Reformed Evangelical Synod of America

As we receive questions about the Synod, from time to time we’ll update this page of “Frequently Asked Questions”. If you have a question for us, or if the following answers leave you with still more questions, please feel free to contact us.

(1) Why do you seem so “Catholic”?

Because we are unashamedly Catholic, aren’t you?

Now, before we continue, let’s define terms. We define ‘catholic’ as “the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3) and subsequently lived out in the visible church throughout her history. History teaches us that the term ‘catholic’ originated as a way of defending orthodox (i.e., right believing) Christians from the various ‘Gnostic’ movements in the ancient Church. You, thus, have two choices when living out your life as a Christian: catholic or gnostic. We prefer to be catholic. Don’t you?

We recognize the Reformation as the “firstfruits” of our duty under God to recover the primal doctrines of catholic Christianity and free them from the errors of the Roman Church. The Reformers themselves would never have acknowledged that they were anything but Catholic (or catholic if you prefer). Instead, by their adoption of the historic western shape of the catechism and substance of the faith (Creed, Commandments, Lord’s Prayer, Sacraments), they declared themselves the rightful heirs of the Western Church and the apostolic tradition, i.e. the catholic faith. In their minds, seeking to divorce oneself from the history of the universal church was a dangerous step. The Reformers believed that Rome had separated herself from the true faith of the Scriptures as attested by the Fathers. They considered themselves to be the true Catholics, while viewing the Roman Church as in schism from the truth. So do we.

All of the Reformers confessed the historic creeds and all considered themselves truly Catholic precisely because they were Reformed and Evangelical! It is a much more recent phenomenon for people to consider themselves either ‘reformed’ or ‘evangelical’ and yet see themselves as something other than truly Catholic or connected to the historic visible church!

It is important to remember that the Roman Church does not hold exclusive license to use the word catholic, and thus, judged on the basis of Scripture, Creed, and ancient principle, the Reformed Evangelical Synod of America is truly a Catholic Church.

(2) What do you mean by calling yourselves ‘Reformed’?

The description ‘reformed’ refers, of course, to the time period of the Reformation. In the West, the Church went through a dramatic and much needed transformation and upheaval similar to that which arose during the Christological debates centuries earlier. The “faith once delivered to the saints” was not altered, but the Reformers sought to bring a strong focus on the deposit of truth in Holy Scripture in light of the theological perversions of the time.

Calling oneself ‘reformed’ does not mean that we have ceased being catholic. It means, rather, that we seek to embody the faith once delivered to the saints (the catholic faith of the historic creeds) in a way that reflects our confidence in the five solas of the Reformation:

• Sola Scriptura
• Sola Fide
• Sola Gratia
• Solo Christo
• Soli Deo Gloria

(3)  What do you mean by calling yourselves ‘Evangelical’?

The term ‘Evangelical’ generally refers back to the Reformation as well. The people we call Lutherans are considered the first Evangelicals to bloom from the Reformation. We use the term mostly in that sense, though we are also evangelical in the sense of believing strongly in the absolute necessity of the Great Commission of our Lord (Matthew 28:18-20).

Lutherans (like the Reformed) considered their task to be the revitalization of the Western Church in light of the Scriptural doctrine of justification by faith. Their efforts in reform were much more conservative than many others in the Protestant movement (i.e., less dramatic on the surface). The dramatic change that revolutionized Luther and his fellow laborers was the return to the Scriptures for all believers and the emphasis on the Christian Life as flowing from an entirely new principle of life, the “New Obedience” possible only for those who knew themselves to be justified by faith.

(4) You also appear to be somewhat Anglican. Why is this?

The Anglican Church was “Evangelical” and “Reformed” in its own way, and in many respects it served as a middle ground between the German and Dutch reformations. Anglicanism also served as a mediating position between radical reformation and Roman Catholicism. Anglicans have a strong history of striking, English-language liturgy as well, and maintain a historic episcopate. We share many traits with the Anglicans – though perhaps not of many contemporary Anglicans – and so, on the surface, we have a strong connection with the Anglican way.

(5) So, who do your consider your forebearers?

Our Synod has emerged out of the matrix of the early Continental Reformed movement (German and Hungarian Reformed), the Evangelicals (Lutheran), and Anglican. We consider ourselves vitally linked to the faith of the historic church through our heritage. If you consider us awfully “Catholic” for people who call themselves “Reformed” and “Evangelical”, it may be because you aren’t as familiar with the historic churches of the Reformation as you may think.

(6) What is all this business with commemorating saints in your Prayer Book? That’s awfully Roman, isn’t it?

