Reformed Church In America

The Reformed Church in America understands the Lord's Supper and baptism as special means of grace, as visible signs and seals of God's promises in the Word of God. Although Reformed worship used to following a Zwinglian form and emphasize the preached Word, since the 1950s the Reformed Church has officially followed the Reformed liturgical heritage of John Calvin. This change has introduced a more ordered worship format and a renewed emphasis on the liturgy of the Lord's Supper. These changes, however, have been implemented in Reformed churches erratically. The Reformed Church in America (RCA) understands the Lord to have instituted two sacraments: baptism and the Lord's Supper. While God is everywhere present to the Christian in prayer, the special means of grace as defined by the confessional standards of the church are the preaching of the holy Gospel and the celebration of baptism and the Lord's Supper. One "goes to church" to worship God. The Reformed emphasis upon the procla…