What is Associate Reformed Presbyterian?

What is the ARP?
Well, a church is a church, isn't it? What more do you need to say?

True, a church is a church, and all Christian churches have more similarities than differences. If we believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and if we have accepted Him in faith as our Lord and Savior, then we certainly have more to draw us together as Christian people than we have to separate us. Before we determine what A.R.P. is, we should certainly affirm our unity with all other Christian people and their own churches. As a matter of fact, when we use the word "Church" by itself and dignify it with a capital "C", we are referring to that great body of Christian believers whoever they are, whatever they call themselves, and wherever in the world they may live. The "Church" transcends the boundaries of any single congregation or denomination.

Ordinarily, however, when we become part of the capital "C" Church, we worship, study, witness, serve and enjoy Christian fellowship in a specific congregation, and that congregation is usually part of a specific denomination. Differences arise because each denomination has its own distinctive characteristics in history, doctrine, and the way it carries out its mission. Often there will even be observable differences from one congregation to another within a denomination.

"What in the world is an A.R.P.?" then becomes a very important question if we truly want to understand who we are. However, we must remember that we are the people of God through our faith in Jesus Christ and that we have more in common with Christians in other denominations and congregations than we have differences to separate us.

Where we come from:
Of course, we can trace our beliefs and history all the way back to Biblical times and to the beginning of the church in the scriptures. However, we don't have room for that story here, so, let's assume that we share a more or less common history with most of Western Christianity up until the time of the Protestant Reformation.

The Protestant Reformation began in 1517 when a copy of Martin Luther's famous "Ninety-five Theses" found its way to Geneva, Switzerland. John Calvin, a young theologian had been forced to flee his native France and settle in Geneva. Although there were subtle differences between the theological approaches of Luther and Calvin, these two leaders and their followers shared a common distrust of many of the practices that had grown up over the years in the Roman Catholic Church and a common desire to restore a truly Biblical foundation for the teaching of the Church.

In the meantime, John Knox, a former Roman Catholic priest, became the chief spokesman for the Protestant movement in Scotland. When Mary Tudor, a Roman Catholic, became queen in 1553, Knox fled to Geneva and remained there for six years, except for a brief trip to Scotland in 1555. When he returned to Scotland in 1559 he brought with him a deep appreciation for the teaching of his new friend John Calvin.

The turbulent history of Christianity in Scotland over the next 180 years produced the two groups, known as the "Covenanters" and the "Seceders", that eventually united to become the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.

The "Covenanters" held firmly to the absolute authority of Jesus Christ over the Church, as against the claims of the King to be head of the Church. Many of them suffered and died in defense of this position, true martyrs of our denomination. Their descendants organized the Reformed Presbytery of Scotland on August 1, 1743.

The "Seceders" opposed the Episcopal form of church government under the control of bishops. They also questioned the purity of the doctrine of grace as it had been accepted by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Above all else, however, they were opposed to the practice of patronage, the system which turned the choice of the local minister over to the patron, or chief landowner, in the parish. The outgrowth of these issues was the formation, under the leadership of Ebenezer Erskine and others, of the Associate Presbytery of Scotland on December 6, 1733.

Many supporters of the "Covenanters" and "Seceders" made their way to the American colonies, and, it was in Philadelphia, on November 1, 1782 that these two groups united to form the Associate Reformed Church. Growth over the next twenty-two years led to the formation of four subsidiary synods under the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Church. The Synod of the Carolinas was formed on May 9, 1803 in the Old Brick Church in Fairfield County.

In 1821 the Synod of the Carolinas requested permission of the General Synod to withdraw and form their own separate organization. That permission was granted and the Associate Reformed Synod of the South was constituted as an independent denomination April 1, 1822. It is that denomination that continues today as the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.

Although many of the issues that led to the formation of the original Associate and Reformed Presbyteries in Scotland were resolved in the American colonies and later in the new nation, there is much in our history that continues to influence the church in the twentieth century. Some would say that we have inherited at least a measure of that stubborn Scottish conservatism that leads us to approach change cautiously. True, we are not the first by whom the new is tried but we are not always the last to lay the old aside. We still believe that Jesus Christ is the King and Head of His Church, and we surely maintain a strong emphasis on the grace of God and our absolute dependence on His grace for our salvation.

What we believe:
To discover in detail what Associate Reformed Presbyterians believe we would need to turn to our official doctrinal statements -- The Westminster Confession of Faith and The Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms . These documents, prepared by the Westminster Assembly in the seventeenth century, present a detailed summary of the basic doctrinal beliefs of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and a number of other Presbyterian and Reformed denominations.

We do not have the time or space to carefully study these documents, however, there are three major doctrines that form the foundation of what A.R.P.'s believe:

The Westminster Confession of Faith begins with a chapter entitled "Of the Holy Scriptures" and one of our basic doctrines concerns the authority of the Bible. We are "people of the Book". We believe that in the Old and New Testaments God has given us, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, His inspired, infallible word to guide us in the way of salvation and to let us know His divine will for the Church and for our individual lives. In our membership vows we affirm that we accept these Scriptures as "the only perfect rule of faith and practice". The Bible, therefore, is our unfailing and absolutely true guide concerning what we should believe and how we should live, both as individual Christians and in the mission of the Church. It is in the doctrine of the authority of the Scriptures that has led Associate Reformed Presbyterians to place great emphasis upon Christian education through the congregation, in church school, vacation Bible school classes, and through denominational conferences and institutions of higher learning.

