Date Founded: 1725
Membership/Number of Clergy: 2.940/50 as of 2012
Headquarters: N/A
Schools & Seminaries: N/A
Publications: The Reformed Herald
Website: http://www.rcus.org/
Core Beliefs: "We are a church that believes in the Bible, studies the Bible, preaches and teaches the Bible, and seeks to obey the Bible. The Bible is central to all that we are and do. In it God speaks to us today concerning every area of life and thought. In a day when biblical authority is undermined or neglected in many churches, we seek to be faithful the the Word of God."
"We place our trust and faith in Christ alone: in his person, work, and Word. The Bible and it alone, as the Word of Christ, is our final standard for all that we believe and do. It is inspired of God and therefore the absolute authority as truth; inerrant and infallible in all matters, including history and science. The whole counsel of God in Scripture is our standard in every area of life and thought."
"We affirm that the Bible is the Written Word of God."
Short History: Begun by Dutch and German immigrants in the Dutch Reformed Church in several small communities north of Philadelpha who asked a schoolmaster, John Philip Boehm, to become the minister of their churches. The American church split from the Dutch churches and established itself as the German Reformed Church in the United States in 1792. The first synod was held at Lancaster, PA on April 27, 1793. The church then consisted of 22 ministers, 178 congregations, and about 15,000 members. The church grew through the immigration of doctrinally conservative Germans from all over Germany in the 19th century. The word German was dropped from the name in the early 1900s. The old RCUS continued as a separate denomination until 1933-34 when the larger part of it united with the Evangelical Synod of North America to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church. This new church merged with the Congregational Christian Churches in 1957 to form the United Church of Christ. One classis-the Eureka Classis-refused to participate in the 1934 merger. That classis grew and a Synod was formed with 4 classes. This church is the current RCUS. A very detailed church history is available at http://www.rcus.org/history-2/.
Local Churches: There are no churches in Kentucky or Indiana. Most are in the Upper Midwest, Plains States, Wyoming, and California. A list can be found at http://www.rcus.org/directory/congregations/.
