Reformation Parish Constitution

Preamble

In the Church of God all things are to be done decently and in order. This pertains to the government of the Church as much as to the corporate worship of the Church. Convinced that Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church, will protect and guide us, we seek to obey Scripture through the following standards for the orderly and scriptural government of Reformation Parish. These standards do not supplant Scripture, but rather are an expression of our understanding of biblical Church government under God. While seeking to be biblical in structure, we make no claim that every detail found here is expressly taught by Scripture. These standards are primarily procedural; the doctrinal position of the Church may be found in our confession of faith, the Westminster Confession of Faith.

The following is our mission statement:

Our mission is to proclaim the authority of Jesus over all things by living faithfully as prophets, priests, and kings in our homes and communities, calling the nations to faith in the resurrected Christ, and feasting in gathered assembly each Lord’s Day through Word and Sacrament.

Article 1. Name and Incorporation

The name of this Christian fellowship of believers shall be Reformation Parish. This Church is a Mission church of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), Athanasius Presbytery, and as such we adopt and hold to Articles I through X of the CREC Constitution as revised August 26, 2020. This Church is Evangelical in that it holds to the essential truths of biblical orthodoxy; Reformed in that it holds to the biblical gospel of sovereign grace rediscovered in the Protestant Reformation; and, God willing, ever-reforming according to the Word of God (Acts 20:27).

As a church of the Lord Jesus Christ, Reformation Parish recognizes the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only head of the church. Reformation Parish maintains that all authority on heaven and earth has been given to our Lord Jesus Christ; Therefore by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. (Col 1:16)

Reformation Parish recognizes the authority of the Civil Magistrate, as unto the Lord. Therefore we recognize the status of Incorporation as a need to maintain and recognize those boundaries placed sovereignly by God for the purpose of blessing and protecting His people. Should the Civil Magistrate refuse to recognize and maintain the proper authority given to Christ, God has warned: Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Ps 2:10–12).

Reformation Parish has constituted herself, under the authority and headship of the Lord Jesus Christ, as an association of God’s covenant body of believers, and is therefore recognized as such by the laws of the State of Georgia.

Article 2. Church Confessors and Statement of Faith

A) Confessions

Reformation Parish will strive to believe, preach, and teach doctrine that accord with the Holy Word of God. The Bible is our final authority. Insofar as historical creeds and confessions of faith reflect true biblical teaching, we embrace the following: the Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed, Definition of Chalcedonian, and the Westminster Confession of Faith of 1646. Though we expect agreement on the Creeds of the Church, the WCF (1646) is a specific Reformational document. Those who take exception to our Confession must state their exceptions prior to joining Reformation Parish as members.

We take the following exception to the Westminster Confession of Faith:

1. Chapter 7: Of God’s Covenant with Man - Para 2. (cf. Chp. 19, para. 1, 6). While we agree with the original intent of the Westminster Divines, we believe the usage of the phrase “covenant of works” is open to misinterpretation by modern Christians. By way of clarification, we deny that any covenant can be kept without faith, and we affirm that good works flow out of faith in God, and not vice versa.

2. Chapter 21: Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day - Para. 8. We believe that along with works of piety, necessity, and mercy, the command also calls us to rest physically on the Sabbath (Gen. 2:2-3; Ex. 16:30; 31:15-17). We do not believe the intention of Scripture was to exclude recreation, especially in the context of the fellowship of God’s people.

3. Chapter 24: Of Marriage and Divorce - Para 4. Delete the last sentence, which reads, “The man may not marry any of his wife’s kindred, nearer in blood than he may of his own: nor the woman of her husband’s kindred, nearer in blood than of her own.”

4. Chapter 25: Of the Church - Para. 6. Though we believe the Pope of Rome to be anti-Christian, we do not believe him necessarily to be the Anti-Christ, Man of Lawlessness, or Beast of Revelation, etc.

5. Chapter 26: Of the Lord’s Supper - Para 7. We would clarify that “worthy receivers” of the Lord’s Supper should include all baptized covenant members to include baptized children who are able to physically eat and drink as partaking of the Lord’s Table with God’s people is part of their being raised in the fear and admonition of the Lord. We deny that an artificial standard of age or mental capacity is consistent with Biblical basis for partaking of the Supper.

B) Statement of Faith

Reformation Parish accepts these nine articles as our Statement of Faith and essential truths with which all members must agree:

The Scriptures

We believe that the Holy Bible is God’s inspired, inerrant revelation to man and is the only certain, sufficient, and infallible rule from which we draw all saving knowledge. All our creeds, confessions, and Church documents are tried by His Word.

God

We believe that there is one true God. He eternally exists in three persons, and in the unity of the Godhead there are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who are equal in every divine perfection, and who execute distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. From all eternity, God decrees all that shall come to pass, yet so without sinning or violating the will and responsibility of man.

The Fall of Man

We believe that Man was created in holiness, under and capable of fulfilling the law of his Creator, but by voluntary transgression fell from that state. As natural heirs of our first parents, we are under the federal headship of Adam and share in his guilt. All men are inherently sinful and eventually become actual transgressors of the law of God. In this state, all men deserve the just punishment due to their sin, namely death.

The Person and Work of Christ

We believe that sinners are relieved of their sin debt only through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Prophet, Priest, and King. He freely took upon himself our nature, yet without sin or diminishing of His deity. He perfectly obeyed the law of God and, by His death, made a full atonement for sin. He has risen from the dead and now sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us.

The Way of Salvation

We believe salvation is dependent on the gracious and ever-present work of the Triune God: regeneration is a work of grace wrought on our hearts by the Holy Spirit, enabling us to understand the word of God and believe; faith is saving belief in Jesus Christ and all His works; coupled with faith, repentance is the inevitable response of a person who has been regenerated and is now able to see his sin. Repentance involves a godly sorrow and a turning from sin. Justification is based upon the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who imputes his righteousness to sinners and unites them to Himself by grace. All this is by faith alone.

The Christian Life

We believe that sanctification is the process by which the elect are made partakers of God’s holiness and progress toward His perfection. Sanctification is begun in regeneration and is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Believers participate in sanctification by attending to the word of God, and by practicing self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer. All true saints of God will persevere to the end and will one day be raised up in the power of the One who keeps them secure.

On God’s Creation of Man and Woman

We believe that God created male and female, two distinct sexes, biologically binary from the moment of conception so that they might be joined together in the covenant of marriage, one man and one woman becoming one flesh. We reject all attempts to redefine marriage to include same-sex partnerships because homosexuality and the joining of same-sex persons in marriage are contrary to God’s good created order. Likewise, we reject transgenderism, including any denial of or attempt to change one’s God-given sex, as a perversion of God’s good created order.

The church has a divine right to embody her beliefs in her practices and to carry out the mission Christ has entrusted to her without interference or hindrance from civil rulers who may embrace notions contrary to God’s good created order as it pertains to marriage, homosexuality, and transgenderism. (See Appendix A to this Constitution for a broader explanation of what we believe concerning human sexuality.)

Additionally, Whereas we confess that God created mankind both male and female in His own image (Gen. 1:26–27), they stand equal before Him in dignity, glory, and covenantal standing, and are both co-heirs of the grace of life in Christ (1 Pet. 3:7). This ontological equality does not erase the creational (economical) distinctions God has ordained between the sexes. Rather, in His wisdom, He has established men and women with distinct differences in calling, responsibility, and ordinary vocation within the home, the Church, and the broader society. These differences, including the ordinary economic patterns and labors that flow from the created order, are not the result of the Fall but part of God’s good, original design.

We therefore reject both egalitarianism, which denies meaningful creational distinctions, and all forms of chauvinism, feminism, or tyranny, which deny the full dignity and honor of men and women. In all things, we seek to honor Christ by upholding male headship exercised in sacrificial love and female strength expressed in covenantal faithfulness, so that the glory of God might be displayed in rightly ordered households, faithful churches, and righteous communities.

