As the GA adjourned, similar to other denominations, the power struggle between high-level leaders and many other presbyters would continue. Both of those stake-holders felt significant ownership, and the clashes were not always pretty, much less resolved well. However, some leadership changes . . . Continue reading →
NAPARC
You Can Help A Confessional Reformed Congregation In Cincinnati!
Westside Reformed Church was launched nearly ten years ago as a church plant of the United Reformed Churches in North America, immediately after I graduated from seminary. It was at Westminster Seminary California—and through related media like the Heidelblog—that I developed a . . . Continue reading →
Southwest Reformed Youth Camp Jul 31–Aug 3, 2023
The 2023 Southwest Reformed Youth Camp is happening this year from July 31–August 3 at Palomar Christian Conference Center in Palomar Mountain, California. This Reformed Christian Youth Camp is for junior high and high school students and is the only youth camp . . . Continue reading →
Eugene Reformed: A New Confessional Reformed Congregation Forming In Oregon
Eugene Reformed is a Reformed Bible study in Eugene, Oregon gathering with the intention of planting a confessional Presbyterian or Reformed church. They meet each Thursday evening from 6:30–8:30pm at the Gainsborough Community Clubhouse, 2555 Lansdown Rd. Eugene, OR 97404 (Gainsborough is a gated . . . Continue reading →
Give Me the Hills and Hollers, Or I Die!
So, in general, there is some awareness in the wider church of this reality in underserved America’s small-town and rural regions. There is still, however, a greater need to raise up an explicitly Reformed and Presbyterian witness to serve these areas.
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Is the PCA Doomed?
While our Constitution does not require the candidate’s affirmation of every statement and/or proposition of doctrine in our Confession of Faith and Catechisms, it is the right and responsibility of the Presbytery to determine if the candidate is out of accord with . . . Continue reading →
“Do You Know Of A Good P&R Church Nearby?”
It happens often—a friend or listener sends a message with the question: “Do you know of a good confessional Presbyterian or Reformed church near X?” All too often, after searching online, consulting denominational websites, even asking other friends, the answer is no. . . . Continue reading →
The Five Points Of A Calvinist (On Having A Care For Visitors)
I do not remember exactly when I read Jack Miller’s 1986 critique of the NAPARC world, Outgrowing the Ingrown Church, but I suspect it was about 1990. I was pastoring a small NAPARC congregation and I had been charged with helping the . . . Continue reading →
A New URCNA Congregation Forming In Norfolk, VA
Here in Norfolk, VA, the Lord is working to build His Church. In the summer of 2021, a group of families began meeting regularly to study the Heidelberg Catechism and the Bible together. Over the next few months, these families met with . . . Continue reading →
Godfrey’s “Reformed Dream”
In North America today we have many confessionally Reformed denominations: or example, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Free Reformed Churches, Korean-American Presbyterian Church, Netherlands Reformed Churches, Orthodox Christian Reformed Churches, Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Presbyterian Church in America, Protestant Reformed Churches, Reformed Church of . . . Continue reading →
What Is The Service Of Reconciliation?
Resources How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia The Heidelblog Resource Page Heidelmedia Resources The Ecumenical Creeds The Reformed Confessions The Heidelberg Catechism Recovering the Reformed Confession (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2008). Support Heidelmedia: use the donate button below. Office Hours: Planting A Confessional Reformed Congregation . . . Continue reading →
A Brief History Of Secret Organizations In And Around The PCA
Every Christian ought to heed Paul’s warnings to “have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths” (1 Timothy 4:7) and not to be found in “quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.” (2 Corinthians 12:20). Thus, we must be especially . . . Continue reading →
On Leaving The Mainline: Some Friendly Advice To The Alliance Of Reformed Churches
Kathryn Post, writing for the Religion News Service (HT: Christianity Today), writes, “On New Year’s Day, 43 congregations of the Reformed Church in America (RCA) split from the national denomination, one of the oldest Protestant bodies in the United States, in part over theological differences regarding same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBT clergy.” This move, she says, “follows the RCA General Synod’s October decision to adopt measures for ‘grace-filled separation’ with departing churches and to appoint a team to develop a restructuring plan for those that remain.” These 43 congregations (so far) have formed The Alliance of Reformed Churches. Continue reading →
New Resource Page: On The PCA
I joked to a correspondent recently that there are so many HB posts on the PCA that I should make a resource page devoted to the PCA. Well, it is true and now there is one.
This Is A Trap
Dear pastors and elders. No matter how well intended, I'm rather afraid that your words are not always heard the way you think. Here, let me translate.(If you'd like to educate yourself, you can start here: https://t.co/U1lM9kfHTF) pic.twitter.com/AWoCL40zMi — Greg Johnson | . . . Continue reading →
Payne: The PCA Already Has A Creed
Creating space for these unbiblical cultural creeds in the PCA will facilitate serious and irreparable damage and division. Therefore, they must be rejected. There is no room for compromise. The Assembly’s voting margins from last week foster hope that the PCA’s future plans do not include tent expansion. We mustn’t make room for Side B and CRT. Continue reading →
Trueman: Ruling Elders Triumph Over PCA Progressives
In the last few days, I have spoken to a number of GA commissioners. They seem to agree that at the GA, “the little guys stood up” (to quote one commissioner verbatim). Ruling elders—commissioners who are not professional clergy and who live . . . Continue reading →
Strain To The PCA: Exceptions Do Not Become The Rule
But the model of confessional subscription aside, I think there is mounting evidence that the role played by our Confession and Catechisms—or at least, the use made of them in the PCA—is far from healthy at the present time. Anecdotally, one interesting, . . . Continue reading →
Live From The PCA GA: Presbycast
The Presbycast guys are in St Louis for the PCA General Assembly. Continue reading
A Notable Omission In The PCA Report On Sexuality: Nature
In that sense, the Bible’s view of sexuality is not motivated by small-mindedness, unloving moralism, discrimination, violence, and bullying, as its critics claim. Biblical sexuality comes from a theistic understanding of the universe, deeply rooted in the being of God Himself, which . . . Continue reading →