Reformed Presbyterian Church in Taiwan

The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (RPCT; Chinese: 基督教改革宗長老會; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ki-tok-kàu Kái-kek-chong Tiúⁿ-ló-hōe) was officially established in 1971 when the First Presbytery was formed as a result of the union of various conservative Presbyterian and Continental Reformed congregations which were built by the missions.[2] [3] Its origin could be traced back to the 1950s when the very first missionaries of these missions arrived Taiwan.

Reformed Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
基督教改革宗長老會
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationReformed
TheologyConservative
Confessional Calvinist
Evangelical
PolityPresbyterian
RegionTaiwan
Origin1971
Taiwan
Congregations>30
Members900 (year 2011)[1]
Tertiary institutions1
Official websiteN/A

History

50s and 60s: Introducing Reformed faith to Taiwan

The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) started their missions in Taiwan through the Committee on Foreign Missions in March 1950 led by Rev. Egbert W. Andrews. In February 1951, Rev. Richard B. Gaffin, Sr. sailed to Taiwan from Shanghai, whereas Rev. John D. Johnston joined them by October 1954. They decentralised the mission effort soon after they came, in which Rev. Andrews carried on his ministries in Taipei, Rev. Gaffin in Taichung, and Rev. Johnston in Hsinchu County. By the end of the 60s, the OPC missions planted 8 chapels and churches in 7 major cities in Taiwan.[4][5]

Hong En Tang Reformed Presbyterian Church

The Christian Reformed Church (CRC) began their missions in Taiwan after communicating with the OPC Missions, Miss Lillian Bode led this effort and worked in conjunction with the missionaries of the OPC when she reached the island on 1 March 1953.[6] These missionaries cofound a Reformed Fellowship in Taipei, in which regular worship services were conducted.[7] In 1956, the Reformed Fellowship divided to 2 groups, which became the very first local Reformed Presbyterian churches in Taiwan around a decade later, i.e. Xin An Reformed Presbyterian Church (改革宗長老會信安教會; "Xin An" means faith-peace) and Hong En Tang Reformed Presbyterian Church (改革宗長老會宏恩堂; "Hung En Tang" means abundant-grace-congregation). CRC sent their second missionary to Taiwan when Rev. Isaac C. Jen (任以撒) accepted the call to serve in the island by 1958,[8] whereas Rev. and Mrs. William Kosten, and Miss Winabelle Gritter were also sent in a year or two. Meanwhile, Calvin Theological Training Institute (CTTI) was established,[9] the number of enrolling students reached 9 in 1963.[10] In 1966, Ms Lillian Bode finished her missionary works in Taiwan whereas two more brethens, Rev. Mike Vander Pol and Rev. Peter Tong (唐崇平; the elder brother of the evangelist, Stephen Tong) was called to be a missionary to Taiwan.[11]

The CRC missionaries founded 4 congregations with 290 members.[12][13]

The Presbyterian Church in Korea (Koshin) from South Korea sent missionaries like Rev. Kim Yong-Jin and Yoo Whan Yon. They planted 11 congregations with 500 members.[14][15]

At first the missionaries wanted to cooperate with the native Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) and not to build their own system. There were in-official co-works between the missionaries and the churches & seminaries of the PCT, however PCT was becoming increasingly liberal towards the end of 1950s and they did not have any Reformed standards. As a result, the missionaries decided to build up their own confessional Reformed churches.[16]

On 1 June 1964, "The Presbyterian and Reformed Missions Council on Taiwan (PRMC)" was set up among five mission agents. They are the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) mission, the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Koshin) mission, the Reformed Churches of New Zealand (RCNZ), Christian Reformed Church in North America mission, and the World Presbyterian Missions (WPM) which was the sending agency of the Bible Presbyterian Church.[17] [18] The missionaries also joined their efforts together and established the Calvin United Theological College in October, 1966.[19]

On 31 Oct 1966, PRMC decided to establish a local conservative confessional reformed denomination, which was to be named as The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Taiwan, RPC.[20] [21]

After 70s: Official Establishment of the RPCT

The Original Presbytery was formed on 1 March 1971, and it became a self-governing church.[22] However there was a major split within the RPC system in only 4 years. Initially the missionaries will have their voting powers but those will be lost after 4 years, and the missionaries will remain part of the group as advisors. This is the main notion that caused disagreements among the different missions who constitute the PRMC.[23]

After the split in 1975, only CRC mission remained in the Original Presbytery. At first, there were regular Presbytery meetings but they were getting more informal and infrequent as time passed. The Presbytery meeting finally stopped its function by 1989 and most of its church left the Presbytery. Some of them became independent congregations, some joined the second Presbytery or even the Taiwan Presbyterian Church, some did not prosper and was closed down. At last, only 2~3 churches remain staying in the Presbytery when CRC mission left its ministry in Taiwan by around 2004.