A Gospel Church

We believe that the Lord Jesus is the Head of the Church, which is composed of all covenant members. God has declared that all members of his body are to congregate together in local assemblies for regular worship on the Lord’s Day. All true Churches of God observe the two sacraments commanded by our Lord and Savior: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism with water in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is a sign and seal of the covenant of grace or his engrafting into Christ to walk in newness of life. The Lord’s Supper is a memorial of Christ and His death through sacred use of bread and wine and is to be observed by the Church until the end of the world.

Last Things

We believe that it is appointed for men once to die and after that the judgment. On the last day Christ will return and will raise the dead bodily, both the unrighteous and the righteous. All will be judged by Christ and shall receive according to their deeds: those who die in their sin will go into everlasting punishment and those united to Christ will enter everlasting life.

Article 3. Church Covenant

God has graciously entered a covenant relationship with His people (Jeremiah 31:31-34; 32:40; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; Hebrews 8:7-13; 10:16-17; 13:20-21). Jesus Christ is the Mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6). His blood is the blood of the New Covenant, which infallibly secures all the benefits of the covenant for all of God’s people (Matthew 1:21-23; 26:26-28; Hebrews 13:20-21). God has in this New Covenant made us members one of another (Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 4:25). Therefore, we are to view our lives as being in covenant with God, and as believers, in covenant with one another. In this relationship, we have covenant responsibilities to each other as well as to God.

As a basis for fellowship and covenantal commitment among our members, we agree on the following Church covenant, which is to be reaffirmed periodically:

By the grace of God, we have been led to repent of our sin and believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We have confessed our faith and been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now, therefore, in the presence of God and by His grace, we joyfully and solemnly enter into a covenant with the members of Reformation Parish.

We commit to walk together in Christian love through the power of the Holy Spirit and to strive for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

We purpose to watch over one another in brotherly love, to remember one another in prayer, to help one another in sickness and distress, and to cultivate Christian compassion and courtesy.

We commit to sustain the Church’s worship, discipline, doctrine, and sacraments which are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

We will reject all heretical beliefs and practices, using Scripture as our final authority.

We will strive by God’s grace and power to live as Christ in the world; and denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we will seek to fulfill our calling to lead a holy life and to be salt and light.

We will both submit to the Church’s discipline upon ourselves and lovingly assume our responsibility to participate in the discipline of other members, as taught in Scripture.

We resolve to practice personal and family worship, to raise our children in the training and admonition of the Lord, and to seek the salvation of our family, friends, and neighbors, and of all the world.

We will contribute cheerfully and regularly to this Church for its general ministry and expenses, the relief of the poor, the cause of reformation and revival, and the spread of the Gospel throughout all nations.

We commit to seek and spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things by the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Article 4. Church Membership

A) Basis for Membership

Membership in our local expression of Christ’s Church is constituted by a profession of faith, sealed in baptism. Baptism is the rite of initiation into the covenant of grace and the catholic Church; the one baptized maintains good standing in the Church by walking in faith, by the grace of God. Membership at Reformation Parish is “catholic,” open to Christ’s disciples of both sexes, all races and ages. While baptism marks out membership in the catholic Church, professing believers, including children, ordinarily enter the membership of Reformation Parish, as a local body, when they have approval of the session.

We use the word “member” in the following ways: 1) to describe a believer united in heart to Christ and His people. He is so united by being a member of His mystical body, and, as a picture and expression of this, he is a member of a local body of believers, which is a physical representation of the mystical, spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 12; Hebrews 10:24-25; 1 John 3:14-16; Ephesians 4:12-16); 2) to indicate the soul over which the elders are placed by Christ and for whom the pastors will give an account in the day of judgment. (Acts 20:28; Hebrews 13:17); 3) to indicate one who has entered a relationship of mutual covenant accountability with each other and with those who are office bearers (Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 5:4-13; Hebrews 3:12-14; 1 Peter 5:1-5).

The session will unanimously maintain a membership list.

B) Requirements for Membership

Any adult shall be eligible for membership in this Church, 1) who credibly professes repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ; 2) who has been baptized; 3) who evidences a life transformed by the power of Christ, making him or her a new creation; 4) who agrees entirely with the Church Statement of Faith (see Article II, section B); 5) who expresses substantial agreement with the Church Confession and Constitution; and 6) who commits to the Church Covenant, intending to support its ministry, worship, and discipline (Acts 5:14; 20:21; Romans 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 14:40; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:4-5; Hebrews 13:7, 17).

Baptized children of one or more members shall be raised as covenant children, professing repentance and faith, and walking in the same with good works toward the Lord, His Bride, and the world.

C) Procedures for Membership

Any Christian who believes he or she meets the above requirements and who desires to unite with Reformation Parish will go through the following procedures to become a member of the Church:

1. Candidates will indicate to the session their desire to join the Church.
2. A member of the session will visit with candidates to examine the orthodoxy of all candidates for membership and to see that their lives do not contradict their professions. This could take place with a visit in the home or by appointment at a mutually agreed time.
3. Read and agree entirely with the Church Statement of Faith, express substantial agreement with the Church Constitution and Confession, and commit to the Church Covenant.
4. Be formally presented to the Church body before a Lord’s Day worship service for affirmation as a member (or members) of the Church.

If the candidate is or has been a member of another Church, special effort will be made to determine the person’s standing in that Church and his reasons for leaving (Acts 15:1-2 with 24-25). If a former Church raises an objection which the session considers valid, the candidate may be denied membership at the discretion of the session.

If the candidate is a member of a CREC Church, any of the above, except for formal presentation to the Church at Reformation Parish, may be modified at the session’s discretion.

D) Types of Membership

1. Regular Members: All who are received into the membership of the Church according to the procedures set forth in section C of this Article; who continue in regular attendance at the stated meetings of the Church; and who do not come under the corrective disciplines of the Church as set forth in Article VI, section B, shall be considered regular members in good standing and entitled to all the rights and privileges of membership in the Church (Acts 2:37-47). Ordinarily membership at Reformation Parish is maintained until the member is released to another local Church of Jesus Christ.

2. Representative Members: All heads of household who are Regular Members will also be considered Representative Members who represent their families when the congregation votes. For a family where both husband and wife are members the husband is the representative member. Singles, single parents, and widows who are members are representative members. A woman who is a member and is married to an unbeliever or to a non-member believer is, for voting purposes, are representative members. A Representative member may designate another adult in the family to represent the family at regular meetings of the congregation.

E) Release or Transfer of Membership

If a Church member in good standing requests to be released to the care of another Christian Church, the session will grant the request, and release them with a blessing.

If a Church member requests to be released because of disciplinary proceedings against the individual or anyone in the household, the session will deny the request until the disciplinary matter is resolved (see Article VI, Section 2 for Church discipline procedures).

Regular members who request to be released to the care of another local Christian Church will normally receive the blessing of the Session (Article IV.E.1). A member in this situation will not be allowed to vote in any congregational meeting of the Church. They are charged to find a new church home within six months. This time may be extended at the Sessions’ discretion. If they have not joined themselves to a new Church within six months or if they have not requested Membership transfer, in accordance with paragraph D.1, the Session will release them from membership with a letter of admonition.

Regular members who providentially must move away from our area and who cannot find another local Church with which they can conscientiously unite will, at their request, be retained as Members of this Church, for a period not to exceed one year. If they have not joined themselves to a new Church within one year of moving or if they have not requested Membership transfer, in accordance with paragraph D.1, the Session will release them from membership with a letter of admonition. Such persons must maintain regular communication with the Church in order to maintain their membership in it. Nevertheless, they are urged to seek diligently a Church with which they can unite elsewhere. A member in this situation will not be allowed to vote in any congregational meeting of the Church for obvious practical reasons.

