Reformed Churchmen

We are Confessional Calvinists and a Prayer Book Church-people. In 2012, we remembered the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer; also, we remembered the 450th anniversary of John Jewel's sober, scholarly, and Reformed "An Apology of the Church of England." In 2013, we remembered the publication of the "Heidelberg Catechism" and the influence of Reformed theologians in England, including Heinrich Bullinger's Decades. For 2014: Tyndale's NT translation. For 2015, John Roger, Rowland Taylor and Bishop John Hooper's martyrdom, burned at the stakes. Books of the month. December 2014: Alan Jacob's "Book of Common Prayer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Common-Prayer-Biography-Religious/dp/0691154813/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417814005&sr=8-1&keywords=jacobs+book+of+common+prayer. January 2015: A.F. Pollard's "Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation: 1489-1556" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-English-Reformation-1489-1556/dp/1592448658/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420055574&sr=8-1&keywords=A.F.+Pollard+Cranmer. February 2015: Jaspar Ridley's "Thomas Cranmer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-Jasper-Ridley/dp/0198212879/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422892154&sr=8-1&keywords=jasper+ridley+cranmer&pebp=1422892151110&peasin=198212879

Sunday, July 15, 2012

This Day in Presbyterian History, 15 July: Origin of Presbyterian Church in America

Tenth Presbyterian, 17th and Spruce, Philadelphia.
Although the PCA originated with Southerners, Tenth
pulled out from the liberals (PCUSA) c. 1980ish.
We were present and participated in the vote,
793-5, if memory serves.  Tenth joined the
RPES (Reformed Presbyterian
Evangelical Synod) which anticipated
union with the PCA.  Ergo, in a short space,
one church, we were PCUSA, RPES, and then
PCA. We were there, as
members, during Pastorate of the
Rev. Dr. James Montgomery Boice, a
Pastor-Scholar and Statesman. We later became
Reformed Episcopalians (REC), good then, but
no longer. They've Tractated. Interestingly,
local PCAers asked the REC to join them,
but the PCAers were "reminded" by
Bishop Hoffman of their Angican roots.
Nontheless, the REC was kindly affectionate
towards the PCA.
http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/?p=636
This Day in Presbyterian History:
Time to Move for a New Church
The evidence was already in, in fact, it was well in. All of the efforts of the conservatives in the Southern Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church U.S.) had failed to stop the tide of liberalism in that once great church. So after the last General Assembly in 1971, something had to be done.
Gathering together in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 15, 1971, a group of conservative Presbyterians met to discuss the situation. Realizing that some key elders were not present, they met two weeks later on July 30th at the Airport Hilton in Atlanta, Georgia. This was a meeting which was filled with talk to the heavenly Father as well as to those of like precious faith. They met all together and then in small groups.
Again, Tenth Presbyterian, Philadelphia.
The wooden spire was removed
in 1912 due to structural deterioration.
By the morning of the next day, some statements were presented to the group. They were as follows: “A plan for the continuation of a Presbyterian Church loyal to Scripture and the Reformed faith: 1. To create a climate of opinion favorable to the continuation of conservative presbyteries and churches loyal to Scripture and the Reformed Faith, by promoting as strong an image as possible of such loyalty through actions taken by synods, presbyteries, and congregations. 2. To identify presbyteries and congregations willing to take such a stand. And 3. To accept the inevitability of division in the PCUS and to move now toward a continuing body of congregations and presbyteries loyal to Scripture and the Westminster Standards.
This intent was breathed in prayer in, in the discussion towards it, and breathed out in prayer at the conclusion of it. Men who had been through the battle to return the PCUS to the faith of the fathers wept at the very prospect of the future. And when the vote came in favor of the three points, there were no high fives, or shouts of victory, but rather silence, as one of the men there said, a heavy silence of profound sadness. They were not merely leaving the southern church. The southern church had left them and their ordained convictions for a mess of liberal pottage, as Cain had done much earlier in his life.
A timetable was then worked out followed by the organization of a Steering Committee. The plans were set in motion for a Continuing Church, which in time was named the Presbyterian Church in America.

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