The Original Presbytery was finally reestablished when a PCA pastor, Rev. Andrew McCafferty became the moderator of the Hong En Tang Reformed Presbyterian Church in 2008. Presbytery meetings of the First Presbytery were recovered by around 2012. The churches that belong to the Presbytery are those that belonged to the Original Presbytery when it last met and any churches these have planted. Exceptions to this include those churches which no longer meet on Sunday morning, churches which have joined the second Presbytery or another denomination, and churches which elect not to participate in the Presbytery. The current moderator of the first Presbytery is Rev. Andrew McCafferty.

On the other hand, the Hopdong mission and the PCA mission soon became affiliated with the Secondary Presbytery, however the relation did not last long. The OPC and PCA missions only attended meetings periodically as observers. The OPC withdrew their ministry from Taiwan by around early 90s. The Secondary Presbytery meeting still have routine meetings, but apparently not every churches have the zeal of practising Reformed Catholicity and confessionalism, thus some of them no longer join the meetings. The current moderator of the second Presbytery is Rev. Henry Shi, the pastor of Village 2 Reformed Presbyterian Church.

However, the Secondary Presbytery is having a closer relationship with the Original Presbytery which is led by the Hong En Tang Reformed Presbytery Church by late 2010s. Both of them are seeking to reunite and working towards to establish a General Assembly of the denomination.

Statistics

The church has 27 congregations, around 900 members (circa 2008), and 2 presbyteries. Two of the congregations are missions. And the church's few congregations are strong and healthy. The largest church membership is less than 200 people. The majority of its members speak Mandarin, but Taiwanese, Hakka, and Austronesian are also used in worship. These churches are concentrated in the northern part of Taiwan around the cities of Hsinchu, Taipei, Keelung and Xizhi.[24][25][26]

Many of the current ministers of the denomination were trained by China Reformed Theological Seminary (CRTS). Although the denomination does not directly run the China Reformed Theological Seminary (CRTS), they are in a very close relationship with it. It is because most of the trustees of the Reformed Theology Mission Corporation (the board of directors of the seminary) are the elders and missionaries that works with the denomination.

PCA (sent through the PCA MTW) and OPC ministers are leading several of the churches within the denomination.[27]

The congregations of the 1st Presbytery (Original Presbytery) are:

These are some of the congregations belongs (and still have a close relationship) to the 2nd Presbytery:

Theology

The RPCT adheres to the Ecumenical Creeds, the Three Forms of Unity, and the Westminster Standards.[2][28] However due to the complicated history of this denomination, some of the churches, especially the ones which have lost touch with either of the presbyteries as time passed by, still hold onto the title of RPCT, but they do not find themselves the need to follow the confessional documents.

Unlike the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, the RPCT does not ordain women to positions of elder or pastor although women do serve as deacons.

Affiliations and agencies

China Reformed Theological Seminary
China Reformed Theological Seminary

An ATA accredited seminary located in the same building as Hong En Tang Reformed Presbyterian Church. It was found in September 1990 by a Korean missionary Rev. Daniel W.J. Liu and several ministers, including Peter Tong, Daniel E.S. Tsai, David J.H. Lee, Xi-gang Feng, etc. Liu served as the first president and became the dean when Rev Peter Tong was elected by the board and took over the role as the second president 3 years later. It was originally located in NanKang Reformed Presbyterian Church and officially moved to the current location by 1996. The seminary was named the China Theological Seminary at first, and renamed to China Reformed Theological Seminary by March 1991. Currently the board of the seminary includes representatives from several parties, which are ‘Reformed Presbyterian Church of Taiwan (RPCT)’, ‘Reformed Theological Association (RTA)’, ‘Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)’, ‘Friends of CRTS (FCRTS)’, ‘overseas Chinese’, and ‘alumni’. Although it is small in scale (4 resident faculties with around 65 in-campus graduate students and 10 undergraduate students according to the 2019 Spring semester), it is the very only confessional reformed seminary in Taiwan.[29]

Several visiting professors are the faculties of the Westminster Theological Seminary, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Reformed Theological Seminary, etc. These visiting professors includes Vern Poythress, Richard Gaffin, Terry Johnson, Tremper Longman III, Jeff Waddington, Sinclair Ferguson, Chad Van Dixhoorn, Adriaan Neele, Guy Waters, Jeffrey Jue, O. Palmer Robertson, Carl Trueman, Iain Duguid, etc.[30]

In addition to that, CRTS is also regarded as one of the global campuses of the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary(PRTS), since PRTS is cooperating with CRTS to provide PRTS in Asia ThM degree by Spring 2020 semester.

Christ's College Taipei

It was found in 1959 by a PCUSA member, Dr. James Graham. The school was donated to the PCA in 1981.[31] Although the school has never had an official relationship with the RPC, several missionaries working within the orbit of the denomination have served there as teachers and chaplains. PCA's MTW also sent missionaries to the school as well.[32]

RTV Taiwan

An online platform which provides videos of sermons, teaching series, and lectures given by Reformed or Calvinistic-tilted speakers, such as John Piper, R.C. Sproul, D.A. Carson, Tim Keller, Mark Jones, Sinclair Ferguson, etc. The videos are subbed or even dubbed into Chinese.