This Church will not continue Church membership on an indefinite basis for members who do not participate in the Church’s worship and fellowship. Members who do not participate in worship for eight consecutive Sundays, unless physically or providentially hindered, and have not responded to contact by the session are neglecting the covenant relationship as outlined above and will be subject to the Church discipline process outlined in Article VI.

Article 5. Church Officers

Jesus Christ alone is the Head of the Church and He governs His Church through office-bearers whom He appoints and who are endowed by His Spirit with the gifts and graces needed to accomplish their work. Because Christ appoints Church officers, they have authority, but Christ limits their authority in the Scriptures. There are three offices in the Church: Minister/Pastor, Ruling Elder, and Deacon. Ministers alone may administer the sacraments, or as a rule, preach the Word. Elders may preach if appointed/commissioned by the session to do so. There are exceptional provisions granted to the elder to administer at the Lord’s Table in the absence of an ordained minister. The Elder is a voting member in the Session. He is called upon to oversee the social life of the community as “chief laymen.” Deacons are authoritative servants who function under the oversight of the Session. The Deacons exist to protect the Pastor(s) from being distracted from prayer, the ministry of the Word of God, and the oversight of the flock of Christ by giving themselves over to ministry within the body. They address the practical matters of benevolence, care of widows, and physical relief from the effects of sin. While the Ministers and Elders are a ruling body of men, the Deacons are not (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:11-12; Colossians 1:18; Philippians 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; 1 Peter 5:2-4).

It is the duty of the Church to seek and discover among her members those to whom Christ the Lord has imparted the necessary gifts for office bearing, and then to submit to their authority. Church officers are not exempt from Church discipline, but conversely, their office requires of them a more rigorous standard of conduct than regular members (James 3:1).

A) Ordination

Ordination is a rite which includes the laying on of hands and prayer, to set a man apart to a particular office and function within the Church. Insofar as ordination confers office in the Church, with attendant privileges and responsibilities, it is an act of God, not merely the human officiants. Insofar as ordination represents the will and desire of the people to delegate its powers to gifted and recognized men, it is an act of the Church. Ordination is effective by the grace of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, in accord with biblical teaching. The practice of ordination is important to good order within the life of the Church.

Any man who is to be ordained must affirm that he is inwardly called of God to the office and must also have an outward call to office extended to him through the Church.

Regarding ordination, we uphold these principles:

No man ought to take upon himself any ecclesiastical office without a lawful calling. A man should only be ordained if he has a call to a particular work or service in a local body or mission field. Only qualified, examined, and elected men have been duly called to office, and only such are to be ordained.

Ordination is always to be continued in the Church, but officers are only to be ordained into a particular office one time. If a man has already been ordained to office in another local Church, he is to be installed, rather than re-ordained, in the new Church that has called him.

Ordination is the solemn setting apart of a person to some public Church office. Ordination is a ritual of the Church through which the Spirit confers all the privileges and obligations of the office to which the man has been called. A man is ordained into a particular office, whether Minister of Word and Sacrament, ruling elder, or deacon. No man should be ordained to the same office more than once, but if he is called and elected to a new office, he should be ordained into the new office.

B) Qualifications

All candidates must meet the qualifications for the office set down in Scripture (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:2-4). A man may become an officer only after being a member of Reformation Parish for at least one year. This requirement (and this requirement alone) may be set aside in a specific case by the unanimous consent of the session.

The Church of Jesus Christ inherited a form of government from old covenant Israel. While this pattern has been transformed and adapted to the new covenant situation, the precedents and principles of the old covenant system are still relevant and instructive as a model for Church polity. The Church, as the New Israel, is to fulfill Israel’s calling in history, through Christ. Analogies between old covenant and new covenant positions look roughly like this:

The ministry of the priests, as well as apostles and prophets is carried on in the work of the Ministers of Word and Sacrament. However, these ministers do not claim prophetic or apostolic inspiration; instead, they build upon the foundation that has already been laid once and for all in the apostolic era (Eph. 2:20). Ministers of Word and Sacrament fulfill the priestly role, as the primary liturgical and sacramental officers of the Church; and the prophetic role, as they declare and apply God’s Word to the congregation and the world and lead the people in intercessory prayer before the throne of grace. In their governing role, they work with the other elders.

Elders of the people, or ruling elders, are not, properly speaking, liturgical or teaching officers; their work is to build up and strengthen the community, providing wise oversight and direction. As “chief laymen,” they are responsible for maintaining good order and justice in the community, acting as judges, peacekeepers, and counselors. Along with the Ministers of Word and Sacrament, they oversee the formal Church discipline process.

Deacons have the most flexible job description, as the Session (Pastors and Ruling Elders) determine what they are to do in a given situation. They are to Ministers of Word and Sacrament what Levites were to the priests; or what Joshua was to Moses; or what Elisha was to Elijah; or what Gehazi was to Elisha; or what Baruch was to Jeremiah; etc. They are assistants to elders, and may be apprentices-in-training, as well. Deacons may function as specialists in almost any area of Church life – mercy ministry, teaching, music, stewardship, administration, liturgical assistance, etc. But the diaconal office is not one of authority or governance in the Church.

Deacons may be permanent or may transition into eldership if called. In general, they do those things that allow the elders to focus more directly on the ministries given to them as members of the Church session; thus, we find in the biblical record, new covenant deacons are especially called upon to care for those in need (Acts 6:1-6). This mercy ministry function is the central assigned task of the diaconate at Reformation Parish, though the session may direct the diaconate or individual deacons to engage in other works as well, in accord with the nature of the office as described below. Deacons can be gifted and useful in a wide variety of ways in the life of the Church. All candidates for the office of deacon must meet the qualifications for the office set down in Scripture (1 Timothy 3:8-13). A man may become a deacon only after being a member of the Church for at least one year. This requirement (and this requirement alone) may be set aside by the unanimous consent of the Session.

C) Selection of Ministers (Pastors)

The pastor is an ordinary and perpetual officer in the Church (Eph. 4:11; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Tit. 1:5-9). The pastorate is especially the new covenant counterpart to the old covenant priesthood, even as each local congregation is a miniature fulfillment of the typology of the old covenant temple. The pastor is the primary servant-priest among and towards the royal priesthood of the whole congregation, with the goal of presenting the people in Christ as an acceptable offering to the Father, sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:16). It especially belongs to the pastoral office:

1. To pray for and with his flock, as the mouth of the people unto God; to pray publicly for the people, especially in gathered worship; to pray privately for and with the people, especially for the sick; and to pray for the lost;
2. To oversee the planning and leading of the Lord’s Day liturgy, as the priests of the Old Covenant led the people in worship at the tabernacle and temple;
3. To read, preach, and teach the Scriptures publicly, as the mouth of God to people, even as the priests in the Jewish Church were trusted with the public reading and exposition of the Word;
4. To study the Scriptures diligently, in order to feed the flock divine truth, as he preaches, teaches, convinces, reproves, exhorts, and comforts from the Word;
5. To train the people to live as a royal priesthood, offering Spiritual sacrifices in all of life, and especially in gathered worship;
6. To administer the Sacraments publicly;
7. To declare the assurance of the Lord to a repentant people, after they have confessed their sins;
8. To bless the people from God, declaring a benediction, as the priests did under the Old Covenant;
9. To encourage husbands and fathers to be faithful in loving their wives as Christ loves the Church and in raising their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord; to encourage wives and mothers to be diligent and faithful by caring for their families with joy and contentment; to encourage singles to pursue purity and service in accord with their vocations; and to encourage children to grow towards maturity in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ;
10. To take care of the poor, in conjunction with the other officers;
11. To pray for and anoint the sick with oil in the name of the Lord, when called upon;
12. To represent the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ, in lovingly caring for and disciplining the flock in conjunction with the elders;
13. To authorize and deputize a ruling elder or deacon to administer the Lord’s Supper in his absence;
14. To lead the session as moderator and overseer;
15. To represent the local congregation as a permanent delegate to all higher assemblies of the Church;

As need and resources dictate, Reformation Parish may call a man to serve as a pastoral assistant. The assistant may be compensated depending on the financial resources available. The assistant is to be called by the session and after examination by the session and presbytery, ordained and/or installed according to the principles of the Constitution. An assistant does not have a vote on the session and may not serve as a delegate to a higher court, but he does have full power to minister the Word and the Sacraments. An Associate Pastor is called in the same manner, except his call also requires the election of the congregation by a four/fifths vote. An Associate Pastor/Minister does have full power to minister the Word and Sacraments. He becomes a member of the session and may be a delegate to a higher court. Job responsibilities for assistants and associates are to be determined by the session, under the oversight and leadership of the pastor.

