International Conference of Reformed Churches

Last updated
International Conference of Reformed Churches
International Conference of Reformed Churches logo.jpg
Type Fellowship
Classification Protestant
Orientation Confessionally Reformed
Origin1981;43 years ago (1981)
Members749,407
Official website www.icrconline.com

The International Conference of Reformed Churches (ICRC) is a federation of Reformed or Calvinist churches around the world. The ICRC convenes international meetings every four years.

Contents

The ICRC was founded in 1981 at Groningen in the Netherlands. [1]

The theology of the ICRC is more conservative than the larger World Communion of Reformed Churches and is similar to that of the World Reformed Fellowship. The participating churches endorse the four Reformed confessions: the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, Canons of Dort, and Westminster Confession of Faith.

In 2023, the moderator of the ICRC is Reverend Dr Dick Moes. [2]

List of members

Countries with member denominations of the International Conference of Reformed Churches. Paises com denominacoes membros da Conferencia Internacional das Igrejas Reformadas.png
Countries with member denominations of the International Conference of Reformed Churches.

List of ICRC Members in 2023: [3] [4]

CountryDenominationNumber of congregationsNumber of membersYear
South Africa Free Church in Southern Africa 634,0002004 [5]
South Africa Free Reformed Churches of South Africa 131,8882022 [6]
South Africa Reformed Churches in South Africa 38276,8122022 [6]
Brazil Reformed Churches in Brazil 191,0382019 [7]
Australia Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia 167192016 [6]
Australia Christian Reformed Churches of Australia 557,6112022 [6]
Canada Canadian and American Reformed Churches 7419,8472022 [6]
Canada Heritage Reformed Congregations 102,1362022 [6]
Democratic Republic of the Congo United Reformed Church in Congo 18114,6572012 [8]
Hungary Reformed Presbyterian Church of Central and Eastern Europe 253702022 [6]
India Presbyterian Free Church of Central India 187562021 [6]
India Reformed Presbyterian Church of India 103,0002004 [9]
India Reformed Presbyterian Church North East India 10511,3762021 [6]
IndiaAnugraha Reformed Presbyterian Church of Bangalore---
India Evangelical Reformed Church of India 84-2022 [10]
Indonesia Calvinist Reformed Churches in Indonesia 11--
Indonesia Reformed Churches in Indonesia ---
Ireland Evangelical Presbyterian Church (Ireland) 103962021 [6]
Ireland Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland 412,0652022 [6]
Kenya Africa Evangelical Presbyterian Church 10022,000 [11]
Netherlands Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands 18167,6292024 [12]
Netherlands Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (2009)  [ nl ] [13] 161,5002022 [14]
New Zealand Reformed Churches of New Zealand 233,4612022 [6]
South Korea Presbyterian Church in Korea (Koshin) 2,128385,1862023 [15]
South Korea Independent Reformed Church in Korea 42082022 [6]
Spain Reformed Churches in Spain 3--
Sudan and South Sudan Sudanese Reformed Churches 346,0002023 [16]
Uganda Presbyterian Church in Uganda 873,0472019 [6]
Uganda Reformed Presbyterian Church in Africa (Uganda) ---
United Kingdom Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales 241,0012021 [6]
United Kingdom Free Church of Scotland 1125,4002016 [6]
United Kingdom Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) 401,2952021 [6]
United States of America Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church 27330,6492021 [6]
United States of America Orthodox Presbyterian Church 33233,5202023 [17]
United States of America United Reformed Churches in North America 13025,2962021 [18]
United States of America Reformed Church in the United States 453,5602020 [6]
United States of America Free Reformed Churches of North America 235,4032021 [6]
United States of America Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America 1077,5812021 [6]
WorldTotal4,779749,4072004-2024

Candidates

In 2020, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Peru expressed interest in joining the ICRC, requesting support from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church to do so. [19]

In 2023, a presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America requested that the denomination apply for ICRC membership; the General Assembly referred this overture to its permanent Interchurch Relations Committee. [20]

Former members

The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) and Free Reformed Churches of Australia were founding denominations of the ICRC. However, none of them are currently part of the CIIR. [21] [22] [3]

In 2017, the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) began to allow women's ordination, which is completely rejected by the other members of the organization. Consequently, the ICRC suspended the denomination's membership rights, and urged it to reverse its decision. [23]

However, the Liberated Reformed Churches did not respond to the ICRC's request and continued to ordain women. Consequently, in 2022, the ICRC approved the definitive expulsion of the organization's denomination. [24]

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References

  1. Reformed Fellowship website
  2. "Governance". www.icrconline.com. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  3. 1 2 "Member Churches". www.icrconline.com. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  4. "International Conference of Reformed Churches 2021" . Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  5. "Free Church in Southern Africa". Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 "Minute of the General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church" (PDF). June 2023. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  7. "Statistics of Reformed Churches in Brazil in 2020" . Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  8. "From a broadcast to a denomination 14,600 members". September 13, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  9. "Reformed Presbyterian Church of India". October 21, 2004. Archived from the original on October 2, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  10. "Minutes of the Synod of the United Reformed Churches in North America". October 7, 2022. p. 43. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  11. "CRB: Evangelical Presbyterian Church Africa" . Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  12. Wim Houtman (April 9, 2024). "The Reformed Christian Churches continue to shrink:As if an entire congregation were leaving" . Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  13. "The Reformed Churches of the Netherlands (GKN) have been admitted as a member of the International Conference of Reformed Churches". October 18, 2022. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  14. "Synods of the Reformed Churches in Netherlands and Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Restored) negotiate merger". May 25, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  15. "Statistics of the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Kosin) in 2023". Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  16. "2023 Annual Report of Sudanese Reformed Churches". April 10, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  17. "Report of the General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church 2024" . Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  18. "Minutes of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Churches in North America". pp. 257–261. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  19. "2020 Orthodox Presbyterian Church General Assembly Report" (PDF). December 31, 2019. p. 284. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  20. "Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America 2023" (PDF). June 2023. pp. 24, 967. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  21. "Minute of the 86th General Assembly of the Church Orthodox Presbyterian, Pages 308-309" (PDF). Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  22. "International Conference of Reformed Churches" . Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  23. "International Conference of Reformed Churches suspends Liberated Reformed Churches from membership because the denomination admitted female ordination" . Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  24. "International Conference of Reformed Churches: Membership of Liberated Reformed Churches closed" . Retrieved December 20, 2022.