It would be, if we were praying to them and asking them do things for us; but we commemorate our Christian forbearers in a distinctly Protestant and Patristic way. They serve to instruct us about Church history, and to show that Christ’s promise concerning the Church in Matthew 16:18 is a true, valid belief. Sadly, the average American Christian seems to think – to borrow the words of a friend – that soon after the Apostolic Age, the Christian faith all but disappeared, somehow Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the Wittenburg Church’s door and then Billy Graham started preaching not long thereafter! Such ‘abbreviated’ views of church history which don’t see the Reformation as the flowering and maturing of the Catholic faith and the logical outgrowth of the faith once delivered to the saints would have a hard time understanding what our practices are in this regard. So through our commemorations, we are attempting to address North America’s painfully short memory when it comes to Church History in this small way.

Addressing the poverty of Christian knowledge in his own day, the sixteenth century reformer Martin Bucer wrote: “We teach that the blessed saints who lie in the presence of our Lord Christ and of whose lives we have biblical or other trustworthy accounts, ought to be commemorated in such a way, that the congregation is shown what graces and gifts their God and Father and ours conferred upon them through our common Saviour and that we should give thanks to God for them, and rejoice with them as members of the one body over those graces and gifts, so that we may be strongly provoked to place greater confidence in the grace of God for ourselves, and to follow the example of their faith.”

Our commemorations, following the Reformation tradition, are always offered in the same sense as mentioned in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer’s Communion Service – as reminders of our duty before God and need for the grace of Jesus Christ alone: “And we also bless thy holy Name for all thy servants departed this life in thy faith and fear; beseeching thee to give us grace so to follow their good examples, that with them we may be partakers of thy heavenly kingdom.”

These commemorations are being moved to a book of “Lesser Feasts and Commemorations” as part of our Prayer book Revision. Beginning in Advent 2009, our emphasis will be on Biblical Saints and the Lections for each Lord’s Day, though previous posts will be available on this site.

(7) But you have people living ‘under vows’, and your Prayer Book has the word ‘presbyter’, and you have bishops! That’s hardly ‘reformed’, ‘evangelical’, or ‘protestant’!

Another reason that some of our terminology may seem strange to you is is that we are in the process of working through terminology with a goal of being faithful to Scripture and the historic continuity of the Church while, at the same time, expressing things in ways the speak to living out a contemporary mission.

Sometimes older “Catholic-y” (sic!) words communicate something that makes sense to us in a particular situation, but it sends up “red flags” to others. An example of this occurred when, in October 2009, we set apart a man to establish a new ministry. It turns out that when several people who thought we had gone off the deep end raised their questions (charitably), the ultimate concerns they voiced had already been addressed internally and in a quite reformed and evangelical way. In the end, they found us to have a “reformed” and “evangelical” substance to our work, but they questioned the terms deployed. Had we called the man a “Church Planter” establishing a “mission base” and said he’d been “Commissioned” and was “under accountability”, all would have been well.

As far as ‘bishops’ go, churches without episcopal government are a relatively recent development. The Old Testament records and approves of hierarchies within the civil and ecclesiastical structure of Israel. That understanding informed the “New Testament” church which quickly spawned what we call “episcopal government”. At the time of the Reformation, England, Scotland, Hungary, Sweden, and the Palatinate in Germany all had “bishops” or “superintendents” with some episcopal function. The “Aberdeen Doctors” in Scotland and the Puritan Richard Baxter advocated a reform of the Episcopal office, not it’s abandonment. One might even argue that the “Presbyterian Form of Church Government” in the original Westminster standards more closely represents an adaptation of the Ignatian form of Episcopacy than the “Presbureaucracies” we see today. Even today, the Anglican, Hungarian Reformed Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Scandinavia have retained the office of “Bishop”. The Anglican Church and Evangelical Lutheran Churches of Scandinavia have retained the title ‘priests’ (we ourselves generally use “presbyter”) and lay claim to ‘apostolic succession’! So we find ourselves well within the “Reformed” and “Evangelical” tradition here.

Not everyone is so kind as to be willing to set aside their preconceived notions and ask, let alone listen. At some point, not everyone will be pleased. We do promise, however, by God’s grace to not only operate out of historically reformed and evangelical conviction but also speak in a manner that doesn’t give unnecessary offense to our brethren in the faith. But in the rush of ministry, we will probably continue to do things that leave people scratching their heads – though hopefully not so as to draw blood.

(8) I still think you are on the wrong path.

We believe – together with thinkers such as Augustine, Luther, and Calvin – in the depravity of humanity. It’s possible that in our efforts to live out our Reformed, Evangelical, and historically Catholic faith that we too have erred in greater or lesser degree. If we have, upon instruction from the Word, we will by God’s grace humbly admit that to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, seek His forgiveness, and seek to set out on the right path empowered by His grace. Hopefully people will show us the charity they seek for themselves when they err. Charity in that case hopes the best for others and operates with kindness and compassion (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8). Charity may even listen first in such instances! We do seek to operate with integrity and carry out Christ’s work today without a “knee jerk”, uncritical and “romantic” allegiance to the past!

Still have questions? Perhaps we can help you via our contact form.

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