Should the Church ever be without a pastor, it should strive to secure one without delay (Mt. 9:36). The session should seek out suitable nominees as necessary; the session may form a pastoral search committee from members of the congregation to help in the work of identifying and recommending suitable candidates, if desirable. The session will examine a nominee regarding his doctrine, manner of life, and confessional adherence. In addition to the qualifications, pastoral candidates must meet the biblical criteria for shepherds (2 Samuel 12:1ff, Ps. 23, John 10:11-16, etc.). Following this process, the session may approve the nominee as a candidate to be placed on a ballot. The electors will be asked whether a call to the pastorate should be extended to him. If the candidate is approved by four-fifths vote in an election, the elders will extend a provisional call to him to be pastor. His call to be pastor is finalized only after the CREC’s Presbytery examines and makes recommendation for ordination or installation. Following CREC examination, he may be ordained (if necessary) and installed as pastor. (It is also lawful for the candidate to be examined by the Presbytery before a vote of the congregation. In such cases, the congregation’s call is not provisional.)

D) Removal of Ministers

While Reformation Parish encourages her pastor(s) toward a long-term view of ministry at Reformation Parish, in the plans of God, changes in a pastor’s call to a particular Church arise for both righteous and sinful reasons. In cases involving moral failures requiring disciplinary proceedings, the disciplinary process for the removal of a pastor is the same as for other officers, as described above. For cases that do not involve moral failures or disciplinary proceedings (e.g., Acts 15:33-41, Rom. 15:22-33, 1 Cor. 16:5-12), the procedure for terminating the call of a pastor, thereby dismissing him from service at Reformation Parish, is as follows: The pastor may submit his resignation to the session. If the session accepts his resignation, he is relieved of his pastoral call to Reformation Parish. If the session does not accept his resignation, he may tender it again at the next session meeting, or after at least one month has passed, in which case it must be accepted. The session may ask for the resignation of the pastor for biblical departures that do not constitute heresy or moral failure if there is unanimous consent (less the pastor in question) within the session. Note: Presbytery should be informed of any decision to request the resignation of a pastor. Mediation should be requested by the pastor or the session if there is any contention with the request and every effort made to resolve difficulties between the session and its pastor without damage to the pastor, the Church, or the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If there are fewer than 4 members of the session, Presbytery will be counseled extensively, and mediation requested to preserve the peace of the Church.

If Reformation Parish suddenly (death, removal, resignation, etc.) without a pastor, it should seek the aid of Presbytery so that a regular ministry of the Word and celebration of the Sacraments may continue. No man not ordained to be a Minister of Word and Sacrament may take upon himself the task of preaching apart from the permission of the session or the task of regularly administering the Sacraments apart from the permission and appointment of presbytery or the presiding minister of the presbytery. It is crucial that the offices and order of the Church be maintained even in times of transition.

E) Selection of Elders

Elections will be held from time to time as circumstances warrant. A man may be considered as a potential elder in several ways. He may aspire to the office himself (1 Timothy 3:1), the Session may approach him, or the people of the Church may suggest his name to the Session. Once he becomes a candidate, the Session (primarily the Minister) will examine the candidate regarding his doctrine and manner of life. If the candidate has any disagreement or mental reservation about any portion of the Church’s Confession of Faith or Constitution, then he must inform the Session of it. All candidates must meet the qualifications for the office set down in Scripture (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:2-4).

A man may not be placed on the ballot without the unanimous consent of the current Session. Once on the ballot, the Representative Members of the Church have the option of voting either “yes” or “no.”

If the candidate receives the support of three-fourths of the Church as represented, the Session will ordain the new elder to the ministry of Eldership through the laying on of hands and prayer.

If a candidate for office is not elected, then a member of the Session will meet with him within one week to discuss the election and answer any questions the candidate might have.

A newly elected and ordained elder will be considered an elder-in-training for the first 90 days of his service. During this training period, for purposes of transition and orientation, the newly elected elder will function as an elder but will not formally vote in matters of the Sessional body.

F) Duties and Responsibilities of Elders

As there were in Old Covenant Israel elders of the people joined with the priests and Levites in the government of the Jewish Church, so Christ has instituted governors in the New Covenant Church, commonly called ruling elders (2 Chron. 19:8; Rom. 12:8; 1 Cor. 12:28). These men are “elders of the gate,” or “elders of the people,” called upon to oversee the social life of the community as “chief laymen.” They are to be wise and God-fearing men, fit for leadership. Ruling elders are especially gifted in governing, though they may have other gifts as well.

Governing the Church as a ruling elder is a matter of serving and caring for the people, setting before them a godly example in vocational and familial life, counseling and encouraging them, and engaging in discipline as needed. It is imperative that ruling elders know the people of the congregation well and command their trust and respect. Ruling elders differ from other elders (the Ministers of Word and Sacrament) in that they are not subject to examinations from Presbytery regarding their call to office; they typically have daily vocations outside the Church; and they usually do not receive remuneration from the Church for their services. However, on the session, they rule jointly with the other elders and have the same formal authority. They may serve as representatives of the Church in Presbytery and council meetings.

It especially belongs to the office of ruling elder:

1. To serve on the session, and thus rule the people;
2. To advise Ministers of Word and Sacraments in their special work and represent the congregation on the session;
3. To oversee the doctrine and practice of the flock;
4. To set an example of godliness in all things;
5. To act as peacekeepers and judges in cases of dispute;
6. To pray with and for the people, especially in time of illness; and to anoint the sick with oil when requested, along with the Ministers of Word and Sacrament;
7. To counsel and nurture the members of the congregation towards godliness, encouraging and correcting them as needed;
8. To assist the pastor in leading the liturgy when needed or appropriate;
9. To assist in the distribution of the Lord’s Supper and the collection of tithes and offerings;
10. To execute Church discipline when and as situations require it;
11. To join with the deacons in caring for the poor and needy.

Ruling elders labor beside Ministers of the Word and Sacraments in lovingly shepherding and discipling the people. In times of necessity or in the absence of an officer ordained to administer the Sacraments, the pastor or Minister of Presbytery may appoint a ruling elder to administer.

G) Conduct of Session Meetings

All usual business of the Session will be conducted at their regular meetings or at special meetings called for a particular purpose. The Session will appoint one of their number to moderate the meetings, and one to record the minutes of the meetings. Decisions shall be reached, after prayerful consideration, by unanimous vote in the spirit of humility with each officer regarding one another as more important than himself. These meetings should take place monthly, unless providentially hindered by severe illness or other such calamity.

H) Removal of Elders

If one of the saints believes an elder may be morally or doctrinally unfit for his office, the scriptural requirement for him is clear: he is to approach that elder individually first (Matthew 18:15), and then with one or two others (Matthew 18:16). If the problem remains, then the individual, with the two or three witnesses, should come to the Session and present the charges (1 Timothy 5:19).

