The Reformed Presbyterian Global Alliance is a
communion of
Presbyterians originating in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
in 1690 when its members refused to conform to the
establishment
Establishment may refer to:
* The Establishment, a dominant group or elite that controls a polity or an organization
* The Establishment (club), a 1960s club in London, England
* The Establishment (Pakistan), political terminology for the military ...
of the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...
. The Reformed Presbyterian churches collectively have approximately 9,500 members worldwide in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
, Scotland,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Japan,
South Sudan
South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...
, and
Australia.
Organization and leadership
![Lorimer, Ordination](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Lorimer%2C_Ordination.jpg)
The Reformed Presbyterian churches are
presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
in polity; members of each congregation elect
elders who must be male, as they believe the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...
requires, and who must also be members of the congregation. These elders, along with a
minister or pastor, make up the "session" governing a congregation. Ministers are known as "teaching elders"; other elders are known as "ruling elders." The teaching elder is not in authority over the ruling elders, nor are the ruling elders in authority over the teaching elder.
The Reformed Presbyterian churches are a communion. All churches in the communion descend from the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The member churches of the communion ar
*
Reformed Presbyterian Church of Australia
*
Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) is a Presbyterian church with congregations and missions throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, and Chile. Its beliefs—held in common with other members of the Reformed Presbyteria ...
*
Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland is a Presbyterian church in Ireland. The church currently has forty-three congregations, of which thirty-five are located in Northern Ireland; the remaining eight are located in the Republic of Ireland. A ...
*
Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland is a small, Scottish, Presbyterian church denomination. Theologically they are similar to many other Presbyterian denominations in that their office-bearers subscribe to the Westminster Confession of ...
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America has jurisdiction over the Japan Presbytery, and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland has a mission in the
French city of
Nantes. All of the communion's members form the RP Global Alliance.
The RP Global Alliance refers to itself as a "consultative community of Reformed Presbyterian Churches worldwide."
Several denominations and individual churches not part of this group use the term "Reformed Presbyterian" in their names. While the Reformed Presbytery in North America (General Meeting) uses the name because of its claim to be the only true continuation of the RPCNA, most of these other churches are more distantly related and use the term for other reasons.
Theology
Reformed Presbyterians believe that the
supreme standard for faith and practice is the Bible, received as the
inspired and
inerrant Word of God.
Reformed Presbyterians also follow the
Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the "subordinate standard" ...
and the
Larger and
Shorter Catechisms.
Reformed Presbyterian churches describe their theology as apostolic,
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
,
Reformed (or Calvinistic), and
evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
. Members of the communion follow a
historical-grammatical interpretation of the Bible, which is reflected in many of their stances on moral issues such as
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...
,
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...
, and
gambling
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...
laws. Reformed Presbyterians place particular emphasis on the
kingship of Christ. Specifically, they believe that the state is under obligation, once admitted but now repudiated, to recognise
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
as its king and to govern all its affairs in accordance with God's will. Words from
Colossians
The Epistle to the Colossians is the twelfth book of the New Testament. It was written, according to the text, by Paul the Apostle and Timothy, and addressed to the church in Colossae, a small Phrygian city near Laodicea and approximately f ...
1:18 express the core of Covenanter theology: "that in everything he
hrist
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie (from Old Norse ''valkyrja'' "chooser of the fallen") is one of a host of female figures who decide who will die in battle. Selecting among half of those who die in battle (the other half go to the goddess Freyja's ...
might be preeminent."
The communion adheres to the
regulative principle of worship
The regulative principle of worship is a Christian doctrine, held by some Calvinists and Anabaptists, that God commands churches to conduct public services of worship using certain distinct elements affirmatively found in scripture, and conversely ...
, which holds that worship must consist only of elements affirmatively found in Scripture, or implied logically by
good and necessary consequence The phrase good and necessary consequence was used more commonly several centuries ago to express the idea which would today fall under the general heading of logic; that is, to reason validly by logical deduction or better, deductive reasoning.
...
.
In keeping with their view of the regulative principle, Reformed Presbyterian churches only sing
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
during service (a practice known as
exclusive psalmody
Exclusive psalmody is the practice of singing only the biblical Psalms in congregational singing as worship. Today it is practised by several Protestant, especially Reformed denominations. Hymns besides the Psalms have been composed by Christians ...
), unaccompanied by instruments and to the exclusion of
hymns
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
, as they believe this is the only form of
congregational singing
Congregational singing is the practice of the congregation participating in the music of a church, either in the form of hymns or a metrical Psalms or a free form Psalm or in the form of the office of the liturgy (for example Gregorian chants). ...
evidenced in and therefore permitted by the Bible.
