FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The Reformed Church has its roots in the Protestant Reformation. In 1517 Martin Luther began what has become known as the Protestant Reformation when he sought to debate ninety-five errors and abuses of the Roman Catholic Church. The Christians who broke away from the Roman Catholic Church were called “Protestants” because they protested those errors and abuses. In Germany the branch of the Reformation was known as “Lutheran,” while in Switzerland it was known as “Reformed.” The theology of the Reformed faith is defined in the Three Forms of Unity (the Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, and Canons of Dort), and also in the Westminster Standards.

Many pastors and missionaries who studied in Geneva, Switzerland took the Reformed faith to other countries and continents. One continent wherein the Reformed faith thrived was the Netherlands. The Dutch Reformed Church was established in AD 1571. Dutch immigration to America came in phases, beginning as early as 1628. By 1792 these settlers formed a Dutch Reformed Church in America. Eventually the Christian Reformed Church in North America (or CRC for short) was started. Over the years, however, the CRC began to move in an unbiblical direction, and in 1996 the United Reformed Churches in North America (or URC for short) was born to carry on the Reformed faith without compromising biblical faithfulness.

The word Catholic actually means “universal.” Everyone who trusts in Christ, regardless of time period or location, is a member of the universal church. In that sense we are catholic. But we are not part of the Roman Catholic Church. Our church goes back to the Protestant Reformation, which disagreed with Roman Catholicism on severally important issues (see: Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 54, 56, 60, 61, 62, 72, 80, and 98).

We believe that the worship service is a covenantal dialogue, a holy “back-and-forth” where God speaks and we respond (Ex. 19-24; Josh. 24:14-28; Neh. 8:2-9; Rev. 4-5). The elements of the service help facilitate that conversation between the Triune God and His covenant people. Therefore, the congregation is actively engaged, not merely passively receptive.

Each element of the service is from Scripture, from the call to worship (Ps. 29:2) to the invocation (Ps. 124:8), from the reading of the law (Neh. 8:2-3) to the pronouncement of the gospel (Mark 1:15; Col. 2:14), from the preaching of the Word (1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Tim. 4:2) to the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 10:16; 11:24-26), from a creedal confession of our faith (1 Cor. 15:3-5; 1 Tim. 3:16) to corporate prayer (Acts 2:42), from songs of praise (Ps. 40:3) to the benediction (Num. 6:24-26). Each element is biblical.

The flow of the service is often referred to as a “liturgy,” which is from a Greek word that means “public service.” While our Sunday service is primary a work of God, we respond and participate in the covenantal dialogue. Every church has a liturgy; the only question is if the liturgy is biblical. The Reformed churches have been eager to design a liturgy that is not only biblical, but clearly presents the gospel each Lord’s Day. There is an ancient saying that captures the desire to have a well-thought-out service: lex orandi, lex credendi (“The rule of worship is the rule of faith”). What you believe impacts how you worship, and, conversely, how you worship also shapes what you believe. Therefore, our worship ought to be planned with care.

Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” (1 Cor. 11:27-29). For this reason we “fence the table,” meaning we welcome those Christians who have (1) been baptized, (2) have made a public profession of faith, (3) are penitent and seek to obey God’s commands, and (4) who are members in good standing of a Protestant church that (a) faithfully preaches the gospel as summarized in the Ecumenical Creeds, (b) teaches that a person is justified by faith alone, (c) affirms that the two sacraments, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, are a means of grace, and (d) conducts church discipline according to Scripture.

If you have not been baptized, or made a public profession, or if you are not a member of a Protestant church, then we advise you to abstain and speak with one of the ministers or elders after the service. The Lord’s Supper is a real communion with Christ, and it comes with the commands: “examine yourself,” and “discern the body.” Therefore, we confess in the Heidelberg Catechism that to welcome unbelievers and the ungodly to the table “would dishonor God’s covenant and bring down God’s wrath upon the entire congregation” (Heidelberg, Q.82). While abstaining from the Table is not necessarily a statement that you are “ungodly,” it is better to abstain and speak with the elders or ministers if you have questions out of caution and reverence.

Nevertheless, we are eager to welcome weary Christians to the Table. Our liturgical form invites the penitent believer, saying, “Do not allow the weakness of your faith or your failures in the Christian life to keep you from this Table. For it is given to us because of our weakness and because of our failures, in order to increase our faith by feeding us with the body and blood of Jesus Christ.” This Table is a banquet for the embattled Christian pilgrim to taste and see that the Lord is good.

While it is popular to send children to “Children’s Church” while the parents worship in “Big Church,” this separation is foreign in Scripture. Children of believing parents are members of the covenant and should be included in covenant worship. Children are part of the body of Christ and, therefore, should be with the body of Christ. In Nehemiah, when the covenant people gathered we’re told, “And all the people gathered as one man,” and then Scripture was read and explained “in the presence of the men and women and those who could understand” (8:1, 3). In Scripture, parents and their children prosper together (Deut. 4:40), obey together (Deut. 31:12-13), assemble together (Joel 2:15-16), and serve together (Josh. 24:15). Covenant children are always assumed to be with their parents (Eph. 6:1-3), and when they are excluded from something, the Bible makes it very explicit (Gen. 50:7-8). Therefore, we welcome (and love to hear!) the little ones in worship with us.

During the Reformation, many pastors sought to get away from the “smells and bells” of Roman Catholic worship, seeking something simpler and more biblical. Instead of grand vestments that the priests wore, the Reformers in Switzerland sought attire that drew less attention. They chose the plain, black robe that was worn by the academics of the day. While the clerical collar is often associated with Roman Catholic priests, it was actually invented by a Presbyterian pastor in the late 1800s. Some within the Presbyterian and Reformed tradition continue to preach and minister wearing the Reformed clerical collar and the Genevan robe.

From a colloquial perspective, judges wear robes, police officers wear a uniform, and doctors wear coats. This special attire represents their respective callings. Similarly, the collar and robe represent the office of minister and reminds everyone that the pastor speaks for Christ, not from his own ideas and opinions (2 Cor. 5:20). The ministerial attire helps the congregation to hear the Words of Christ with unencumbered clarity, rather than the pastor’s personality or persona (John 3:30).