If the charges are doctrinal or moral in nature, and if the Session unanimously decides that the question merits an investigation, then they will follow the procedures for discipline outlined in Article VI.

If the charges are unanimously sustained by the Session, then that elder, depending on the gravity of the charges and the response to the correction, will be rebuked in the presence of the congregation (1 Timothy 5:20), or will be removed from the office of elder (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9), or both.

I) Selection of Deacons

Elections will be held from time to time as circumstances warrant. A man may be considered as a potential deacon in several ways. He may aspire to the office himself, a minister, elder, or deacon may approach him, or individuals in the Church may suggest his name to the Session or deacons. Once he becomes a candidate, the Session (primarily the minister) will examine him concerning his doctrine and manner of life. If approved by the session the deacons will then include the candidate in their work to prove his fitness for the office (1 Timothy 3:10). When the candidate has shown, in the unanimous judgment of the deacons, his fitness for office, the deacons will make a recommendation to the Session to place his name on the ballot. The Session will examine the candidate again regarding his suitability for the diaconate. If the candidate has any disagreement or mental reservation about any portion of the Church’s Confession of Faith or Constitution, then he must inform the Session of it. All candidates must meet the qualifications for the office set down in Scripture (1 Timothy 3:8-13).

A man may not be placed on the ballot without the unanimous consent of the current Session. Once on the ballot, the Representative Members have the option of voting either “yes” or “no.”

If, in the unanimous judgment of the Session, the candidate receives the clear and obvious support of the Church as represented, the Session will ordain the new deacon to the ministry through the laying on of hands and prayer (Acts 6:6).

If a candidate for office is not elected, then a member of the Session will meet with him within one week to discuss the election and answer any questions the candidate might have.

A newly selected and ordained deacon will be considered a deacon-in-training for the first 90 days of his service. During this training period, for purposes of transition and orientation, the newly selected deacon will function as a deacon but will not formally vote in matters of deacon decision-making.

J) Duties and Responsibilities of Deacons

Under the general oversight of the Session, the deacons will manage the physical, social, and benevolent functions of the Church, with the attending financial responsibilities of each (Acts 6:2-4). This includes, but is not limited to, ministering to widows, assisting the Minister(s) with the Lord’s Table, disbursing benevolence funds, overseeing of building maintenance, and serving the various physical needs of the congregation as they arise.

K) Conduct of Deacons’ Meetings

All usual business of the deacons will be conducted at their regular meeting, or at a special meeting called for a particular purpose. The deacons will appoint one of their number to moderate the meetings of the deacons. These meetings should take place monthly, unless providentially hindered by severe illness or other such calamity.

The deacons will be prepared to give a general report of their work to the Session at least quarterly, and they will give an annual report to the Session with proposals for the upcoming year.

L) Removal of Deacons

If one of the saints believes a deacon may be morally or doctrinally unfit for his office, the scriptural requirement for him is clear: he is to approach that deacon individually first (Matthew 18:15), and then with one or two others (Matthew 18:16). If the problem remains, then the individual, with the two or three witnesses, should come to the Session and present the charges.

If the charges are doctrinal or moral in nature, and if the Session unanimously decides that the question merits an investigation, then they will follow the procedures for discipline outlined in Article VI.

If the charges are unanimously sustained by the Session, then that deacon, depending on the gravity of the charges and his response to the correction, may be corrected or removed from the office of deacon (1 Timothy 3:8-13).

M) Resignation of Elders and Deacons

If an elder or deacon desire to resign his office or take a leave of absence, he will present a letter expressing this desire and explaining his reasons to the Session. The Session will notify the Church in a special meeting with the Representative Members of their receipt of the letter. If the desire of the elder or deacon concerned is unchanged by the following Representative meeting, then the Session will read a statement to the Representatives accepting the resignation or approving the leave of absence.

If the resignation is sought for reasons of moral turpitude or heretical beliefs, then the Session must exercise biblical discipline prior to, or in conjunction with, any consideration of the letter of resignation.

N) Terms of Office for Elders and Deacons

Once installed, elders and deacons will serve for life, unless they resign or are removed. The Church should endeavor to recognize all the men whom the Holy Spirit has given the requisite gifts and graces, and the number of elders or deacons will not be fixed. These may all continue in office if they remain qualified, able, and willing to serve. Also, the Church will not fix the length of their term of office.

Article 6. Church Discipline

A) Types of Discipline

Informal or Formative Church Discipline: Informal or formative discipline is applied by an individual or multiple members of the Church without the formal action of the elders or the Church as a body. The session will, through teaching and example, encourage the members of the congregation to discipline themselves and one another through the following practices:

• Self-discipline: Exercising self-control or applying self-correction;
• Overlooking the minor failings of others in love (1 Peter 4:8);
• Informal admonishment: Encouraging one another to faithfulness and warning others in love to guard their hearts and minds against specific temptations and sins (Matthew 18:15).

Formal or Corrective Church Discipline: If informal discipline does not result in satisfactory correction, then those who are aware of the need for discipline are expected to call the matter to the attention of the session. In the case of open and scandalous sin, there is no requirement to attempt private resolution of the matter, and it should be brought to the session without delay. Formal or corrective discipline will be pursued only after scriptural prerequisites have been satisfied and the session has made sufficient inquiry. In extraordinary situations, the session has the authority to take immediate disciplinary action if the honor of Christ or the purity or unity of the Church are directly threatened by a failure to act. Formal Church discipline is applied through the formal action and unanimous judgment of the session. Formal discipline generally entails the following actions under the authority and oversight of the session:

Formal Private Admonishment: When a brother or sister is in sin and remains unrepentant, rejecting informal admonition, one or two members of the Church, appointed by the session, will formally admonish them in private, pleading earnestly for their repentance and solemnly warning them of the dire spiritual consequences and judgment that may follow if they fail to repent (Matthew 18:16).

Formal Public Admonishment: In some cases, considering the gravity and scandalous nature of the sin, the session may decide to admonish and warn the brother or sister publicly so that they may be ashamed and repent (2 Thessalonians 3:14-15).

Excommunication: When all other informal and formal measures and admonishments have failed to bring about the desired repentance, or in extraordinary situations where the honor of Christ or the purity or unity of the Church demand immediate action, the session must proceed to formally charge the brother or sister of specific, willful, and unrepentant violations of God’s Law. The session will bring these charges before the entire congregation, and the entire congregation will act in obedience to the Scriptures to excommunicate the unrepentant individual. Excommunication means being excluded from the Lord’s Table and being regarded as an unbeliever.

Suspension: In some cases, considering the gravity or scandalous character of the sin, the session may decide to suspend the brother from positions of responsibility or leadership, so that they may be ashamed and repent (2 Thessalonians 3:14-15).

B) Subjects and Nature of Discipline

Members: All Church members, by uniting with Reformation Parish and committing to the Church Covenant, agree to both give and receive Church discipline as it is needed. This applies to children who are members as well; although, the session will seek to work with the child’s parents as possible, considering the age and circumstances of the child.

Non-members: Professing Christians who attend the Church regularly, but who are not members, may be rebuked, but not excommunicated.

Professing Christians under discipline by other Churches: If another Church has disciplined one of its members, and that person subsequently comes to Reformation Parish, then the session will decide whether to honor the discipline of the other Church after due consultation with the person concerned and after all appropriate information is obtained from the disciplining Church.

Professing Christians excommunicated by other Churches: If another Church has excommunicated one of its members, and that person subsequently comes to Reformation Parish seeking membership, then the session will honor the other Church’s excommunication until that person has been restored to fellowship with the disciplining Church. Excommunications from recognized cults will not be honored. Excommunications from non-Protestant Churches will be examined by the session with an eye to its validity.

