The confessional Presbyterian and Reformed (P&R) churches […] begin with the assumption that it is not the function of singing in worship for us to say whatever we want to God but to repeat God’s Word after him. The role of a song in worship is not for us toContinue 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
By Simon Jooste and Johannes Potgieter It is our opinion that the 1942 RCSA revision of Article 69 was based on a church historical hermeneutic that set the stage for her more radical revision in 2012. As described above, the decision of the 2012 Synod turned on the assumption thatContinue Reading
By Simon Jooste and Johannes Potgieter By 1930 the tide appears to have begun to change within the RCSA relative to song in corporate worship. That this shift coincided with a similar change in the convictions of Totius (as described above) should not go unnoticed. Between 1930 and 1942, theContinue Reading
By Simon Jooste and Johannes Potgieter Undisputed is the fact that the Doppers desired and realised a return to the 1619 Church Order of Dort (Louw 1999:597). Scholars are in agreement that the secession of the VGK from the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk (NHK) had much to do with what wasContinue Reading
By Simon Jooste and Johannes Potgieter The Synod of Dort that convened in the Dutch town of Dordrecht during 1618–1619 is best known for its formulation of the Canons of Dort. Not unrelated to, and arguably even more important than, this seminal Reformed creedal statement is the church order andContinue Reading
By Simon Jooste and Johannes Potgieter The key question to be explored in this article is whether the Reformed Churches in South Africa (RCSA) possess within her tradition the resources to perpetuate her predominating legacy of singing Scripture only. Did her 2012 General Synod decision to revise Article 69 ofContinue 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
I received a piece of spam mail late last week offering to “elevate” the worship service at my church. I can think of a number of verbs that might pique the interest of a Reformed church: purify, reform, sanctify, solemnize are some that come to mind but elevate is notContinue Reading
There are two truths that have to be acknowledged in this discussion at the outset: Sunday, the Lord’s Day, is the Christian Sabbath. God’s Word grounds the Sabbath principle not in the Mosaic legislation (i.e., in the judicial or ceremonial laws) but in creation. The Old Covenant, Mosaic, Sabbath has expired,Continue Reading