meaning anymore, at least not in USA. More important to discern evangelical faith, 5 major doctrines, for a church, denomination, or individual.
Evangelical faith - 1. One God, 3 Persons 2. Bible = Word of God 3. Jesus Christ, virgin birth, fully God and fully man, died for our sin, rose from the dead. 4. Salvation by faith in Jesus Christ alone. 5. Jesus Christ is coming back and will reign on earth.
Most unchurched folks in US don’t care about various labels and terms and organizations. Bottom line is do they see and experience a consistent expression of our beliefs about God and God’s love and grace. “People don’t care how much we know, until they know how much we care!”