OPC vs. RPCNA: Differences?

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Chris102385

Puritan Board Freshman
Just curious what distinguishes the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) from the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) (the denomination to which, in interest of full disclosure, I belong)…

Some things I am finding from cursory research:

  • Women deacons (OPC no, RPCNA yes)
  • Exclusive psalmody (OPC no, RPCNA yes)
  • Size (OPC slightly larger, at ~33,000 members vs ~7,000 for the RPCNA)
  • 1788 Westminster Standards (OPC) vs. 1646 Westminster (RPCNA)
  • Age (OPC est. 1936, RPCNA est. 1774 or earlier)
In short, the differences appear pretty marginal, but I was just curious what others there might be.

Thanks! :)
 
Having been a member in both, here are a few that come to mind off the top of my head:

Clarification: The RPCNA does not hold to the 1646 Confession. Their "Testimony" rejects several parts of it (essentially the same ones most US denominations do).

Their books of church order are both original to each denomination. There are slight ecclesiastical differences (a synod vs. a general assembly, for example).

The RPCNA has an international connection with other RP branches (especially with Ireland and Scotland - a joint international conference, joint missions for youth, etc.).

The RPCNA has its own college (Geneva), seminary (RPTS in Pittsburgh), and publishing house (Crown & Covenant). The OPC does not have such organizations of its own that I am aware of.

Membership "vows" are different.

Their strands of origin are different which accounts for a lot of the unique characteriatics of each. See this chart: List of Presbyterian and Reformed denominations in North America - Wikipedia https://share.google/Vmak01CDG0OImAGwI (OPC descends from top strand; RPCNA from the bottom).

I'm sure I'll think of a few more...
 
Covenanting and Mediatorial Dominion. Oft overlooked, but they are the principal differences. Acapella EP and women deacons get all the attention, but they should not be viewed as the principal distinctives.
 
Northern Crofter said:
The RPCNA has its own college (Geneva), seminary (RPTS in Pittsburgh), and publishing house (Crown & Covenant). The OPC does not have such organizations of its own that I am aware of.
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Perhaps this is reflective of antipathy toward parachurch organizations in the OPC connected with their old dispute with the PCUSA.
 
MarrowMan said:
Those institutions are not parachurch, but under the authority and oversight of the RPCNA.
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Well, then neither was Princeton Theological Seminary, but such organizations and their potential variance from denominational confessions were central to the dispute.
 
MarrowMan said:
I'm not sure you understand what parachurch means.
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Any organization that isn't identical with the church, but which exists alongside the church is a parachurch organization. Seminaries happen to be prime examples of parachurch organizations, which is why denominations must firmly exercise whatever influence they have over them to prevent corruption. But the terminology isn't important to what I was saying. Machen's dispute with the PCUSA was over laxity in the regulation of Princeton, a denominational seminary. Don't you think that history might have some bearing on why the OPC does not maintain a denominational seminary?
 
MarrowMan said:
Covenanting and Mediatorial Dominion. Oft overlooked
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Ploutos said:
@MarrowMan - could you elaborate (or provide a good link) on what is meant by "covenanting" and "mediatorial dominion
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These may be historical distinctives and are still mentioned in the RPCNA constituting documents (really just in the "Testimony"), but I doubt most folk in the RP could tell you what they are. In other words, they are largely overlooked in the RP, so I don't fault non-RP for having never heard of them. There seems to have been a generation that was embarassed by these distinctives and so kept quiet about them. All of which is very regrettable in my view (and I am glad to see that there seems to be a renewed interest amongst the current generation).
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EvanF said:
Any organization that isn't identical with the church, but which exists alongside the church is a parachurch organization
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The RPCNA seminary is governed by a board of RPCNA ministers who report to the RPCNA Synod. It is identical with the denomination. I do not think Princeton was ever under such oversight.
 
Northern Crofter said:
The RPCNA has its own college (Geneva), seminary (RPTS in Pittsburgh), and publishing house (Crown & Covenant). The OPC does not have such organizations of its own that I am aware of.
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Great Commission Publications, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit joint venture governed by a representative Board of Trustees consisting of ministers and elders from Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church in America. https://gcp.org/pages/about-great-commission-publications

It's a Joint Venture of the two denominations.
 
Northern Crofter said:
The RPCNA seminary is governed by a board of RPCNA ministers who report to the RPCNA Synod. It is identical with the denomination. I do not think Princeton was ever under such oversight.
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I could be wrong but I think that is exactly how Princeton Seminary was governed in the early Twentieth Century. It was the denomination moving in a more liberal direction that brought enforced changes on the seminary, in the same way that it wrecked the denomination's foreign missions program. Which is why Machen supported an independent board of foreign missions and kept Westminster Seminary separate from the OPC (though of course the OPC does now have an in-house missions program). The contamination can go the other way too. The downgrade in the Free Church of Scotland in the latter half of the 19th Century was largely due to the impact of critical views imported into their theological colleges from Germany.
 
iainduguid said:
The contamination can go the other way too. The downgrade in the Free Church of Scotland in the latter half of the 19th Century was largely due to the impact of critical views imported into their theological colleges from Germany.
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This is what happened to two of the three Dutch Reformed Church denominations in South Africa, taking an especially steep plunge since the 1980s. The state-funded nature of their seminaries contribute to this problem, as a type of DEI is being enforced on them.
 