Restoration: Excommunication shall be ended when, in the unanimous opinion of the session, the one under discipline has been restored through repentance. The session will read a confession by the individual under discipline to the congregation on the Lord’s Day, and the session will announce the end of the disciplinary action to the Church.

Article 7. Member Meetings

A) Annual Meeting

Each year the Church will meet as a congregation to discuss the state of the Church, hear from the session on the financial condition of the Church, hear updates on ministries, elect Church officers, and make other necessary decisions, including major financial decisions. Members who want a petition to be brought before the Church should notify the session at least four weeks prior to the annual meeting. Any petition brought before the congregation must be approved by the session. The session must give at least two weeks’ notice to the congregation of the meeting.

B) Special Called Member Meetings

At times the session may call special congregational meetings for specified purposes. A minimum of 7 days will be given for any special called meeting at which official Church business is to be conducted. However, in the case of an emergency (ad hoc), a meeting may be called on shorter notice by notifying each regular member by email or verbal contact indicating the time, place, and purpose of the meeting.

From time to time the session may seek to discern the will of the congregation in matters that affect the life of the congregation, such as major financial decisions, schedule and meeting place, Church-wide ministry issues, etc. This will be accomplished through Member meetings and non-binding voting. When the congregation meets, the session may present the issue at hand with a vote, and all Representative Members (see Article IV, section D, paragraph 2) will respond with “yes” or “no.” The vote will be advisory in nature and not binding upon the session. It is the Church’s desire for the session and the congregation to be in accord in all decision making, especially when matters that greatly affect the congregation are in view. If the session and the congregation are at odds, as evidenced by a congregational vote, the session will re-visit the issue with prayer and discussion, heavily weighing the congregation’s voice in that process.

Binding voting will take place by electors in the election of Church offices including pastors, elders, and deacons, the amending of the Constitution; leaving the CREC and making a new ecclesiastical affiliation; and at other times the session may deem wise or necessary.

D) Major Financial Decisions

In the case of a major financial decision, the session will call a member meeting to discuss the decisions at hand, including, but are not limited to, adding Church staff, or purchasing property. The meeting will be advisory in nature and no congregational opinions will be binding upon the session.

E) Distribution of Assets upon Dissolution

Upon the dissolution of the church, after paying or adequately providing for the debts and the obligations of the church, including provision for the church’s Pastor, the remaining assets shall be distributed to a church, nonprofit fund, foundation or corporation which is:

1. organized to promote the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and
2. organized and operated exclusively for educational, religious and charitable purposes and which has established its tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Reformation Parish adopts the following as binding:

1. This Constitution shall be treated as the bylaws of the corporation
2. The Elders of the Church shall be considered the Trustees of the entitled corporation.

Article 9. Appendix A

Confessional Statement on Sex, Gender, and Marriage

1. We confess that the church is subject to Christ, who is Lord over all. While church members ought to obey civil rulers in temporal things, provided they are not required by those authorities to sin (Mk. 12:13-17; Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pt. 2:13-17), the church has a divine right to embody her beliefs in her practices and to carry out the mission Christ has entrusted to her without interference or hindrance. The church as an institution shall remain free from state control in faith, doctrine, and practice, and her members should not be forced to act contrary to their consciences, as informed by the Word of God. With these truths in view, we declare the church’s right to reject any attempts on the part of the state to impose on her institutionally or her members individually unbiblical, unnatural definitions of marriage or sexuality.

2. God created man male and female in the beginning for this very reason, that they might be joined together in the covenant of marriage as one flesh (Mark 10:5ff). Marriage as a covenant bond between a man and a woman is an institution founded not in cultural convention or convenience, but in God’s act of creation (Gen. 2:23-24).

3. We resist and reject all attempts to redefine marriage to include same-sex partnerships. Certainly, we desire to serve and love persons with homosexual desires or who engage in homosexual practices. We know we are fellow image bearers and fellow sinners along with them, and we long to show them the compassion of Christ. But we cannot endorse the fulfillment of their desires under any circumstances. Rather, we call on persons with such desires to join us in trusting the Lord Jesus to forgive our sin through his shed blood and transform us by his healing grace.

4. We claim the right for our churches and church members (whatever their particular vocation) to refuse to host, officiate, or in any way support same-sex “marriage” ceremonies, not out of animus, but out of love for God, neighbor, and truth. Likewise, we refuse to host, officiate, or support other ceremonies that violate biblical teaching on marriage.

5. We reject transgenderism as a perversion of God’s good creational order. There are only two sexes, male and female (Gen. 1:26-28). Sex is not fluid, it is binary. We reject the notion that gender is determined by one’s feelings, or is detachable from biological and bodily givens. God forms each person genetically as a distinct male or female from the moment of conception. As God is the Creator, and makes each of us either male or female, we cannot unmake and remake ourselves into the opposite sex. Sex is an immutable feature of our identity as creatures; thus, it is impossible for anyone to change his or her sex.

6. Gender dysphoria should not be used to create a protected class of persons, in which one’s feelings override the facts of biology, or in which the rights, dignity, and privacy of transgender persons override the rights, dignity, and privacy of others. Thus, we claim for our churches and church members (in whatever vocation they serve) the right to reject compliance with any public policies or laws that would require us to deny binary sexes, or to accept claims of gender identity that are contrary to one’s God-assigned biology. We reject the legal redefinitions of sex and gender that divorce either of these realities from God-given biology. We claim the right to speak to people according to their God-given sex, rather than reinforcing gender dysphoric confusions by using alternative pronouns. We claim the right to restrict access to intimate facilities (e.g., bathrooms, nursing areas, shelters, etc.), to sex-specific events, etc., strictly according to God-given biological realities. In the case of someone who has already transitioned to the appearance of the opposite sex, the session of the local congregation will determine the wisest and most compassionate course of action.

7. All sexual sins can be forgiven through the shed blood of Christ, including the practice of sodomy and transgenderism. But forgiveness can never be separated from confession and repentance; forgiveness can never be separated from denying oneself and taking up the cross daily; forgiveness can never be separated from fighting against sin and pursuing holiness in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Exceptions to the Westminster Confession of Faith

Position Papers

Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper is at the heart of worship here at Reformation Parish Church, and with good reason. It is the center of our worship because at the center of the Lord’s Supper is Jesus Christ Himself. In and through the liturgical rite of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus Christ offers His own body and blood to us, for the nourishment of the Church in their union with Him.

The institution of the Lord’s Supper is found in all the Synoptic Gospels [1], and summarized by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26:

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

In the institution of the Lord’s Supper, the Lord Jesus Christ inaugurated the New Covenant, the fulfillment of the Old Covenant and its promises. These promises proclaimed not only the coming of Christ as the Lord and Savior of the world but also the coming reign of Yahweh as King, ushering in peace and justice in the world, as it submits to Yahweh’s righteous rule. Therefore, the Lord’s Supper is a proclamation of the coming of the Kingdom, a feast of the New Humanity created in and by the person and work of Christ Jesus. It is a celebration where the Church comes together in unity to bless one another and fellowship in anticipation of the fullness of the Kingdom that she has begun to experience in the here and now.

In the partaking of the Lord’s Supper, the Church designates herself as a distinct people. Through the participation of the Supper, the people of God are not only set apart from the world, but recognize themselves as children of their heavenly Father, given a place beside their elder brother Christ, as they commune by the Holy Spirit, with the Triune God, and one another. The Lord’s Supper is therefore not to be seen as a static ceremony of “remembrance” (as a merely mental exercise) of one who is far off, but an active participation in the life, love, and glory which has become theirs through the Son, and by the Spirit, to the glory of God the Father. It is a participation, or communion with the body and blood of Christ, as Paul states in 1 Cor. 10:16-17. And as we partake of Christ in the Supper, we are made into one body, and one bread. One people of God is formed, where all are made one in Christ Jesus.

