Affiliate Relations with the Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly
In our long effort to become more Biblical and Confessional in our ecclesiology, we have as of March, 2018, entered into the status of Affiliate Relations with the Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly in the first formal step of seeking to join the denomination. We are part of the denomination’s New Geneva Presbytery.
As of April 1, 2021 (no foolin’!) we took the next step by making our Declaration of Association as a new entity and new name, the Puritan Reformed Presbyterian Church (previously Puritan Evangelical Church of America) toward closing the old incorporated identity. De-incorporation is required by the RPCGA per the concern regarding it as Erastianism; after careful study we came to agreement on the theology behind the need for this change, and, counting the cost and discerning the times, we see it as an important process in which we have begun working.
See these articles that helped our study and decision to make this change and close our incorporation after declaring association as a new entity:
- Four Ways to Organize a Ministry by Dr. Roger Sapp
- Covenant Presbyterian Church Partial Report on Incorporation by Dr. Phillip Kayser (which includes not only the denomination’s considerations but also a helpful study report by the RCUS in Appendix C, which found particularly persuasive).
- The Problems with Church Incorporation by Dr. Phillip Kayser).