Our Congregation
Our name is Broomall Reformed Presbyterian Church. We are the continuation of the First and Second Reformed Presbyterian Churches of Philadelphia, organized in 1798 to worship and serve God.
Here are some facts about us, arranged in question and answer form.
1. When do you meet for worship?
We meet for worship at 11:00 AM each Lord’s Day morning. Our service usually lasts until 12:15 PM.
2. What other services do you have?
We usually have a more informal afternoon service each Lord’s Day at 1:15 PM after we have eaten a brown bag lunch together.
3. Do you have a Sunday School?
Yes, it meets at 9:45 AM and has classes for children of all ages and for adults. After the opening exercises, classes meet from 10:00 AM until 10:45 AM
4. When do you observe the Sacraments?
We observe the Lord’s Supper monthly on the second Sunday of the month in the morning worship service. Baptism is observed whenever someone is ready for baptism, either an adult convert or a child of members.
5. Do you have a nursery?
Yes, there is a staffed nursery during each morning service which parents are free to use or not use as they choose. During the Sunday school someone takes care of toddlers for parents in the adult Bible Class.
6. Do you have any other meetings?
Yes, on each Wednesday evening of the month, except the third, we meet for prayer at the church at 7:30 PM On each third Wednesday evening many of the women in the church get together at the church for Women’s Missionary Fellowship. Besides these regularly scheduled meetings, we get together some Lord’s Day evenings to sing Psalms and sometimes on Saturdays for social events.
7. Does your schedule change in the summer?
In August we usually replace the Sunday School with a time of prayer and praise, and we suspend the afternoon service and the prayer meeting.
8. How does the whole congregation conduct its business?
There is a congregational meeting on the first Saturday in March to hear reports from the pastor, elders, treasurer, and deacons; approve a budget for the year; and elect a chairman, vice chairman, and secretary. The congregation also calls its pastor and elects its own elders and deacons to a permanent office.
9. What are your doctrinal standards?
We subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. To these we have added a Testimony which speaks to issues not before the church when the Westminster Standards were written. We also have a Directory for Worship, a Book of Discipline, and a Book of Church Government.
10. To what larger church body does your congregation belong?
We are part of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Synod of North America. Under that Synod, we are part of the Atlantic Presbytery. The RPCNA belongs to the National Association of Presbyterian and Reformed Churches.
11. What avenues of service are open to your members?
a. Praying for each other, especially for our children, and for needs around the world;
b. Taking turns greeting people each Lord’s Day, helping in the nursery, teaching a Sunday School class, helping care for the church grounds, being hospitable to one another and to visitors, visiting the sick, leading the singing, recording our weekly worship services, witnessing about Christ to family and friends;
c. Helping other ministries, such as our Aged People’s Home in Pittsburgh, the Reformation Translation Fellowship, White Lake Covenanter Camp, and Alpha Pregnancy Services in Philadelphia.
12. What do you expect of members?
All of our members believe in Jesus Christ as their only Savior and accept the Bible as the inspired Word of God. We have promised to worship God weekly with the church, read our Bibles and pray, observe the Sacraments, tithe, serve one another, and listen to any necessary admonitions from the church. Families should have family worship regularly; workers should do an honest day’s work.