Family Counseling Center (FCC)

A counseling center established since Dec 2004, it aims to promote biblical counseling and its principles to the Christian churches and also to the public. Many of the materials which they are using come from the works of Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF).

Taiwan Reformation Translation Fellowship

It was established since 2007, but it actually inherits the original fellowship which was found by Samuel E. Boyle and Charles H. Chao since 1940s. Their goal is to introduce the depth and width of the Reformed faith to the Chinese audiences. Translations mainly cover the works of the Reformers, Post-Reformation era's writings, the Puritans, the old Princeton tradition, Neo-Calvinism's writings, and the contemporary evangelical reformed publications.[33]

RTF Publishing Co. Ltd.

Obviously, this is the press which published the translated works done by the Taiwan Reformation Translation Fellowship. Its bookstore, White Horse Inn, locates opposite to the China Reformed Theological Seminary and Hong En Church, and it shares the bookstore with a cafe - Eternity Coffee Roaster. RTF Publishing Co. Ltd. also runs its own online bookstore, CrtsBooks, that provides oversea shipping as well.

Reformed Theological Association

This association aims to promote both the theoretical and practical aspects of the Reformed faith to the Sino Christian world, as well as supporting the works of the organisations like CRTS, FCC, RTV, RTF, etc.[34]

References
  1. "Taiwan Reformed Presbyterian Church". China Reformed Theological Seminary (CRTS). China Reformed Theological Seminary (CRTS). Archived from the original on 13 July 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  2. "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions". Reformiert-online.net. Retrieved 2015-07-22.
  3. "Taiwan Reformed Presbyterian Church". China Reformed Theological Seminary (CRTS). China Reformed Theological Seminary (CRTS). Archived from the original on 13 July 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  4. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (1970). Minutes Of The Thirty-Seventh General Assembly Meeting At Portland, Oregon. July 6 -July 10, 1970 (PDF). Philadelphia, PA: The Orthodox Presbyterian Church. p. 31. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  5. "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions". Reformiert-online.net. Retrieved 2015-07-22.
  6. Christian Reformed Church (1953). Acts of Synod 1953 of the Christian Reformed Church in Session from June 10 to June 26, 1953 at Calvin College Auditorium Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A (PDF). Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Reformed Publishing House. p. 373.
  7. Christian Reformed Church (1958). Acts of Synod 1958 of the Christian Reformed Church: June 11 to June 21, 1958 at Calvin College Auditorium Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A (PDF). Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Reformed Publishing House. p. 229.
  8. Christian Reformed Church (1959). Acts of Synod 1959 of the Christian Reformed Church: June 10 to June 24, 1959 at Calvin College Auditorium Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A (PDF). Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Reformed Publishing House. p. 340.
  9. Christian Reformed Church (1962). Acts of Synod 1962 of the Christian Reformed Church: June 13 to June 22, 1962 at Calvin College Auditorium Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A (PDF). Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Reformed Publishing House. p. 217.
  10. Christian Reformed Church (1962). Agenda 1963, Synod of the Christian Reformed Church: June 12 to June 21, 1963 at Calvin College Auditorium Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A (PDF). Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Reformed Publishing House. p. 186.
  11. Christian Reformed Church (1966). Agenda 1966, Synod of the Christian Reformed Church: June 8 to June 16, 1966 at Calvin College Auditorium Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A (PDF). Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Reformed Publishing House. p. 154.
  12. "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions". Reformiert-online.net. Retrieved 2015-07-22.
  13. https://www.opc.org/cfh/guardian/Volume_39-40/1970-05.pdf
  14. "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions". Reformiert-online.net. Retrieved 2015-07-22.
  15. "基督教改革宗長老會 宏恩堂 - 改革宗長老會教會的歷史". Hong-en.eyp.com.tw. Retrieved 2015-07-22.
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  17. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (1964). Minutes Of The Thirty-First General Assembly Meeting At Silver Spring, Maryland. April 28 - May 2, 1964 (PDF). Philadelphia, PA: The Orthodox Presbyterian Church. p. 38. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  18. Sparkman, Wayne. "June 11: World Presbyterian Missions". This Day in Presbyterian History. PCA Historical Center. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  19. Christian Reformed Church (1967). Agenda 1967, Synod of the Christian Reformed Church (PDF). Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Reformed Publishing House. p. 486.
  20. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (1967). Minutes Of The Thirty-Fourth General Assembly Meeting At Long Beach, California. April 25 - April 28, 1967 (PDF). Philadelphia, PA: The Orthodox Presbyterian Church. p. 32. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  21. "BBK.GKV » Taiwan". Bbk.gkv.nl. Retrieved 2015-07-22.
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  34. "Reformed Theology Association". China Reformed Theological Seminary. China Reformed Theological Seminary. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
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