Free Reformed Churches of Australia

(Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Free Reformed Churches of Australia
The Free Reformed Church at Mundijong, Western Australia
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationReformed
Origin1951
Congregations18
Members5,000
Official websitefrca.org.au

The Free Reformed Churches of Australia (FRCA) are a federation of 18 congregations,[1] 16 in Western Australia, two in Tasmania and a home-congregation in Cairns. At the start of 2016 the total membership was 4,663.[2] Their historical roots are in the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands (Liberated) as a result of post-World War II immigration, and their doctrinal roots are in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation and the Bible. The first congregation was in Armadale, Western Australia, founded in 1951.[3]

Doctrine

As a confessional church, the churches subscribe to the Three Forms of Unity: Canons of Dort, Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism. The churches submit to the following three creeds as summaries of the faith: The Apostles Creed, The Nicene Creed, and The Athanasian Creed.

Churches

The FRCA has the following churches[4] in Western Australia, in order of institution:

and the following churches in Tasmania:

Sister relationships

The Free Reformed Churches of Australia have sister-church relationships with[6]

Sister church relations with the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands (Liberated) (Gereformeerde Kerken vrijgemaakt) were suspended[8] at FRCA Synod Baldivis in June 2015, and terminated[9] at FRCA Synod Bunbury in June 2018.

Mission

Their local churches are actively engaged in mission work in several locations in Asia and the Pacific, including Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. They have particularly close ties with the Canadian and American Reformed Churches, and many of their ministers have received their theological training at the Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary.

See also

References

  1. ^ FRCA Church Details
  2. ^ Cumulative statistic sourced from Yearbook 2016 for the Free Reformed Churches
  3. ^ "Church Details". Free Reformed Churches of Australia. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  4. ^ FRCA Church Details
  5. ^ FRC Cairns
  6. ^ FRCA Sister Churches
  7. ^ First Evangelical Reformed Church Singapore
  8. ^ Press Release of FRCA Synod Baldivis 2015, Week 1
  9. ^ Press Release of FRCA Synod Bunbury 2018

External links