Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches


The Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, formerly the Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches, was founded in 1998 as a body of churches that hold to Reformed theology. Member churches include those from Presbyterian, Continental Reformed, and Reformed Baptist backgrounds. The CREC has over a hundred member churches in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Russia, Hungary, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Poland, Brazil, Jersey, and the Czech Republic. These are organised into nine presbyteries, named after figures in church history: Anselm, Athanasius, Augustine, Bucer, Hus, Knox, Kuyper, Tyndale, and Wycliffe.

History

The denomination began in 1998 as the Confederation of Reformed Evangelicals. The founding churches were Community Evangelical Fellowship in Moscow, Idaho; Eastside Evangelical Fellowship in Bellevue, Washington; and Wenatchee Evangelical Fellowship in Wenatchee, Washington. Its co-founders include Douglas Wilson.
The name was changed to the Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches in 2004, and then, in 2011, to the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches.
As of 2020, the CREC was estimated to have around 15,000 members. According to World magazine, the CREC "grew rapidly during the pandemic, due to its staunch opposition to COVID-19 restrictions."

Doctrine

The Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches holds to Reformed theology as set forth in the Westminster Standards, Three Forms of Unity, and 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. On some doctrines, such as the Federal Vision, paedocommunion, and paedobaptism, the CREC allows each church to determine its own position. The Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches requires that all member churches adopt a statement of faith including the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Definition of Chalcedon, and at least one of the following historic confessions:
The CREC rejects both modernism and fundamentalism. It has published a number of "memorials", which among other things affirm Young Earth creationism, deprecate government schooling, and reject women in combat. While non-partisan, CREC churches are "uniformly hostile to the leftist agenda". They generally accept the doctrine of sphere sovereignty. According to religion scholar Julie Ingersoll, the CREC is strongly influenced by Christian Reconstructionism.
The CREC includes adherents of Federal Vision theology.

Worship and government

is a CREC distinctive, and churches generally practise covenant renewal worship. Household voting is common.

Resources