Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS)
The Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) is a communion of Christian churches in the Reformed tradition. We stand on the Reformation principles of Scripture alone, Christ alone, Grace alone, Faith alone, and Glory to God alone.
History:
The Reformed Church in the U. S. traces its origins back to the Reformed Church in Germany and Switzerland. They follow the reformation teachings of Ulrich Zwingli, Bullinger, Calvin and Elector Frederick III of the Palatinate are considered the fathers of the German Reformation thought.
The ecclesiastical organization with which the Reformed Church in the U. S. merged in 1934 has its roots in the Evangelical Church of Germany. The Evangelical Synod of North America was the American version of the State Church of Prussia, formed by the uniting of the Reformed and Lutheran Churches of northern Germany in 1817.
The German Evangelical Synod of North America was founded on October 15, 1840. This Church took as its standards the Augsburg Confession, Luther’s Catechism and the Heidelberg Catechism.
There was a revival movement in the Church from 1829 to 1844. This affected the churches of America by introducing a less doctrinal and more emotional Christianity. There was opposition to this revival movement and in 1867 was the founding of Ursinus College.
The Reformed Church in the U. S. was Reformed, Calvinistic and Presbyterian. Its standards were the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of Dort. The Calvinism in the Church weakened and some Arminianism crept in. The doctrinal standards of the Evangelical and Reformed Church are the Heidelberg Catechism, Luther’s Catechism and the Augsburg Confession. They are accepted as authoritative interpretation of the essential truth taught in the Holy Scriptures.
The Eureka Classis was part of the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS). It existed from 1910-1985. The Reformed Church in the United States had talks with the Evangelical Synod of North America, the Eureka Classis protested. It opposed the union of the two churches officially in 1932. The General Synod of the Reformed Church in the U. S. adopted a Plan of Union with the Evangelical Synod of North America in 1934. The necessary majority of the Classes and Districts have adopted the Plan of Union, and on the basis of this plan a merger was effected. The Eureka Classis voted against the proposed constitution of the new church in 1936.
When the merger became official in 1940 and the Evangelical and Reformed Church was formed (E&R), the Eureka Classis was determined to be the continuing RCUS. The Eureka Classis incorporated as the continuing Reformed Church in the United States in 1945 in the state of North Dakota.
It was from 1940 until in 1985 the Eureka Classis served as the continuing RCUS as the rest of the denomination had merged into the new denomination, the Evangelical and Reformed Church. On May 6, 1986 the Eureka Classis was called to order and immediately dissolved to form the Synod of the Reformed Church in the United States. The Eureka Classis continued her existence as the Reformed Church in the U. S., carrying forward the traditional Calvinistic doctrines and a presbyterial form of church government.
Belief:
The Reformed Church in the United States believe Baptism is a sacrament the gifts and invisible grace; washing, cleansing and purging our souls of all filth and unrighteousness; renewing our hearts, and filling them with all comfort; giving unto them a true assurance of his fatherly goodness; putting on them the new man, and putting off the old man with all his deeds. They believe, that every man, who is earnestly reflective of obtaining life eternal, ought to be but once baptized with this only baptism, without ever repeating the same.
The Reformed Church in the United States detest the error of the Anabaptists, who are not content with the one only baptism they have once received, and moreover condemn the baptism of the infants of believers, whom we believe ought to be baptized and sealed with the sign of the covenant, as the children in Israel formerly were circumcised, upon the same promises which are made unto our children.
The Reformed Church in the United States believe and confess, that Jesus Christ the Savior did ordain and institute the sacrament of the holy supper, to nourish and support those whom he hath already regenerated, and incorporated into his family, which is his Church.
The Reformed Church in the United States believe The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament.
The Reformed Church in the United States believe God hath given, for the support of the bodily and earthly life, earthly and common bread, which is subservient thereto, and is common to all men, even as life itself. But for the support of the spiritual and heavenly life, which believers have, he hath sent a living bread, which descended from heaven, namely, Jesus Christ, who nourishes and strengthens the spiritual life of believers, when they eat him, that is to say, when they apply and receive him by faith in the spirit. Christ, that he might represent unto us this spiritual and heavenly bread, hath instituted an earthly and visible bread, as a sacrament of his body, and wine as a sacrament of his blood, to testify by them unto them, that, as certainly as they receive and hold this sacrament in their hands, and eat and drink the same with their mouths, by which their life is afterwards nourished, they receive by faith the true body and blood of Christ their only Savior in their souls, for the support of their spiritual life.
The Reformed Church in the United States believe the sacraments are connected with the thing signified, and are not received by all men: the ungodly indeed receives the sacrament to his condemnation, but he doth not receive the truth of the sacrament.
Reference:
Official website Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS): http://www.rcus.org/
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS):.” Becker Bible Studies Library Aug 2013.< https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2460,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2013, August) “Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS):.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2460,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2013) “Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS):.” Becker Bible Studies Library (August), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2460, (accessed).
