The following 1997 Declaration of Reformed Faith was written and
signed
the weekend of January 10-12 in Rochester NY.
THE 1997 DECLARATION OF REFORMED FAITH January 12, 1997
PREAMBLE
We, faithful members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), are gathered around our concern for our church in this difficult time, to share in faith and hope. We have set our feet firmly on the foundation of the Reformed Tradition as rooted in the Scriptures and encouraged by the Holy Spirit. Upon this foundation and within this communion, we seek to give witness to the convictions that sustain us as we seek to follow our living Lord.
We affirm that we are children of God and servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us by His grace and abides with us in the Holy Spirit. In the providence of our loving God, we find ourselves to be different from one another in our natures while joined in the Body of Christ through faith; at the same time, we find ourselves called to faith and life in this church in this time. We are grieved by our churchs efforts to exclude some of us from full participation in the churchs life, worship, and service, and we hold this to be a wrongful discernment of the Body of Christ. We believe such actions to be a distortion of Gods image, a repudiation of Gods providence, and a misunderstanding of Gods grace in Christ. We stand against this rejection of historic Trinitarian and Reformed theology on which our communion rests.
I SIN
For there is no distinction since all have sinned and are short of the glory of God...
Romans 3:23
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II SCRIPTURE
When controversy arises about the right understanding of any passage or sentence
of Scripture, or for the reformation of any abuse within the Kirk of God, we ought not so
much to ask what [those] have said or done before us, as what the Holy Ghost uniformly
speaks within the body of Scriptures and what Christ Jesus himself did and commanded... We
dare not receive or admit any interpretation which is contrary to any principal point of
our faith, or to any other plain text of Scripture, or to the rule of love.
The Scots Confession, Chapter XVIII
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III GRACE ALONE
What then are we to say? Gentiles, who did not strive for righteousness have
attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; but Israel, who did strive for
righteousness that is based on law, did not succeed in fulfilling that law. Why not?
Because they did not strive for it on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on
works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone...
Romans 9:30-32
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IV CONFESSIONS
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) states its faith and bears witness to Gods
grace in Jesus Christ in the creeds and confessions in the Book of Confessions... These
confessional statements are subordinate standards in the church, subject to the authority
of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, as the Scriptures bear witness to him... Yet the church,
in obedience to Jesus Christ, is open to the reform of its standards as well as of
governance. The church affirms Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda [the Church reformed,
always being reformed]...according to the Word of God and the call of the Spirit.
Book of Order, Form of Government, Chapter 2 G-2.0100-.0200
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V BODY OF CHRIST
But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in
Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized
into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is
no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in
Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:25-28
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VI PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS
All ministry in the Church is a gift from Jesus Christ. Members and officers
alike serve mutually under the mandate of Christ who is the chief minister of all. His
ministry is the basis of all ministries; the standard for all offices in the pattern of
the one who came not to be served by to serve. (Matt 20:28)
Book of Order, Form of Government, Chapter VI G6.0100
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VII OFFICERS OF THE CHURCH
[O]fficers...are ordained to fulfill particular functions. The existence of these
offices in no way diminishes the importance of the commitment of all members to the total
ministry of the church. These ordained officers differ from other members in function
only.
Book of Order, Form of Government, Chapter VI G-6.0102.
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VIII POLITY OF THE CHURCH
[N]o Church governing body ought to pretend to make laws to bind the conscience
in virtue of their own authority; ...all their decisions should be founded upon the
revealed will of God.
Book of Order, Form of Government, Chapter VI G-6.0307.
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IX THE GIFT OF SEXUALITY
Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my
people, and your God my God.
Ruth 1:16
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X COMMITMENT
The church of Jesus Christ is the provisional demonstration of what God intends for
all of humanity.
Book of Order, Form of Government, Chapter 3 G-3.0200.
We state these affirmations and reject these false doctrines as a visible sign of our
assurance that all Gods children are worthy; our conviction that each may receive
the call of God to special service in the church; and our commitment that we shall become
truly a provisional demonstration of what God intends for all humanity.
This Declaration was formatted after the Barmen Declaration of 1934.
THE 1997 DECLARATION OF REFORMED FAITH Written and Signed this 12th Day of January 1997 Downtown United Presbyterian Church Rochester, New York
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