Reformed Church In America

Congregations of the Reformed Church in America strive to make their worship both orderly and informal in the effort to reach out to visitors and others seeking a church relationship. Other church ministries, such as social witness, education and pastoral care, find expression through the church's worship life. The Reformed Church in America is one of the oldest denominations in North America, tracing its roots to the Dutch Reformed church which established a congregation on Manhattan Island in 1628. The Reformed church presently has about 330, 000 members in almost 1, 000 congregations in the United States and Canada. The denomination has a presbyterian form of government in which lay people are elected as elders, to care for the spiritual concerns of a congregation, and as deacons, to care for the needy. Elders, deacons, and the minister make up the consistory, which is responsible for the worship and ministry in a local congregation. Worship in Reformed congregations may be desc…