The Scriptures teach us about the sovereignty of God, and that doctrine, also, is one of the three foundations of our belief. The Bible tells us of God, Who created the heavens and the earth (Psalm 24), and that the whole creation, including those who inhabit it, belongs to God by the right of original creation. Also, in Psalm 47:7 we read that "God is the king of all the earth". He is in charge of His creation and of His creatures. If He were not, He would not be sovereign, and if not sovereign then He would not be the one true God. This doctrine may seem cold and arbitrary on the surface, but, the beauty and heart of it come through when we remember that our sovereign God is also revealed to us in the Bible as holy, compassionate, merciful, just and loving.

A third foundation for our belief is found in the doctrine of God's grace. The supreme picture of divine grace is the life and death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who was willing to be born in human form, to live and suffer among us, and to finally die on the cruel Roman cross in order to atone, not for any fault within Himself, but for our sins. In the old hymn by John Newton we sing of "Amazing Grace". The amazing thing about God's grace in Jesus Christ is that we receive it without earning or deserving it. That is the nature of divine grace: it is a pure gift.

We Associate Reformed Presbyterians certainly have no corner on these wonderful doctrines of the Church. We share with all Christian people the Biblical understanding of the true authority of the Scriptures, the sovereignty of God, and the grace of God as seen in Jesus Christ. These three, however, have been the special emphases through the years in the teaching of Presbyterian and Reformed churches.

What we do:
As the Epistle of James in the New Testament makes clear to us, Christian people are not meant merely to "believe", but also to "act". As James tells us, ". . . faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead" (James 2:17). In other words, the Church has a mission to carry out in the world. Let us look at a few ways the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church seeks to fulfill that mission.

After His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples that they would be His "witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The mission begins in our own home communities, our state and our nation. Associate Reformed Presbyterians are involved in evangelism and the development of new Christian congregations here in the United States through the mission of Outreach North America. In the Catawba Presbytery (the geographical district of which Ebenezer is a part) we are involved in the development of new congregations. The other presbyteries of our denomination have similar work in evangelism and church development, and our overall mission in this area is carried out under the supervision and assistance of Outreach North America.

We are also involved in taking our Christian witness in words and deeds "to the ends of the earth". The denominational board that oversees our mission outside the United States is known as "World Witness". For almost 100 years we limited our world mission to Mexico and the portion of India which is now known as Pakistan. In more recent years, we have expanded our witness to the world to include missionaries in Wales, Germany, Russia, and the Middle East. We also participate through cooperative missionaries in Chad, Spain, Korea, and Brazil.

Christian education has long been a major concern in our denomination as we have sought to reach out to others with the gospel and to provide nurture for those already within the church. Our Board and Office of Christian Education provide printed and audio-visual resources for our congregations, offer the service of their staff to help in the development of sound local educational programs, and plan and present a series of annual conferences and educational events for various ages and special needs groups. Other committees and agencies sponsor camp programs, special training events in music and drama, and a variety of other educational opportunities. Our camp and conference center, Bonclarken, N.C., is the setting for many of these events. Bonclarken is equipped with residential, dining, worship, and meeting facilities and provides opportunities for a wide variety of recreational activities.

Associate Reformed Presbyterians have also been leaders in the area of Christian higher education. Erskine Theological Seminary began to train young men for Christian ministry in 1837. Two years later, in 1839, Erskine College, South Carolina's first four-year Christian college, opened. Both of these fully-accredited institutions are located in Due West, S.C. They continue to offer educational opportunities of the highest quality for Associate Reformed Presbyterians and many others.

Another significant aspect of our denominational witness is the contribution of the women of the church. They are organized locally in the circles of the congregation, and participate at each level in the mission of the presbyteries and of the General Synod. Their support of our witness, locally, nationally, and around the world has been a tremendous blessing in our denominational mission.

You may wonder how these and other aspects of our mission are supervised and supported, and that questions brings us to the subject of church government. How are the decisions made that affect the life and mission of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church?

Church Government:
The answer is to be found in the generic part of our name -- Presbyterian. Significant decisions at each level of our denomination are made primarily by presbyters or elders, as they are commonly known. All ordained ministers are elders, frequently designated as "Teaching Elders". Laymen, however, are elected by the congregation as "Ruling Elders", and these men form the Session, that body which oversees the overall life and spiritual health of the congregation. They are the general ruling body of the local congregation, although certain decisions require the approval of the members of the congregation. Among these decisions is the call for a new pastor and the approval of the annual budget.

Most Associate Reformed Presbyterian congregations also elect Deacons to form a Diaconate. The Diaconate has as its responsibility the serving ministry of the congregation to the members and others in the community, the oversight of church property and buildings, the encouragement of overall stewardship among the members, and the gathering and distribution of the congregations tithes and offerings.

Ministers and at least one ruling elder from each congregation (depending upon the number of members) form the presbytery, the regional governing body. In our denomination there are currently eight presbyteries. Ebenezer A.R.P. is part of the Catawba Presbytery, roughly defined as all of South Carolina east of the Broad River. Among the important duties of the presbyteries is the ordination of ministers and the installation of ministers in their congregations.

The highest governing body of our denomination is the General Synod, which meets annually to consider the overall mission of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. As with the presbytery, ministers and at least one ruling elder from each congregation constitutes the General Synod.