History
Reformed Presbyterians have been referred to historically as "
Covenanters" because of their identification with public covenanting in Scotland, beginning in the 16th century. In response to
Charles I of England
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...
's attempts to change the
liturgy and
form of government in the churches, which the free assemblies and the
English Parliament
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...
had previously agreed upon, a number of ministers affirmed those previous agreements by signing the "National Covenant" of February 1638 at
Greyfriars Kirk
Greyfriars Kirk ( gd, Eaglais nam Manach Liath) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland, located in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is surrounded by Greyfriars Kirkyard.
Greyfriars traces its origin to the south-west parish of Edin ...
in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
. Many signed in their own blood. Their cause is reflected in the Blue Banner associated with Reformed Presbyterianism; it proclaims "For Christ's Crown and Covenant," as the Covenanters saw the King’s attempt to revise the liturgy and government of the Church as an attempt to claim its headship from Christ.
![Solemn League and Covenant](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Solemn_League_and_Covenant.jpg)
During the
First English Civil War
The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They include the Bishops' Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Second English Civil War, the Anglo ...
(1642–1646),
English Parliamentarians defying Charles I and his supporters, the
Cavaliers, feared that Charles would secure the support and intervention of the
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
Confederate Ireland
Confederate Ireland, also referred to as the Irish Catholic Confederation, was a period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1649, during the Eleven Years' War. Formed by Catholic aristocrats, landed gentry, clergy and military ...
, as the latter in turn feared invasion by the Parliamentarians. The Parliamentarians sought the aid of the Scots, with whom they negotiated a treaty, called the "
Solemn League and Covenant." This covenant obligated the Parliamentarians to reform the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
"according to the Word of God, and the example of the best reformed Churches"—i.e., to reform the Church of England along Presbyterian lines. In exchange, the Covenanters agreed to support the Parliamentarians against Charles I and the Cavaliers in the Civil War. The Solemn League and Covenant also asserted the "crown rights" of Christ as king over both Church and state, and the Church's right to
freedom from coercive state interference.
The majority of the English
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...
were amenable to these terms; many
MPs were Presbyterians, while others preferred allying with the Scots to losing the Civil War. On 17 August 1643, the Church of Scotland (the Kirk) accepted it and on 25 September 1643 so did the English Parliament and the
Westminster Assembly
The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and the Assembly's work was adopt ...
. Pursuant to the Covenant, the Westminster Assembly drew up the
Westminster Standards
The Westminster Standards is a collective name for the documents drawn up by the Westminster Assembly (1643–49). These include the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the Westminster Larger Catechism, the Directo ...
, including the influential
Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the "subordinate standard" ...
, to define and implement Reformed standards of doctrine in the Church of England.
The Parliamentarians defeated Charles in June of 1646. A brief
Second Civil War from February to August of 1648 ended with Charles' defeat, trial, and
execution
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...
. In the period of the
Commonwealth (1649–1660) that followed the Civil Wars,
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...
put
Independents in power in England, signalling the end of the reforms promised by the Parliament. When the Stuart monarchy was
restored in 1660, some Presbyterians were hopeful;
Charles II had sworn to the covenants in the
Treaty of Breda (1650)
The Treaty of Breda (1650) was signed on 1 May 1650 between Charles II (King in exile of England, Scotland and Ireland) and the Scottish Covenanters during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
Background
The Scots Covenanters had taken the side of ...
, in exchange for the Covenanters' aid in restoring him to the throne. These hopes were quickly dashed, and the Covenant repudiated. Likewise, the Westminster Standards were revoked as standards for the Church of England. Soon after the Restoration, Parliament (the so-called "
Cavalier Parliament
The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...
" of 1661–1679) passed the
Sedition Act 1661
The Sedition Act 1661 (13 Car 2 St 1 c 1) was an Act of the Parliament of England, although it was extended to Scotland in 1708. Passed shortly after the Restoration of Charles II, it is no longer in force, but some of its provisions continu ...
, declaring that the Solemn League and Covenant was unlawful, and that anyone who asserted that Covenant continued to impose obligations on any person would be liable to a charge of
praemunire.
