Denominations?

[desmalia]

Hi all,This is my first post in the Calvinist forum, though my beliefs are quite Calvinistic in nature. I was wondering if anyone can tell me if there are any denominations left that try to aspire to traditional Calvinism?I'm currently looking for a church in a small city, and so far haven't found anything suitable. All seem to support women as head pastors (not sure if this is a Calvinist issue, but it is important, IMHO), and many seem to be totally focused on being seeker-friendly instead of promoting Scriptural truth.

 

[wnwall]

Hi all,This is my first post in the Calvinist forum, though my beliefs are quite Calvinistic in nature. I was wondering if anyone can tell me if there are any denominations left that try to aspire to traditional Calvinism?I'm currently looking for a church in a small city, and so far haven't found anything suitable. All seem to support women as head pastors (not sure if this is a Calvinist issue, but it is important, IMHO), and many seem to be totally focused on being seeker-friendly instead of promoting Scriptural truth.

PCA Presbyterians stick very closely to traditional Calvinism and the Westminster Standards. I have no personal experience with other branches of Presbyterianism, but I have heard good things about OPC. The largest Presbyterian branch, PCUSA, has become more liberal and allows women pastors, but PCA doesn't.

There are also a fair number of Calvinist Baptist churches. There is a lot of Calvinist history in the Baptist denomination. Whether or not a particular Baptist (no pun intended ) church is Reformed just depends on the church. Some are Reformed, most probably aren't.

Also CJ Mahaney's Sovereign Grace churches (which is sort of a non-denominational group of churches) are, I think, sort of charismatic Calvinists. I don't know very much about Sovereign Grace, but CJ is great.

I'm sure there are others.

God bless,
Nathan

 

[xapis]

Yes! Check out the OPC.

 

[david01]

It all depends on what you mean by "traditional Calvinism." As with the Lutheran denonominations, all of which believe they are traditional Lutherans, all Reformed churches believe they are traditional Calvinists. The most traditional Calvinist denomination is the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America which retains pretty much the traditional Scottish Presbyterian doctrines of the early nineteenth century. Unfortunately, they are diminishing in this country and are few and far between,

 

[desmalia]

Thanks guys. Sadly, as I suspected, there are no PCA or OPC churches in my area (I checked the sites and did a search). There is one Presbyterian church that looked pretty good. But the pastor's wife is ordained and has been a pastor of her own churches in the past. So they're more liberal, from what I can see.

It all depends on what you mean by "traditional Calvinism." As with the Lutheran denominations, all of which believe they are traditional Lutherans, all Reformed churches believe they are traditional Calvinists. The most traditional Calvinist denomination is the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America which retains pretty much the traditional Scottish Presbyterian doctrines of the early nineteenth century. Unfortunately, they are diminishing in this country and are few and far between,

That is a good point. I am looking for a more reformed style of church, one that still holds to doctrines such as women not being ordained as head pastors, divorce and remarriage being addressed more seriously (and discouraged), homosexual marriage not being accepted, etc. And although I am not a strict cessationist, I am not looking for a church that encourages a lot of charismatic activity. I've seen it destroy far too many church families.

I like to read John MacArthur and RC Sproul, if that helps any.

Thanks again for your comments and help, everyone!

 

[xapis]

Monergism.com has a list of conservative Reformed denominations. Look for "Monerlinks" on the right side under the "Top Ten Pages" list.

 

[HiredGoon]

The NAPARC website is a good place to start when looking for a Reformed denomination.

 

[desmalia]

Thanks for the links everyone. Some great websites there. Unfortunately, after checking every search on them, it's looking like there are truly no reformed churches in my area.

Looks like it's in dire need of a church plant!

 

[UMP]

Hi all,This is my first post in the Calvinist forum, though my beliefs are quite Calvinistic in nature. I was wondering if anyone can tell me if there are any denominations left that try to aspire to traditional Calvinism?I'm currently looking for a church in a small city, and so far haven't found anything suitable. All seem to support women as head pastors (not sure if this is a Calvinist issue, but it is important, IMHO), and many seem to be totally focused on being seeker-friendly instead of promoting Scriptural truth.

Have you tried a "Primitive Baptist" Church ?
Remember, no matter where you end up going to Church, it won't be perfect, that is certain.
However, I've been happy with the Primitive Baptists for years. There are many variations of Primitives (Old school Baptists) but give it a try, you might be pleasantly surprised
</IMG>

Edit:
Sorry, I Just noticed your "Canada" icon. Don't know of any Old School Canadian churchs. :-(

 

[desmalia]

Have you tried a "Primitive Baptist" Church ?
Remember, no matter where you end up going to Church, it won't be perfect, that is certain.
However, I've been happy with the Primitive Baptists for years. There are many variations of Primitives (Old school Baptists) but give it a try, you might be pleasantly surprised
</IMG>

Edit:
Sorry, I Just noticed your "Canada" icon. Don't know of any Old School Canadian churchs. :-(

My apologies, I probably should have mentioned right from the top that I'm in Canada. I know it's easy to skip those icons and assume a poster is American. I've done it myself on occasion.

