The final authority for the faith and life of a historic Reformed Presbyterian church is the Bible. The Bible is a large book, however, and even Bible believing evangelical Christians understand and interpret it's message differently. Therefore, it is not sufficient to say "I believe the Bible is the Word of God." There needs to be summary statements of the Bible's teachings. Some summaries of the teaching of the Bible are set forth as creeds, confessions, and statements of faith. They are always subordinate to the Bible itself; they seek to set forth the teachings of the Bible. While many churches may have simple, short, statements of faith, the statement of faith of most historic Reformed and Presbyterian churches is The Westminster Confession of Faith.
Members do not have to adhere to all the teachings in the Westminster Standards. Like the Bible, we make a distinction between those who are Christians who must only make a credible profession of faith and promise to live as "becometh the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ" in order to be a member of the church and the spiritual leaders of the church, the Pastors, Elders, and Deacons. These I Tim. 3 tells us must be "sound in the faith" and must, therefore hold to all the doctrines taught in the Westminster Confession of Faith which we believe to be the very teaching of the Bible.
What is the origin of the Westminster Standards? In 1643, the English Parliament called an assembly of 121 ministers and 31 laymen, some of the greatest biblical scholars and men of God the world has ever known, to provide a creed , a statement of faith, and a form of government for the church. This group of men became known as the Westminster Assembly because they convened at Westminster Abbey in London. During the years in which they met, 1643-1649, they penned the Westminster Confession of Faith, which many consider to be the finest statement of the Christian faith known to Christianity. Although a number of Presbyterian churches have abandoned the Westminster standards, many Reformed Presbyterian churches throughout the world still hold to them as their confession of faith. Historic Baptists even have a form of this statement of faith, the Philadelphia Confession of Faith.
The Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States, (RPCUS), was born in 1983 out of the continuing struggle to uphold the all-embracing, inerrant authority of the Bible as the Word of God, to maintain the purity of the church, and to proclaim the truth of the Reformed Faith "in all openness unhindered." We believe that God has called us into existence to glorify him by being faithful to the Word of God.
Our people come from a variety of races and backgrounds, from one end of the economic, intellectual, social spectrum to the other. We are a multiplicity of peoples, languages, and races, woven by the Holy Spirit into one united body in Christ. And we praise God for what he is making of us; so we work and pray diligently "to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
The focus of our church's life, fellowship, worship, work and mission is GOD IN CHRIST, who is the "Savior of the world" and "the King of kings, and Lord of lords." We strive, with the help of the Holy Spirit, not to be doctrine-centered, law-centered, church-centered, or man-centered, but to be Trinity-centered in all we are and do, because " of Him, through Him, and to Him are all things. to Him be the glory forever." As Augustine said: "let God be all in all to thee, for in Him is the entirety of all that thou lovest." We are "determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."