Northern Crofter said:
Having been a member in both, here are a few that come to mind off the top of my head:

Clarification: The RPCNA does not hold to the 1646 Confession. Their "Testimony" rejects several parts of it (essentially the same ones most US denominations do).

Their books of church order are both original to each denomination. There are slight ecclesiastical differences (a synod vs. a general assembly, for example).

The RPCNA has an international connection with other RP branches (especially with Ireland and Scotland - a joint international conference, joint missions for youth, etc.).

The RPCNA has its own college (Geneva), seminary (RPTS in Pittsburgh), and publishing house (Crown & Covenant). The OPC does not have such organizations of its own that I am aware of.

Membership "vows" are different.

Their strands of origin are different which accounts for a lot of the unique characteriatics of each. See this chart: List of Presbyterian and Reformed denominations in North America - Wikipedia https://share.google/Vmak01CDG0OImAGwI (OPC descends from top strand; RPCNA from the bottom).

I'm sure I'll think of a few more...
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Small point, but the PCA and the OPC jointly own Great Commission Publications (I think).
 
Chris102385 said:
Just curious what distinguishes the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) from the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) (the denomination to which, in interest of full disclosure, I belong)…

Some things I am finding from cursory research:

  • Women deacons (OPC no, RPCNA yes)
  • Exclusive psalmody (OPC no, RPCNA yes)
  • Size (OPC slightly larger, at ~33,000 members vs ~7,000 for the RPCNA)
  • 1788 Westminster Standards (OPC) vs. 1646 Westminster (RPCNA)
  • Age (OPC est. 1936, RPCNA est. 1774 or earlier)
In short, the differences appear pretty marginal, but I was just curious what others there might be.

Thanks! :)
Click to expand...
I don’t know that it’s of much use to point this out, but the OPC doesn’t really use the 1788 Westminster Standards. If I recall correctly, they adopted some of the 1903 PCUSA revisions such as not calling the Papacy the antichrist.
 
Mountain Presbyterian said:
I don’t know that it’s of much use to point this out, but the OPC doesn’t really use the 1788 Westminster Standards. If I recall correctly, they adopted some of the 1903 PCUSA revisions such as not calling the Papacy the antichrist.
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You can see a comparison here: https://www.opc.org/documents/WCF_orig.html
As far as I know the OPC and PCA use the same version of the WCF. Us ARPs have our own version different from everyone else.
 
Edward said:
Great Commission Publications, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit joint venture governed by a representative Board of Trustees consisting of ministers and elders from Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church in America. https://gcp.org/pages/about-great-commission-publications

It's a Joint Venture of the two denominations.
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Dewi Sant said:
Small point, but the PCA and the OPC jointly own Great Commission Publications (I think).
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Right - they do not have their own publishing house but rather share one with another denomination (unlike the RPCNA which has its own). Or am I missing a point you are both trying to make?
 
Edward said:
If you buy a house with your spouse with your wife as tenants in common, would you say you don't have a house?
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My spouse and I are joined together as one. The OPC and PCA are not (regrettably in my view). If I buy a house with my wife, we have a house, thus I do not have my own house.
 
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michael_topple said:
So do any churches in USA use the unaltered WCF?
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The most obvious contender is the Presbyterian Reformed Church.

The Scottish denominations which have a presence in the US do (FCoS(C) is the largest, but the FPCoS has a congregation too).

There are also some smaller denominations which do on paper like the RPCGA, RPC-Hanover, CRPC, BRSoCtK, and maybe the CPC.

Most of the longer lived Presbyterian bodies had to deal with the different situation of the US with regard to the Civil Magistrate, which is why what became the PC(USA), the ARP Church, and the RPCNA ended up modifying (or in the latter's case, commenting with their Testimony) ended up with modified versions of the Standards.
 
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Jake said:
The most obvious contender is the Presbyterian Reformed Church.

The Scottish denominations which have a presence in the US do (FCoS(C) is the largest, but the FPCoS has a congregation too).

There are also some smaller denominations which do on paper like the RPCGA, RPC-Hanover, CRPC, BRSoCTK, and maybe the CPC.

Most of the longer lived Presbyterian bodies had to deal with the different situation of the US with regard to the Civil Magistrate, which is why what became the PC(USA), the ARP Church, and the RPCNA ended up modifying (or in the latter's case, commenting with their Testimony) ended up with modified versions of the Standards.
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That's really interesting. Thanks, and sorry for taking us OT.
 
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