The Reformed Presbyterian Church has been active in North America since 1743, with historical roots in Scotland and Ireland.
The word "Reformed" in our name refers to the historic Biblical principles recovered by the Church in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. These principles are often expressed by what has come to be known as the "Five Solas": salvation by grace alone (sola gratia) through faith alone (sola fide) in Christ alone (solus Christus) as revealed in Scripture alone (sola scriptura) to the glory of God alone (soli Deo gloria).
"Presbyterian" is the form of church government which we practice. Each congregation is overseen by elected and ordained elders (or "presbyters," from the Greek word for elder, presbuteros). The elders of a congregation are collectively called a Session, all the Sessions in a geographic area form a Presbytery, and all our Presbyteries form what is called a Synod. MRPC is under the oversight of the Midwest Presbytery, which includes congregations in Kansas, Colorado, Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming. The Synod of the RPCNA has congregations in the United States, Canada, and Japan.
Our beliefs as a church stem from a full commitment to all 66 books of the Bible being the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God.
In the Bible, the One, True God has revealed Himself as a Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Triune God created all things out of nothing, and created humans in His own image.
Although created good, our first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned against God, and as a result, all mankind fell into sin and are naturally separated from God because of our sin.
As humans created in God's image, we are totally dependent upon Him, and rightly owe Him our worship and obedience, but sin prevents us from this right relationship with God.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God and second person of the Trinity, took upon Himself a fully human nature while at the same time being fully God, was born of the Virgin Mary, lived a perfect and sinless life, and died on a cross to pay the penalty for sin, so that sinful humans could be restored to a right relationship with God through faith in Christ.
Jesus rose from the grave three days after His death, and ascended into Heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of God the Father. Jesus is Lord and Savior of His people, the Head of His Church, and King over all nations.
We believe that the Bible teaches not only what God requires of us to be saved, but also what God requires from us in worship. As such, the reading and preaching of God's Word occupies a central role in our worship services, and the RPCNA has a distinctive practice of singing the 150 Psalms of the Bible a cappella (using only our voices, without instruments).
The RPCNA holds the following documents to be agreeable to and founded upon the Scriptures, and are used as confessional standards in governing the Church, subordinate to the Bible: The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms (1648) and The Reformed Presbyterian Testimony, which is an ongoing application of Scripture to the needs and issues of the day.
Chapter 25, paragraph 2, of the RP Testimony declares the Church's mission in this way:
"It is the mission of the Church to preserve, maintain, and proclaim to the whole world the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the whole counsel of God; to gather into her fellowship those of every race and people who accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and promise obedience to Him; to build them up in their most holy faith, and train them to be faithful witnesses for Christ in all His offices; to maintain the ordinances of divine worship in their purity; witness against all evil; and in every way to seek the advancement of the Kingdom of God on earth."
Manhattan, Kansas is one part of the whole world, and so is an appropriate location for seeking the lost, equipping the saints, and advancing the Kingdom by the work of the Holy Spirit, under the leadership of Christ, and to the praise of the Father. We seek to do this in cooperation - not competition - with the other branches of Christ's Church which are already in Manhattan.