Photo by Our work of church planting is made possible by a creative partnership with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church from the USA. The ARP is a denomination with a strong commitment to mission and church planting. (Find out more about the ARP.)
The ARP church is in a unique position to partner in the work of church planting as it has a Scottish heritage. It is the result of the coming together in America of two streams of the Scottish Church — the Covenanters (Reformed Presbytery) and the Seceders (Associate Presbytery of 1733).
Every good partnership brings benefits to both sides. Reformission Scotland have found in the ARP a church with a strong affinity for Scotland which is willing to act as a midwife in bringing churches to their birth. The ARP ensures the commitment to the Westminster standards of our church planters and anchors the young churches in a stable denominational structure. It brings a culture of gospel enterprise and a commitment to evangelism through church planting. It is able to resource the Scottish work through its church planter assessment centre. Crucially, it brings a servant spirit which affirms our desire that the new churches should arise out of Scottish initiatives, be led by Scottish ministers and be relevant to Scottish culture.
The ARP sprang from Scotland and in the early days many of its churches looked to Scotland for pulpit supply. For them it is very gratifying to be repaying a debt to the land of their forebears.
Neither side is concerned about denominations or ecclesiastical empires. Both sides care deeply about Scotland and want to see the church of Jesus Christ in Scotland become strong again.