INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF REFORMED CHURCHES

The International Conference of Reformed Churches (ICRC) is one of several ecumenical bodies that serve various segments of the worldwide Reformed Presbyterian community. These organizations operate on a spectrum: the larger and more liberal churches are part of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and many fundamentalists belong to the International Association of Reformed and Presbyterian Churches. The ICRC represents more conservative Reformed churches.

The ICRC was founded in 1982, when representatives of nine Reformed and Presbyterian denominations assembled at Groningen, Netherlands, at the invitation of the Reformed Churches (Liberated), a relatively new church that had broken with the Netherlands Reformed Church during World War II.Its founder, Professor K. Schilder (1890-1952), had been ousted from the ministry for refusing to accept innovative theological statements as binding on teaching elders. The church quickly grew into a substantial denomination and developed a close relationship with the Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands.

At the founding meeting, schilder and his followers and allies maintained that an attack was under way within the larger Reformed world against traditional standards of faith - the Bible and the Reformed confessions of the 16th century. The new ICRC adopted the Bible, the "Three Forms of Unity" (Belgic Confession,Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dort), and the Westminster documents (Westminster Confession, Larger and Shorter Catechisms) as the basis of its fellowship.

The Free Church of Scotland hosted the first assembly of the ICRC in Edinburgh in 1985. Subsequent meetings have been held in Langley, British Columbia, Canada (1989), Zwolle, Netherlands, and seoul, south Korea. Prominent among the ICRC's more than 20 members are the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (United States), the Canadian Reformed Churches, the Presbyterian Church of Korea (KoShin), and the Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands. Headquarters are now in Edmonton, Alberta.

See alsoEcumenical movement.

■ Jean-Jacques Bauswein and Lukas Vischner, eds.,The Reformed Family Worldwide.A Survey of Reformed Churches, Theological Schools, and International Organizations(Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1999).