By Brad Isbell Thesis: No confessional Presbyterian church will long remain confessional or Presbyterian if it loses Reformed worship. First, some definitions: Confessional: orthodox soteriology and doctrine (doctrine of God, Christology, covenant) according to the Reformed confessions. Presbyterian: government by ordained male (per scripture) elders organized in accountable, graded courts.Continue Reading
Dear Friend in Christ, We would like to take this opportunity to re-/introduce Reformed Church Southern Suburbs (RCSS), now a congregation of the United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA). RCSS began as a mission work in Cape Town, South Africa, under the oversight of Reformed Church Bellville in 2012, with a Bible study.Continue Reading
Dear Friend in Christ, We would like to take this opportunity to re-/introduce Reformed Church Southern Suburbs (RCSS), now a congregation of the United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA). RCSS began as a mission work in Cape Town, South Africa, under the oversight of Reformed Church Bellville in 2012, with a Bible study.Continue Reading
On 21 September 2022, RCSS pastor Rev. Dr. Simon Jooste gave a presentation at Westminster Seminary in California on the proposal for his book, Pilgrim politics: recovering the cruciform in our creed. The book proposal is below. I. Book topic and rationale for its writing The Apostle Paul once wroteContinue Reading
In this podcast, pastor and church historian R. Scott Clark talks about how Reformed Christians have thought about Christmas and why this season is both a blessing and a curse. On Christmas morning, most Christian congregations will gather for worship, but it was not always this way. Indeed, when someContinue Reading
There are those who see a tension between being Reformed and being an outward-looking church. I want to put out a number of theses about being missional and Reformed. I’ll divide them into negative and positive theses. I offer the thesis and then a little explanation/commentary (asking you to realise thatContinue Reading
By Rev. Simon Jooste As South Africa’s second-largest metropolis (after Johannesburg), Cape Town not only has a rich history but is also a melting pot of scenic views, cuisines and skin colours. She boasts incredible beauty but also thrombotic veins of prejudice and inequality, which are still fed by theContinue Reading
There is an alternative to the Gnosticism and Marcionism of Modern American Christianity. It is the Reformed confession. It seeks to be biblical, ecumenical (or catholic – that is, adhering the ancient ecumenical or catholic creeds – for example, the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Definition of Chalcedon andContinue Reading