As a meal of communion with God and each other, the significance of the Supper can be best expressed as a rite. While some of the sacramental language used historically is not to be despised, “…many…traditional descriptions of the sacraments fail because they obscure the fact that sacraments are actions.” [2] This allows us to consider how the community that enacts the Supper, i.e. the Church, is formed and sustained in its existence and flourishing. All societies have their rites, some more harmless (or harmful) than others, and they all say something about the group engaging in them. In the Christian Church, engaging in the rite of the Supper sets forth a confession of unity as the family of God who worships the Father through the Son by the Spirit. The Church is, therefore, a community that takes up a public presence in the world, and is not privatized or separate from it. This keeps us from forgetting the concrete reality of the Church. The Church is not a “spiritual” reality, only manifested truly in an invisible way, but is, without qualification, the visible community that performs the rites of the Christian Church. And as a visible community, she proclaims her King as a real Savior, a true Lord, over all the earth. And she visibly lives and exists as a people where there is to be no division, no disunity, but in harmony with the Holy Trinity, a life devoted to the glory of God, partaking of the One who is our life, Jesus Christ.

[1] Matt. 26:26-29, Mk. 14:22-26, Luke 22:14-23

[2] Peter Leithart, The Baptized Body, (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2007), 22

Concerning Children and the Eucharist

Since the Church is one body visibly manifested through the rites of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the question of who may take communion should be addressed. Another distinctive of Reformation Parish is the communing of covenant children in the local body. While it is common in most Western traditions of Christianity to keep children from the table until they reach an ambiguously defined age of accountability, we believe that the Kingdom is made for such as these (Matt. 19:14). Children who have been baptized were baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ, and therefore are seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). They are children of their Heavenly Father before they can comprehend the glories of this reality when they are baptized and keeping them from the table actually works against the promises that are theirs in baptism. If they are kept from the table where their Father feeds them, can they really know that Jesus loves them? Can they really know that God has chosen them as His own? By allowing Children at the table, they are confirmed in their infancy and youth that God has, by His pure grace, accepted them before they could even respond. That is true grace that God loved us before we loved Him, that he has fed us and been with us for the whole of our lives unreservedly.

Concerning Real Presence

As a Reformed Church, Reformation Parish upholds the presence of Christ in the Eucharist and professes it as the ground of our hope. That Christ is among His people even now, and yet such a ground of hope can only be understood as a great mystery. To consider what it means to partake of the Christ who is present in the Eucharistic act is not something that can be contained to a simple formula. Instead, in the words of T.F. Torrance, Christ, “…is really present through the Spirit, not that he is present only as Spirit, far less some spiritual reality, but present through the same kind of inexplicable creative activity he was born of the Virgin Mary and now rose again from the grave.” [3] Such a presence cannot be fully comprehended except in the proclamation of the mighty act of God that He has come amongst His people and gives Himself to us. The elements of bread and wine are therefore seen as not bare signs but, in some mysterious way, a means by which we receive the Lord Jesus Christ in the fullness of His life.

Christ has given Himself for the life of the world and gives Himself as true food and true drink to those who partake of His life in and through the Spirit. And through that entrance into communion with Christ, we have access by one Spirit to the Father. Therefore, let us keep the feast, and in unity, worship our God as we partake of His Son, and find our life in Him.

[3] T.F. Torrance, Theology in Reconciliation, (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 1996), 119-120.

Our Position on Ethnicity, Nations, and the Unity of the Church

“For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity.” — Ephesians 2:14-15

Whereas interest in dangerous ideologies has resurged due to online voices and false teachers within the church,

Whereas such an agenda has attempted to infiltrate several CREC congregations through immature and ungodly members,

Whereas ideologies of this magnitude may constitute a cultural, theological, and liturgical threat to the preservation of the peace and unity of our congregation,

Whereas such heretical practices may damage our understanding of the Gospel of grace and our responsibilities towards one another in Christ,

Whereas Vanity (I am great), Pride (I know best), and Envy (I want what you have – power, money, fame) are the foundation on which such sinful ideologies are found,

Whereas such an approach to human nature may undermine the foundation of our membership vows,

Whereas those who uphold such perspectives may threaten the well-being and holiness of our flock,

Whereas these philosophies may endanger the revealed work of Christ and the free offer of the Gospel to engraft Jews and Gentiles into the olive tree,

The Session of Reformation Parish affirms the following statements, and therefore will use them to preserve the integrity of the Church by rebuking and exhorting, and calling the saints to repent and flee from such ideologies. If necessary, demanding that members and frequent non-member attendees cease their participation in the worship of Reformation Parish:

1. The Origin and Purpose of the Nations

God’s redemptive plan in Christ is to disciple the nations, not dissolve them, bringing them into glad submission under His kingship (Matthew 28:18–20). Through the cross, resurrection, ascension, and Pentecost (Acts 2:1–11), He is forming a spiritual body—the Church—from all peoples, tribes, and tongues (Ephesians 2:11–22; Revelation 7:9–10). This spiritual unity does not abolish the reality or the goodness of national and cultural distinctions but brings them into obedience to Christ.

2. Rejection of Ethnic and Racial Hatred

We affirm that all forms of racial or ethnic hatred, including anti-Semitism (particularized animus towards the Jewish people; casting the Jews as central antagonists of societal and historical woes), white supremacy (placing God’s special favor upon one race over others), and Kinism (requiring racial segregation in society and the Church, and treating interracial marriage as inherently sinful, unwise, or nearly always so) are contrary to the gospel and the equal dignity of all people made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27; Malachi 2:10). In Christ, there is no partiality (Acts 10:34–35; Romans 2:11; James 2:1–9), and all believers are one in Him (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). Christ has broken down the walls of partition (Ephesians 2:14-16).

3. Rightly Ordered Loves and Affections

We affirm that it is natural to love one’s family, heritage, and nation, and this is a good rooted in the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12; Proverbs 17:6). However, these loves must be ordered under the supreme love of Christ and His kingdom (Luke 14:26; Matthew 10:37; 1 Peter 2:9–10). No ethnicity or culture is inherently superior or inferior in the sight of God (Romans 3:9–10; Romans 10:12–13). Nevertheless, cultures can gain greater favor in the sight of God and man as they submit to their highest good in Christ alone (Philippians 3:7–11).

4. Interethnic Marriage and Fellowship

We affirm that Scripture does not forbid interethnic marriage between believers. On the contrary, God’s people are united in faith, not race or lineage (1 Corinthians 7:39; Galatians 3:28). Criticism of Moses’ marriage to a Cushite woman was judged by God Himself (Numbers 12:1–10). We affirm that God created marriage as a covenantal union between one man and one woman, instituted for His glory, for mutual help, procreation, fighting temptation and the demonstration of Christ’s love for His Church (Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:31-32).

We affirm that marriage can lawfully occur between people of different ethnicities and races, as there is no biblical prohibition against such unions, and all people are made in the image of God (Genesis 41:45, Acts 17:26).

We affirm that wisdom should always be pursued when deciding whom to marry, including a careful consideration of spiritual maturity, shared values, and potential cultural differences that could affect the unity of the marriage (Proverbs 4:7; Amos 3:3).

The New Testament affirms that the Church is one body composed of all tribes and tongues (1 Corinthians 12:12–13; Ephesians 4:4–6), and marriages across ethnic lines glorify God when grounded in Christ.

5. Against Nazi Ideology

We affirm that Nazism was, and is, an anti-Christian ideology that exalts the state as savior and god, and the will to power as its law. Examples of anti-Christian National Socialist ideology which we condemn among current ecclesial threats include denial or denigration of the Judaic ancestry of Jesus Christ, denial or deemphasis of the Old Testament Scriptures as authoritative and inerrant Scripture, appeals to state authority and national will to justify abuses of state power, and Darwinian social and political engineering.

