The Reformed Church in America:

A Brief Historical Summary

The Reformed Church in America was established on this continent 150 years before the Revolutionary War. The word Reformed comes from the Protestant Reformation which swept across Europe in the 1500s under the leadership of such men as Martin Luther and John Calvin. Calvin's reformation at Geneva spread to many countries, including Scotland (where it became the Presbyterian Church) and the Netherlands (where it became our ancestor, the Dutch Reformed Church).

The Dutch Reformed Church established its first congregation in New Amsterdam in 1628. Although Dutch in origin, the Reformed Church in America celebrates great diversity today. Our congregations have for decades included peoples of many races and nationalities, and our styles of worship vary from formal and liturgical to informal and contemporary.

As a long-established, historic "mainline" denomination with clear evangelical sensitivities, many see the RCA as a bridge between "ecumenical" and "evangelical" expressions of the Christian community. The Reformed Church in America was a founding member of the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches. Some regional bodies of the RCA belong to the National Association of Evangelicals.

Source: The Reformed Church In America web page