Reformed Presbyterian Church in Taiwan

The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (RPCT; Chinese: 基督教改革宗長老會; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ki-tok-kàu Kái-kek-chong Tiúⁿ-ló-hōe) was officially established in 1971 when the First Presbytery was formed as a result of the union of various conservative Presbyterian and Continental Reformed congregations planted by various missionary groups.

By the end of the 1960s, the OPC mission had planted 8 chapels and churches in 7 major cities in Taiwan.

Miss Lillian Bode led this effort and worked in conjunction with the missionaries of the OPC when she reached the island on 1 March 1953.

[5] These missionaries co-founded a Reformed Fellowship in Taipei, where regular worship services were to be conducted.

Meanwhile, the Calvin Theological Training Institute (CTTI) was established,[8] and the number of enrolled students reached 9 in 1963.

[13][14] At first the missionaries wanted to cooperate with the native Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) and did not seek to build their own congregations.

[18] On October 31, 1966, the PRMC decided to found a new denomination that would be local, conservative, confessional, and reformed.

Initially it was planned that the missionaries would have voting powers for 4 years, and then remain part of the RPCT as advisors.

When all was said and done, only 2-3 congregations remained in the First Presbytery (which was not meeting) after the CRC mission left its ministry in Taiwan around 2004.

Andrew McCafferty, became the moderator of the Hong En Tang Reformed Presbyterian Church.

Both presbyteries are actively seeking to fully reunite and establish a General Assembly for the whole RPCT denomination.

These churches are concentrated in the northern part of Taiwan around the cities of Hsinchu, Taipei, Keelung and Xizhi.

[1][23][24] Many of the current ministers of the denomination were trained by China Reformed Theological Seminary (CRTS).

Although the denomination does not directly run the China Reformed Theological Seminary (CRTS), they maintain a very close relationship with it, as most of the trustees of the Reformed Theology Mission Corporation (the board of directors of the seminary) are RPCT elders and or missionaries working with the RPCT.

CRTS is an ATA accredited seminary located in the same building as Hong En Tang Reformed Presbyterian Church.

Currently the board of the seminary includes representatives from several parties, including the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (RPCT), the Reformed Theological Association (RTA), Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), Friends of CRTS (FCRTS), various overseas Chinese, and various alumni.

These visiting professors have included the likes of Vern Poythress, Richard Gaffin, Terry Johnson, Tremper Longman III, Jeff Waddington, Sinclair Ferguson, Chad Van Dixhoorn, Adriaan Neele, Guy Waters, Jeffrey Jue, O. Palmer Robertson, Carl Trueman, Iain Duguid, and many others.

[28] In addition to that, CRTS is also regarded as one of the global campuses of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (PRTS).

[29] Although the school has never had an official relationship with the RPCT, several missionaries working within the orbit of the denomination have served there as teachers and chaplains.

[30] An online platform providing videos of sermons, teaching series, and lectures given by Reformed or other Calvinist speakers, like John Piper, R.C.

However, it actually traces its roots back to the original fellowship found by Samuel E. Boyle and Charles H. Chao in the 1940s.

RTF Publishing Co. Ltd. also runs its own online bookstore, CrtsBooks and provides overseas shipping as well.

This association aims to promote both the theoretical and practical aspects of the Reformed faith to the Sino Christian world, as well as to support the work of the organizations like CRTS, FCC, RTV, RTF, etc.