![Covenanters in a Glen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Covenanters_in_a_Glen.jpg)
While the majority of the population participated in the established Church following the Restoration, the Covenanters refused to conform, instead holding worship services called
conventicles
A conventicle originally signified no more than an assembly, and was frequently used by ancient writers for a church. At a semantic level ''conventicle'' is only a good Latinized synonym of the Greek word church, and points to Jesus' promise in M ...
in the countryside. The conventicles were proscribed by the
Conventicle Act 1664
The Conventicle Act 1664 was an Act of the Parliament of England (16 Charles II c. 4) that forbade conventicles, defined as religious assemblies of more than five people other than an immediate family, outside the auspices of the Church of E ...
and the
Conventicles Act 1670
The Conventicles Act 1670 is an Act of the Parliament of England (22 Car. II. c. 1) with the long title "An Act to prevent and suppress Seditious Conventicles". The Act imposed a fine on any person who attended a conventicle (any religious asse ...
. Nevertheless, the Covenanters continued to assemble and preach at conventicles, and suffered greatly from persecution during the reigns of Charles II and
James VII
James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
. The height of the persecution, from roughly 1679 to the
Glorious Revolution of 1688, has subsequently become known as
the Killing Time
The Killing Time was a period of conflict in Scottish history between the Presbyterian Covenanter movement, based largely in the south west of the country, and the government forces of Kings Charles II and James VII. The period, roughl ...
. Between 1660 and 1690, tens of thousands of Scottish Covenanters fled persecution to the Irish province of
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
, where they eventually formed the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland.
The Church of Scotland was re-established along wholly Presbyterian lines in 1691, three years after the Glorious Revolution, and the great majority Covenanters and Covenanter ministers were readmitted. A dissenting minority, however refused to re-enter the Kirk of this "Revolution Settlement." They objected that the settlement was forced upon the Church and did not adhere to the previously-agreed Solemn League and Covenant, insofar as the state continued not to acknowledge the kingship of Christ. These dissenters formed into "
United Societies" which eventually constituted the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Scotland.
Due to the re-absorption of Covenanter ministers into the established Church following the Revolution Settlement, the United Societies were without any ministers for sixteen years, until 1706. For those sixteen years, the Dissenting Covenanters maintained their Societies for worship and religious correspondence. The Societies numbered about twenty, with a general membership of about seven thousand. In 1706, Rev.
John M'Millan
John M'Millan was the founding Father of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. He was the first minister of the Cameronians after the Revolution Settlement. He was born at Minnigaff, near Newton Stewart in Kirkcudbrightshire, around 1669, and spen ...
(or McMillan) (c. 1669–1753), previously a minister of the Church of Scotland in the parish of
Balmaghie
Balmaghie ( ), from the Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic ''Baile Mhic Aoidh'', is an ecclesiastical and civil parish in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland and was the seat of the McGhee Tartan, ...
, was offered, and accepted, the officer of minister to the Dissenting Societies. M'Millan had been deposed from the established Church for persistent "protestation against all the corruptions, defections, errors, and mismanagements in the Church government of Scotland, as then established." He had also condemned the
oath of allegiance to William's cousin and successor
Queen Anne (r. 1702–1714).
In 1743, another minister, Rev.
Thomas Nairn
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
(c. 1680–1764), who had left the established Church and joined the
Associate Presbytery, came over to the Societies, which were then constituted the Reformed Presbytery.
The Reformed Presbytery increased in numbers, and in 1810 it was divided into three—the Eastern, Northern, and Southern Presbyteries—which met the following year as the first Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland. In that same year, the Irish and North American Reformed Presbyterian churches, daughters of the Scottish church, were also strong enough for each to constitute its first
synod. Since then, the Australian, Cypriot, Filipino, and South Sudanese churches have been established.
See also
*
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
*
Calvinism
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
*
Cameronians
*
Covenanters
*
Solemn League and Covenant
*
Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland
The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland ( gd, An Eaglais Shaor Chlèireach, ) was formed in 1893. The Church identifies itself as the spiritual descendant of the Scottish Reformation. The Church web-site states that it is 'the constitutional he ...
*
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
The Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) (Scottish Gaelic: An Eaglais Shaor Leantainneach) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination which was formed in January 2000. It claims to be the true continuation of the Free Church of Scotland, hence its ...
References
External links
Reformed Presbyterian Church of AustraliaReformed Presbyterian Church of IrelandReformed Presbyterian Church of North AmericaReformed Presbyterian Church of ScotlandRP Global Alliance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reformed Presbyterian churches
Reformed Presbyterian Church (denominational group)
Covenanters
Presbyterianism in Scotland
Scottish Reformation
17th century in Scotland
17th-century Calvinism
Religious organizations established in the 1690s
1690 establishments in Scotland