Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States

The Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States was a small Presbyterian denomination based in the United States that merged into the Vanguard Presbytery. The RPCUS was established in 1983, subscribes to the unrevised^[1] Westminster Confession and upholds biblical inerrancy. The denomination self-identified as theonomic.^[2]

History[]

The RPCUS began when Chalcedon Presbyterian Church in north Atlanta, Georgia left he Presbyterian Church in America in 1983. Chalcedon had set requirements that its elders adhere to both theonomy and postmillennialism; however, groups within the PCA's North Georgia Presbytery complained that the church was being too strict in its requirements and that it was "going beyond the Westminster Confession." While the complaint was dismissed, Chalcedon sought to become secure in its position. They inquired into the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, but found that they had not yet settled on how to handle theonomy, so they formed their own denomination.^[3] Chalcedon had begun only nine years earlier under the leadership of Joe Morecraft. After Morecraft ran for Congress in Georgia' s 7th District in 1986, losing in the general election to incumbent Democrat George Darden, the denomination saw some growth in the Atlanta area. The church was joined in 1987 by Covenant Presbyterian Church, which grew out of a Reformed Bible study group held in Buford, Georgia. The study group had been partially under the headship of the Rev. Wayne Rogers; however, it would soon be led by Rev. Christopher B. Strevel.^[4] The denomination eventually had four presbyteries: Covenant Presbytery (based in Atlanta), Hanover Presbytery, Western Presbytery, and Westminster Presbytery. One church split from the RPCUS in 1990 over concerns of the regulative principle of worship—believing only psalms were acceptable in worship.^[5] The next year, Western and Westminster Presbyteries chose to depart and merge, forming the Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly and the Hanover Presbytery also left on its own to form the Reformed Presbyterian Church – Hanover Presbytery. The split was due, in part, to the RPCUS's failure to establish and maintain a system of church discipline and inability to finalize on a constitution.^[6] Only Covenant Presbytery remained; however, it would continue to grow, particularly in the Southern US. By 2003, the presbytery had 6 churches and 2 mission churches.^[7]

Morecraft, the denomination's founder, remained pastor of Chalcedon from 1974 until 2015. In 2015, Morecraft transferred his membership to Reformed Presbyterian Church – Hanover Presbytery as the result of judicial processes against him within the denomination.^[8] He immediately founded Heritage Presbyterian Church affiliated with that denomination, also located in Cumming, Georgia.^[9] Assistant Pastor Tim Price succeeded Morecraft as the Senior Pastor at Chalcedon, before leaving in 2019. Before Morecraft's exodus in 2015, the denomination had 8 churches, 1 domestic mission church, and 1 foreign mission.^[10] By the beginning of 2020, only 3 churches remained: Chalcedon in Cumming, Georgia, Zion in Macon, Georgia, and Trinity in Tazewell, Virginia.^[11] In 2020, the RPCUS finally dissolved after the remaining churches joined the Vanguard Presbytery.^[12][13]

References[]

External links[]

• Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States
• Christ Theological Seminary (seminary of the RPCUS)
• Vanguard Presbytery

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