I suspect that is in fact the largest obstacle in my search. Canada is filled with socialist influence, and it's increasingly difficult to find a truly Christian church let alone a reformed one. There are some, especially in the mid-west and back east (I'm on the west coast). But not a lot, and very few in smaller cities, like the one I'm going to. I will also be living about 2 hours from the "witchcraft capital of Canada". That probably says it all right there.

I know I won't find a "perfect" church, and don't expect to. No one is perfect, right? But one that at least tries to stay true to the Gospel would be nice, wouldn't it? Anyway, DH and I are resigning ourselves to accepting that we'll just have to pick the best of crop (the term "lesser of the evils" seems inappropriate, yet fitting somehow! lol), and just do our best. Maybe we can even be of some help to them.

 

[wnwall]

Maybe we can even be of some help to them.

There ya go! It looks like the Lord has raised up some missionaries to serve his good pleasure in taking the gospel to the Canadian west coast.

God bless,
Nathan

 

[edie19]

http://www.reformedbaptistfellowship.org/

http://www.founders.org/misc/chlist.html

 

[xapis]

Did you see these? http://www.frcna.org/Congregations/

Or these? http://www.canrc.org/directory/bc.html

 

[nasa1]

Hello, just wanted to let you know that I am seeking a Calvinist church here in Regina, Canada, and that I know it is hard to find a church in a small city.


I looked in the phone book and there is a "Grace Presbyterian" church near where I live, but I also do not agree with women pastors so I need to phone them and see who is running the show.


nasa

 

[desmalia]

There ya go! It looks like the Lord has raised up some missionaries to serve his good pleasure in taking the gospel to the Canadian west coast.

God bless,
Nathan

Maybe so, maybe so.

Did you see these? http://www.frcna.org/Congregations/

Or these? http://www.canrc.org/directory/bc.html

Yes, thanks. None in my area though.

Hello, just wanted to let you know that I am seeking a Calvinist church here in Regina, Canada, and that I know it is hard to find a church in a small city.


I looked in the phone book and there is a "Grace Presbyterian" church near where I live, but I also do not agree with women pastors so I need to phone them and see who is running the show.


nasa

Hmmm, well that's not too encouraging, is it . I would think there would be more in your area, being fairly conservative there. I am glad to see a fellow Canadian with the same standards though.
Don't come across too many these days.

Oh, and BTW in my search I was looking also for Southern Baptist Churches, which are generally pretty reformed. There are none in my city, but there is one in Regina that you may want to look into as well. Here's a link: http://churches.ccsb.ca/province/SK. It's called Discovery Baptist.

 

[desmalia]

Hey all, just wanted to give an update.
Through checking all of your links, I ended up contacting a pastor in my province to see if he knew of any good churches in my city. He sent me the contact info for someone who is not in the city, but at least on the Island, and suggested I check with him. Turns out that pastor is involved in church planting and is hoping to start a reformed baptistic group in my city, and is already working on some plans to that end!!! He was so happy to hear from me and I think he would like for us to be involved in this possible new church plant.

Isn't it wonderful to see how God works these things together!! Here we though we were just moving there to be able to buy a home and start a new life. But God had other much more important and wonderful plans in mind. Glory be to our Lord! Amen.

 

[edie19]

Hey all, just wanted to give an update.
Through checking all of your links, I ended up contacting a pastor in my province to see if he knew of any good churches in my city. He sent me the contact info for someone who is not in the city, but at least on the Island, and suggested I check with him. Turns out that pastor is involved in church planting and is hoping to start a reformed baptistic group in my city, and is already working on some plans to that end!!! He was so happy to hear from me and I think he would like for us to be involved in this possible new church plant.

Isn't it wonderful to see how God works these things together!! Here we though we were just moving there to be able to buy a home and start a new life. But God had other much more important and wonderful plans in mind. Glory be to our Lord! Amen.

What a wonderful update.

Thanks for sharing.

Praise God for His acts of goodness in your life.

edie

 

[wnwall]

Hey all, just wanted to give an update.
Through checking all of your links, I ended up contacting a pastor in my province to see if he knew of any good churches in my city. He sent me the contact info for someone who is not in the city, but at least on the Island, and suggested I check with him. Turns out that pastor is involved in church planting and is hoping to start a reformed baptistic group in my city, and is already working on some plans to that end!!! He was so happy to hear from me and I think he would like for us to be involved in this possible new church plant.

Isn't it wonderful to see how God works these things together!! Here we though we were just moving there to be able to buy a home and start a new life. But God had other much more important and wonderful plans in mind. Glory be to our Lord! Amen.

Awesome! Thanks for the update.

God bless,
Nathan

 

[xapis]

Praise God! That's a victory!

 

[Canuckmom]

I know what you're up against in Canada as I'm in the same boat. We listen to sermonaudio.com a lot.