Federation for reformed churches
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.
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.
List of ICRC Members in 2023:
[3]
[4]
Country
Denomination
Number of congregations
Number of members
Year
South Africa
Free Church in Southern Africa
63
4,000
2004
[5]
South Africa
Free Reformed Churches of South Africa
13
1,888
2022
[6]
South Africa
Reformed Churches in South Africa
382
76,812
2022
[6]
Brazil
Reformed Churches in Brazil
19
1,038
2019
[7]
Australia
Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia
16
719
2016
[6]
Australia
Christian Reformed Churches of Australia
55
7,611
2022
[6]
Canada
Canadian and American Reformed Churches
74
19,847
2022
[6]
Canada
Heritage Reformed Congregations
10
2,136
2022
[6]
Democratic Republic of the Congo
United Reformed Church in Congo
181
14,657
2012
[8]
Hungary
Reformed Presbyterian Church of Central and Eastern Europe
25
370
2022
[6]
India
Presbyterian Free Church of Central India
18
756
2021
[6]
India
Reformed Presbyterian Church of India
10
3,000
2004
[9]
India
Reformed Presbyterian Church North East India
105
11,376
2021
[6]
India
Anugraha 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)
10
396
2021
[6]
Ireland
Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland
41
2,065
2022
[6]
Kenya
Africa Evangelical Presbyterian Church
100
22,000
[11]
Netherlands
Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands
181
69,063
2023
[12]
Netherlands
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (2009) [
nl ]
[13]
16
1,500
2022
[14]
New Zealand
Reformed Churches of New Zealand
23
3,461
2022
[6]
South Korea
Presbyterian Church in Korea (Koshin)
2,128
385,186
2023
[15]
South Korea
Independent Reformed Church in Korea
4
208
2022
[6]
Spain
Reformed Churches in Spain
3
-
-
Sudan and South Sudan
Sudanese Reformed Churches
27
500
2005
[16]
Uganda
Presbyterian Church in Uganda
87
3,047
2019
[6]
Uganda
Reformed Presbyterian Church in Africa (Uganda)
-
-
-
United Kingdom
Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales
24
1,001
2021
[6]
United Kingdom
Free Church of Scotland
112
5,400
2016
[6]
United Kingdom
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
40
1,295
2021
[6]
United States of America
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
273
30,649
2021
[6]
United States of America
Orthodox Presbyterian Church
332
32,720
2022
[6]
United States of America
United Reformed Churches in North America
130
25,296
2021
[17]
United States of America
Reformed Church in the United States
45
3,560
2020
[6]
United States of America
Free Reformed Churches of North America
23
5,403
2021
[6]
United States of America
Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America
107
7,581
2021
[6]
World
Total
4,772
744,541
2004-2023
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.
[18]
In 2023, the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church in America approved Opening 2, which determined that the denomination also applies for membership in the ICRC.
[19]
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.
[20]
[21]
[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.
[22]
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.
[23]
References
^
Reformed Fellowship website
^
"Governance" . www.icrconline.com . Retrieved 2023-07-20 .
^
a
b
"Member Churches" . www.icrconline.com . Retrieved 2023-07-20 .
^
"International Conference of Reformed Churches 2021" . Retrieved 2021-11-08 .
^
"Free Church in Southern Africa" . Archived from
the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2023 .
^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
"Minute of the General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church" (PDF) . June 2023. Retrieved March 28, 2024 .
^
"Statistics of Reformed Churches in Brazil in 2020" . Retrieved July 30, 2021 .
^
"From a broadcast to a denomination 14,600 members" . September 13, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2021 .
^
"Reformed Presbyterian Church of India" . October 21, 2004. Archived from
the original on October 2, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2021 .
^
"Minutes of the Synod of the United Reformed Churches in North America" . October 7, 2022. p. 43. Retrieved December 23, 2022 .
^
"CRB: Evangelical Presbyterian Church Africa" . Retrieved April 20, 2024 .
^ Herman Veenhoff (April 3, 2023).
"Two times more member loss than in 2021: Christian Reformed Churches fall below 70,000 members" . Retrieved July 5, 2023 .
^
"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 .
^
"Synods of the Reformed Churches in Netherlands and Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Restored) negotiate merger" . May 25, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022 .
^
"Statistics of the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Kosin) in 2023" . Archived from
the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2024 .
^
"3rd Report General Synod of the Reformed Churches in Sudan" (PDF) . May 8, 2013. Archived from
the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2021 .
^
"Minutes of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Churches in North America" . pp. 257–261. Retrieved September 9, 2023 .
^
"2020 Orthodox Presbyterian Church General Assembly Report" (PDF) . December 31, 2019. p. 284. Retrieved June 1, 2021 .
^
"Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America 2023" (PDF) . June 2023. p. 967. Retrieved March 26, 2024 .
^
"Minute of the 86th General Assembly of the Church Orthodox Presbyterian, Pages 308-309" (PDF) . Retrieved July 31, 2020 .
^
"International Conference of Reformed Churches" . Retrieved July 31, 2020 .
^
"International Conference of Reformed Churches suspends Liberated Reformed Churches from membership because the denomination admitted female ordination" . Retrieved July 31, 2020 .
^
"International Conference of Reformed Churches: Membership of Liberated Reformed Churches closed" . Retrieved December 20, 2022 .