The Reformed Church in America
As churches of the Reformation, the ELCA, Reformed Church in America, United Church of Christ, and the Presbyterian Church USA., signed an ecumenical proposal of historic importance in 1997. After thirty-two years in the making, and in light of identified doctrinal differences and consensus, these churches worked together to form a foundational document entitled A Formula of Agreement.
The agreement declared these four churches together in full communion on the basis of a common calling, a desire to bear visible witness to the unity of the church, and a need to engage together in God’s mission.
Among other things, the agreement means that the four churches fully accept each other as rightly preaching the Gospel, encourage the mutual sharing of the Lord’s Supper among members, recognize each other’s ordained ministers and ministries, and commit themselves to the ongoing process of further understanding in a common expression of evangelism, witness, and service. These four churches pledge themselves to living together under the Gospel in a trusting relationship in which respect and love for the other will have a chance to grow and flourish.