6. The Blessing and Preservation of Cultural Distinctions

We affirm that God created nations and cultures (Deuteronomy 32:8; Acts 17:26). Because all individuals bear the image of God, there is a sense in which we can speak of the equality of all people. But this kind of equality does not imply egalitarianism. Individuals and nations vary widely in gifts and talents. They vary widely in degrees of sinfulness (though all are totally depraved and thus unable to please God in the flesh). Nations, and the cultures that develop within each nation, will have diverse strengths and weaknesses, diverse gifts and talents—all endowments, apportioned by God as he sees fit. As every nation is discipled, every nation will ultimately bring its treasures into the kingdom of God (Isaiah 60:11). We affirm that national and cultural heritage is something to be grateful for and may be preserved in obedience to God’s law. However, this good must not be elevated above gospel unity (Jeremiah 9:23–24; Romans 12:3; Philippians 2:3).

7. The Hope of Israel and the Mission of the Church

We affirm that God has not completely and fully rejected Israel and that the Jewish people are beloved for the sake of the patriarchs (Romans 11:1–2, 28–29). Hatred, envy, and the particularized animus towards the Jewish people as uniquely malevolent is contrary to the kindness and love of God toward man (Titus 3:4-5). Such actions constitute a grievous sin and a betrayal of God’s promises and character (Genesis 12:3; Romans 9:4–5). We affirm that there are various ways of interpreting God’s promises to the Israel of God (Romans 11:26). Some interpret the Apostle to affirm a future restoration of ethnic Israel, while others interpret the “Israel of God” to speak of the totality of the elect from the first century to the end of history. We affirm that there is no salvation for Jew and Gentile outside of Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).

8. Discipling the Nations in Christ

We affirm the Church’s mission to disciple all nations under the authority of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18–20). This includes teaching the proper ordering of love for family, nation, and stranger, according to God’s Word (Micah 6:8; Mark 12:30–31). Neither nationalism nor globalism can be an ultimate end or eternal good—only the kingdom of God can be. His gospel heals divisions and draws all peoples into the unity of truth and love (Ephesians 4:1–6; John 17:20–23).

Marriage Definition and Policies

We confess [*1] that the Church is subject only to Christ. God alone is lord of the conscience (WCF 20). While church members ought to obey civil rulers in temporal things, provided they are not required by those authorities to sin (Mk. 12:13-17; Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pt. 2:13-17), the Church has a divine right to embody her beliefs in her practices and to carry out the mission Christ has entrusted to her without interference or hindrance. The Church as an institution shall remain free from state control in faith, doctrine, and practice, and her members should not be forced to act contrary to their consciences, as informed by the Word of God. We gladly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but under no circumstances will we render to Caesar that which belongs only to God. With these truths in view, we declare the Church’s right to reject any attempts on the part of the state to impose on the Church or her members unbiblical definitions of marriage.

Marriage is an institution founded not in cultural convention or convenience, but in God’s act of creation (Gen. 2:23-24). Marriage is God’s ordinance, a holy mystery instituted for his glory and our good. It is our desire to honor the marriage bed and keep it undefiled (Heb. 13:4). Sex outside of marriage, sex with someone other than one’s spouse, divorce without biblical grounds, and the taking of more than one spouse, are all among the many ways in which God’s institution of marriage has been dishonored. We believe the union between husband and wife in heart, body, and mind to be a sacred bond, intended by God for their mutual joy and companionship; for the help and comfort given one another in times of prosperity and adversity; and, when it is God’s will, for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and love of the Lord. We believe man and woman to be equal in creation and redemption, equal in worth and dignity; and yet the sexes are different from one another and thus complementary in their roles in church, society, and family. God has ordained the covenant of marriage so that husband and wife would together symbolize the relationship of Christ and the church (Eph. 5:21ff); he has designed loving and faithful marriages to be the best possible context in which children, as the fruit of their parents’ mutual love, can be raised to healthy maturity; and he has called husband and wife to help one another in the pursuit of a common salvation and service to the common good of humanity. Because of the nature of the marriage relation, a believer ought to marry in the Lord (1 Cor. 7:39).

We believe the preservation of biblical marriage to be essential to the well-being and health not only of the church but of civil society. Following the Scriptures and the historic Christian tradition, we define marriage as a covenant freely and lawfully entered into by a man and a woman, sealed by sexual relations (WCF 24). This covenant is to be a lifelong commitment until husband and wife are parted by death. The covenant of marriage can be broken by infidelity (Matt. 19:1-10) or desertion (which includes not only abandonment but severe forms of abuse; cf. 1 Cor. 7:10-16). If at all possible, broken marriage covenants should be repaired through repentance and forgiveness, though we recognize there are situations where such full restoration will be impossible or unwise. The session of Reformation Parish is responsible to determine for her members if there are biblical grounds for divorce in any given case. We believe the covenant of marriage between a man and woman to be the only relationship in which sex can take place according to God’s law and design for human flourishing (Prov. 5:15-23). The covenant bond of marriage protects the precious treasure of sexuality. Misuses of God’s beautiful gift of sexuality through fornication, adultery, pornography, etc., lead to the dehumanizing of self and the exploitation of others, contrary to the law of love. We are urged in Scripture to make a covenant with our eyes to not look lustfully on another (Job 31:1; Matt. 5:27-30), to abstain from sexual immorality that we may possess our bodies in holiness and honor (1 Thess. 4:1-8), and to not present our members as instruments of sin but to present ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness (Rom. 6:1-14).

We resist all attempts to redefine marriage to include same sex partnerships. We can never regard a same sex relationship of any kind as a marriage, no matter what civil society might say about it. Homosexual relations are unlawful and contrary to God’s design (Rom. 1:18-32). Certainly, we desire to bless, serve, and love persons with homosexual desires. We know we are fellow image bearers and fellow sinners along with them, and we long to show them the compassion of Christ. But we cannot countenance the fulfillment of their desires under any circumstances. Rather, we call on persons with such desires to join us in trusting the Lord Jesus to forgive our sin through his shed blood and transform us by his healing grace (though we also fully recognize that living as faithful disciples of Jesus is always a struggle and all of us fall short of the goal in this life).

In light of these principles, the Session Reformation Parish adopts the following policy: Our pastoral staff will not be involved with any ceremonies inconsistent with the biblical teaching on marriage. For example, this means a marriage between a believer and an unbeliever is not to be conducted by Reformation Parish. Neither is an unlawfully divorced person with outstanding obligations to their former spouse to be married by the same ministers. Further, the Session forbids Reformation Parish from conducting or participating in any ceremony between a same sex couple. May God help us as we confess and defend the teaching of his Word concerning the institution of marriage.

[1] The following statement is used with permission from Trinity Presbyterian Church (CREC) in Birmingham, AL. A few changes have been made to reflect our particular situation.

Creation and Gender Distinctions

We confess that God created mankind both male and female in His own image (Gen. 1:26–27), they stand equal before Him in dignity, glory, and covenantal standing, and are both co-heirs of the grace of life in Christ (1 Pet. 3:7). This ontological equality does not erase the creational (economical) distinctions God has ordained between the sexes. Rather, in His wisdom, He has established men and women with distinct differences in calling, responsibility, and ordinary vocation within the home, the Church, and the broader society. These differences, including the ordinary economic patterns and labors that flow from the created order, are not the result of the Fall but part of God’s good, original design.

We therefore reject both egalitarianism, which denies meaningful creational distinctions, and all forms of chauvinism, feminism, or tyranny, which deny the full dignity and honor of men and women. In all things, we seek to honor Christ by upholding male headship exercised in sacrificial love and female strength expressed in covenantal faithfulness, so that the glory of God might be displayed in rightly ordered households, faithful churches, and righteous communities.