Application Rejection FAQ

Why was my application rejected?
Applications can be rejected for omitting requested information or for something stated that is unclear to the board administration. Applicants are also rejected for what the Administration sees as significant enough differences with the Reformed system of doctrine to preclude membership or significantly hostile to the system of doctrine in the Westminster Standards which govern the board in any controversy. Review the following categories which are much more fully explained in the Terms , and if you find what was wrong, and it is not a significant issue that forbids membership, please feel free to reapply with the corrected or missing or clarified information by replying to the rejection email. If you simply cannot figure out what you did wrong, please send a note to the board administration by replying to the rejection note or less preferably by using the Contact Form. All the staff are volunteers, so hostile posts consigning us to the flames of hell are ignored and if the reason for rejection is clear from the below, an answer should not be expected. If the reason was minor and the queries sincere and polite, the administrators will seek to try to help you address the issues to obtain membership.

1. Missing information.

The directions in the application form are clear on what information is require. If information is missing or filled out in a way that ignores or does not address the instructions, that is possibly a reason for the rejection of an application. See Board Rules & Terms, 5a. Providing demonstrably false information or a lack of seriousness or care about the information requested will mean rejection of your application. Do not lie. It will be hard to convince us to take your application seriously if you are a deceiver and it is difficult to see a path whereby you can obtain membership with that sort of behavior at the outset even if you apologize.

Do’s. Provide the information requested.

Example. Provide your church or give enough information why you do not have a church that the admins can weigh a rare exception in your case.

Don'ts. Do not provide information not asked for. The longer and more convoluted your application the chances of approval go down. The staff volunteer time for sorting applicants for membership.

Example. Confessionalism: The board admins understand the role of the Reformed confessions, so if you feel like you need to lecture us on this, it will only raise the specter in our minds that you do not, and you may not be approved, particularly if information asked is not provided, such as any exceptions to said confessions.

2. Age.

One must be at least 16 years of age to be approved for membership.

3. Church Membership Required.

An application with “none” for church will be rejected. If you have moved, and are looking or have not yet completed membership at the church you currently attend, explain the situation on a reapplication so administrators can determine if an exception is warranted.

4. Confessional Requirements.

One must hold to either the Westminster Standards, the Three Forms of Unity, the Second Helvetic Confession, or the London Baptist Confession of Faith to be approved for membership without a waiver. Under some circumstances, the administrators may approve an applicant who does not fully confess one of these historic Reformed confessions but whose soteriological and ecclesiological journey is taking them down that path. This has included some Lutherans, Episcopalians, and some independents in the process of Reforming. Those who are of these persuasions but are not and have no intention of taking this reforming path, will not be approved for membership. If you are not a member of a Reformed church or the church you attended does not hold to the confession you claim, please explain this in the Confessional Adherence field.

a. Why do we restrict membership to those able to conscientiously agree with a Reformed confession of faith?

Other sites are focused on debate or interaction from different confessional traditions. This site is intended as a place where people can have the kind of focused and technical discussions that presuppose a high level of agreement. For instance, it's difficult to ask questions and get satisfactory answers about God's decree if every time you raise a question you find yourself defending the very concept of a decree.

If you are new to the reformed faith and are disappointed you cannot join and ask questions, or simply want to learn more about reformed doctrine, the following resources are suggested.

1. Search and browse the puritan board on topics. Many on the board did this to learn more before eventually becoming members.

2. This youtube series by Pastor Rob McCurley goes through all 107 questions and answers of the Westminster Smaller Catechism.

3. Reformed Books Online is an ever growing resource on Reformed doctrine, and has a beginner's list.

4. What is Reformed Theology by R. C. Sproul.

5. Why do we need confessions?

6. The Regulative Principle of Worship

7. The Lord's Day or Christian Sabbath

5. Confessional Exceptions.

The application form rules make clear that if you don’t as far as you know agree fully with your stated confession, you must note any exceptions to the doctrines of your chosen confession. If you were not clear in the Confessional Adherence field of the application in explaining this, that may be a reason your application was rejected. You may be requested to proved additional information or clarification. If you answer but do not provide or clarify on a specified issue, your application will not be approved. NOTE: If you take a number of exceptions and/or give a lengthy explanation, your application will be rejected with a note that your application while rejected remains under review but it will take time due to the length or complexity of details given in Confessional Adherence. If you receive no further contact after a week or so, the administrators determined not to approve your application.

a. Undermine Reformed Doctrine

Applications are rejected for exceptions of doctrines that undermine the system of doctrine of your claimed confession.

b. Federal Vision.

The Puritan Board forbids the membership of "Federal Vision" proponents on this board. The board as a general rule does not approve CREC applicants because the CREC harbors significant error, such as in the Federal Vision and paedocommunion, and teachers of error. To make an exception to this general rule, there must be explicit disavowal of those errors and those teachers. If an applicant is prepared and willing to do that, they should detail that in their application or if rejected, in a response to the rejection email. If remaining in a CREC church an applicant later while continuing to sit under that influence embraces such teaching and error, he is expected to contact the administrators with this information and to give up his board membership.

c. NCT and non-Reformed views of the Law.

The Puritan Board forbids the membership of proponents of New Covenant Theology (NCT) and unconfessional views of the Law of God.

d. AntiSabbatarianism.

While some confessions are more explicit than others, the Reformed confessions are Sabbatarian, upholding the continued morality of the fourth commandment. Exceptions that essentially undermine this doctrine are too severe for an application to be approved.

e. Normative Principle of Worship.

The reformed faith holds to the regulative principle of worship. Applications that reject this doctrine or express a view or belong to a church that adheres to the normative principle of worship, will not be approved.

6. Exceptions to WCF 21.8's "recreation clause."

The teaching of the Reformed confessions is not that the Lord's day is merely a day of rest, but that it is a day of rest from our normal labors and recreations in order to worship. An exception taken, however small (tossing a ball, playing with children)—for instance, if one is justifying that exception as being lawful because it is restful—has missed this key underlying principle.

The fourth commandment commands the same degree of perfection in keeping as the other nine, which is why we need Christ’s active obedience as much in keeping it as we need it for the others. We should ask ourselves if activity XYZ is affording a means to keep the Lord’s Day, which He commands to be devoted to His worship; or is it rather a distracting activity that doesn’t help the keeping of the Lord’s Day at all? Obviously, children need some accommodation and patience. However, the goal is to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord to better and better keep the Lord’s Day, and not to think we must observe the Lord's Day as children because children are incapable of observing the Sabbath as adults(!). So, if your application was rejected due to an exception to the “recreation clause” of WCF 21.8, and you were directed to this point in the rejection FAQ, you may request reconsideration of your application by replying with an acknowledgement that you (a) understand our concern about the stating of your exception; (b) that even though the activity you may have stated be minor, the reasoning may undermine the confession’s sabbatarian principles; and (c) you agree you will not agitate against biblical Sabbath teaching on this point. As long as you have already affirmed you will not advocate for exceptions in your prior application, administrators will reconsider and approve your application for PB membership.

7. Extreme Church Affiliation.

Board Administrators may not approve applicants if they believe the church/denomination provided is sectarian/separatistic/cult-like in nature. For reconsideration of the member application, applicant may reply if rejected under this reason, with an explanation why they wish to join the board and with a promise not to proselytize/advocate in discussion or with members privately for said church's distinctives or raison d'être.