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September 30, 2007 Q & A

How to Start a New OP Church

Question:

Please advise basic requirements to start a new church under your denominational banner.

Answer:

The process required in our Form of Government is two-fold. First, if a group is an organized church outside the OPC, the local Presbytery must examine members and officers to satisfy themselves that they meet the constitutional standards of the OPC (which are, for members, reasonable evidence of saving faith and, for ordained officers, satisfactory evidence that they qualify as "adopting the Confession of Faith and Catechisms of this church as containing the system of doctrine taught in Holy Scripture").

Secondly, if the group is not an organized church, the adherents of the group may become members of an overseeing congregation. Then, by Presbytery action, it becomes a "Mission Work" of the OPC. The group thus comes under the care of the OPC and a constituent part of it, with all the privileges of church membership. That includes exemption from government tax liability.

What I advise you to do is to make contact with the General Secretary of the Committee on Home Missions and Church Extension. Click the "Home Missions" link in the left column of this page and then "Want to start an OPC in your area?" under Resources.

 

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