Grace Reformed Church belongs to the Reformed Church in America (RCA). The RCA is a mainline, evangelical, protestant denomination which has ministered in the United States since the early 1600’s. In fact, the RCA is one of the oldest continuous denomination on North American continent.
For the third of its 370 plus years of existence in North America, the RCA held services only in Dutch and grew its church through immigrants and babies. It used the Bible and traditional Reformed creedal statements as its rules of faith. For two hundred years, it had no churches west of the Appalachians.
All that makes the history of the Reformed Church little different from those churches who call themselves Presbyterian or Congregationalist (today, the United Church of Christ). The influx of immigrants created the need for the Reformed Church; language barriers and ethnic suspicion kept it separated from others during those early years.
In the 1800’s, the RCA more that quintupled. Both outreach and new groups of immigrants pushed the Reformed Church westward. Where the Dutch established enclaves on the frontier—western Michigan, and parts of Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin—the church grew the fastest. Where it didn’t, the RCA remained unknown. The strong beliefs remained, however; so did our bent for being independent. That’s why today there is still a strong RCA even though in parts of the United States and Canada, there are no RCA churches. Even that is changing. In Mobile, Alabama and Cary, North Carolina and Portland, Oregon, the RCA is no longer a church based on ethnicity. There, and in much of the RCA, if you’re only Dutch, you’re out of touch.
The RCA stands within the mainstream of the Christian Church. It has sought to avoid extremes and to focus on the central truths of the Christian tradition. It is Christ centered, mission minded, socially engaged and ecumenically involved.
The “reformed” in the name reflects a number of things…
-first, the RCA’s roots go back to the 16th century European church renewal movement known as the Reformation. This profound renewal changed the couse of Western history and Christianity with its emphasis on “scripture alone,” “grace alone, “ and “faith alone.” All “reformed” church draw from this heritage. The RCA’s ethnic roots are found in the Netherlands, however, the RCA is not an exclusive “Dutch” group.
-second, we believe that the church needs to be continually “reformed” and renewed by the Word of God. We must never become complacent in our faith, and must always be open to instruction and correction from the Bible.
-lastly, we believe that we need to adapt our message and “reform” our presentation of the timeless truths of the Gospel so we can present them with freshness and clarity to our changing culture.
There are a variety of books you can read to find out more about the history of the RCA. A few of these are, Howard Hageman’s, Our Reformed Church and his Lily Among the Thorns; Arie Brower’s, Reformed Church Roots, and others. Some general books that have chapters on the RCA are such books as William Sweet’s, The Story of Religion in America. Church history book, dealing with the Protestant Reformation abound. General works are Hurlbut’s, The Story of the Christian Church.
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