Free Reformed Churches of Australia

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Free Reformed Churches of Australia
Free Reformed Church of Mundijong, December 2020 02.jpg
The Free Reformed Church at Mundijong, Western Australia
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationReformed
Origin1951
Congregations16
Members5,000
Official websitefrca.org.au

The Free Reformed Churches of Australia (FRCA) are a federation of 16 congregations,[1] 14 in Western Australia, two in Tasmania and a home-congregation in Cairns. At the start of 2016 the total membership was 4663.[2] Their historical roots are in the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands (Liberated) as a result of post-World War II immigration, and their doctrinal roots are in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation and the Bible. The first congregation was in Armadale, Western Australia, founded in 1951.[3]

Doctrine[]

As a confessional church, the churches subscribe to the Three Forms of Unity: Canons of Dort, Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism. The churches submit to the following three creeds as summaries of the faith: The Apostles Creed, The Nicene Creed, and The Athanasian Creed.

Churches[]

The FRCA has the following churches[4] in Western Australia, in order of institution:

  • Armadale - instituted 24 June 1951
  • Albany - instituted 14 December 1952
  • Kelmscott (daughter of Armadale) - instituted 1 January 1981
  • Byford (daughter of Armadale) - instituted 27 January 1985
  • Mount Nasura (formerly known as Bedfordale; daughter of Kelmscott) - instituted 1 December 1987
  • Rockingham (daughter of Byford) - instituted 6 September 1992
  • West Albany (daughter of Albany) - instituted 6 August 1994
  • Southern River (formerly known as West Kelmscott; daughter of Kelmscott) - instituted 29 November 1998
  • Bunbury - instituted 25 November 2001
  • Darling Downs (daughter of Byford and Armadale) - instituted 6 July 2003
  • Baldivis (daughter of Rockingham) - instituted 1 July 2007
  • Mundijong (daughter of Byford) - instituted 6 December 2009
  • Busselton (daughter of Bunbury) - instituted 27 March 2011.
  • Melville (daughter of Southern River) - instituted 2 February 2014.
  • There is a home-congregation in Cairns, Queensland, overseen by Armadale.[5]

and the following churches in Tasmania:

  • Launceston - instituted 15 February 1953
  • Legana (daughter of Launceston) - instituted 4 December 1988

Sister Relationships[]

The Free Reformed Churches of Australia have sister-church relationships with[6]

Sister church relations with the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands (Liberated) (Gereformeerde Kerken vrijgemaakt) were suspended[8] at FRCA Synod Baldivis in June 2015, and terminated[9] at FRCA Synod Bunbury in June 2018.

Mission[]

Their local churches are actively engaged in mission work in several locations in Asia and the Pacific, including Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. They have particularly close ties with the Canadian and American Reformed Churches, and many of their ministers have received their theological training at the Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ FRCA Church Details
  2. ^ Cumulative statistic sourced from Yearbook 2016 for the Free Reformed Churches
  3. ^ "Church Details". Free Reformed Churches of Australia. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  4. ^ FRCA Church Details
  5. ^ FRC Cairns
  6. ^ FRCA Sister Churches
  7. ^ First Evangelical Reformed Church Singapore
  8. ^ Press Release of FRCA Synod Baldivis 2015, Week 1
  9. ^ Press Release of FRCA Synod Bunbury 2018

External links[]

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