Our History
Our first worship service was held on January 14, 2007. The message on this Sunday was on Romans 1:1-17, entitled “the Gospel”.
In 2010, our congregation was officially accepted as a member church of the United Reformed Churches of North America. Our first minister, Pastor Nick Alons, was ordained in 2009, and departed in 2015 when he was called to serve in Lynwood Illinois. Our second minister, Rev. Nathan Zekveld, was ordained in February 2020, and departed in April 2022 when he accepted a call to a church in Alberta.
The Lord has blessed us with steady growth. A number of our members have grown up on Prince Edward Island, but some have come from other regions in Canada, and several have come from the Netherlands. There are also a variety of denominational backgrounds represented in our congregation.
We continue to have pulpit supply and do pulpit exchanges with a variety of Reformed and Presbyterian church bodies including the United Reformed Churches, the Canadian Reformed Churches, the Prince Edward Island Free Church, and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. We continue to enjoy good fellowship with these and other Bible-believing churches.
Our Beliefs
Our beliefs are built upon the infallible Word of God (the 66 books of the Old and New Testament). Every teaching must be tested to this standard.
In response to the command of Christ, we seek to lay out our teachings in a clear manner so that we will know the truth about the Triune God, in the glorious face of Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 4:6). Jesus Christ calls us in Matthew 28:18-20 to continue this teaching task of the church: “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”
Our core beliefs are summarized in the ecumenical creeds: the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. As in other Reformed churches, our beliefs are further explained and summarized in the Three Forms of Unity: the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dort.
The Belgic Confession was written by Guido de Bres in the region of Belgium/France in 1559. It was written to present a clear confession for the Protestant churches and to show the continuity of the Reformation with the faith and teaching of the Apostles and the early church. The Heidelberg Catechism was authored by Zacharias Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus in Germany in 1563. It was written to teach doctrine to the children and those coming in from outside the Reformed Churches. The Canons of Dort are statements from the Synod of Dordrecht in the Netherlands in 1618-1619 attended by delegates from the Netherlands, Scotland, England, France, etc. It was written in response to errors being taught about the sovereignty of God.
We hold to the central doctrines of Christianity such as the Trinity, the creating power and providential care of the Father, the divinity and humanity of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the catholicity of the church. We baptize believers and their children, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we practice church discipline. The preaching in our Church is expository and Christ-centered. We teach Biblical ethics and strive for a culture that is shaped by the teaching of the Bible and a love for Christ.
Our Worship
We have two worship services Sundays, one in the morning and one in the evening. Each service is about an hour long and has distinct sermons. We sing psalms and hymns together as a congregation and the pastor leads in prayer.
If you come to either worship service you will usually be greeted by one of the elders at the door. He will hand you a bulletin with an order of the worship service and information for the congregation such as weekly events. There is no dress code, but you will find that many of us are dressed in semi-formal clothing as a reflection of the fact that we gather to honor God. You will be invited to pick up a copy of the Bible, and our song-book (the Trinity Psalter Hymnal), for use during worship. Following the morning service, there will be opportunity to join the congregation for a time of coffee and fellowship. Please join us. We would love to get to know you.
The morning and evening services differ a little from one another. The morning service includes our confession of sins and a word of assurance from the Bible for the forgiveness of our sins, while the evening service includes the recitation of the Apostles or Nicene creed as a summary of our faith. During both services a passage from the Bible is read and explained by our pastor in his sermon. During the service, the pastor leads by calling publicly upon the Lord in prayer and songs are sung by the congregation as indicated in the order of worship. The sacrament of baptism is administered during the worship service when requested. The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is celebrated five times a year during the worship service. The order of the worship service moves generally from a recognition of our guilt, to an offer of God’s grace in Jesus Christ, to a time of Christian gratitude for His forgiveness.
The songs we sing are in the Trinity Psalter Hymnal. This Psalter Hymnal was published in 2018 as a joint project between the United Reformed Churches and the Orthodox Presbyterian Churches. Rhymed versions of all the Psalms are included in our hymnal since our churches give Psalm-singing the priority over Hymn-singing. The hymns in our Psalter Hymnal are representative of hymns written over 2000+ years of Christian history, including contemporary hymns.
Our Fellowship
We know that the Lord calls us to confess His Name, to call upon His Name, but He also calls us to live as a redeemed community of believers.
We express this in a number of ways. One way is through teaching and studying the Bible together. The children gather for classes to learn the Bible following the morning service. The older teens gather at the pastor’s house to study the Heidelberg Catechism on Tuesday nights. At various times we offer a newcomers class or a new members class for those seeking membership and baptism. There are also a number of Bible Studies, including a ladies Bible Study, a men’s Bible Study, and a young adults Bible Study. Our young people gather at the homes of families in the church for youth group activities from time to time.
After every morning service we gather for coffee and fellowship. We gather for a fellowship potluck meal following our celebration of the Lord’s Supper. There are also times when we will gather on a weekday evening to discuss congregational matters or simply for a games evening. We encourage one another to continue in the work of fellowship and hospitality.
Our Leadership
In the Word of God we find a pattern for the ordinary means of church government (ie I Timothy 3). God has laid out a pattern for a church that is led by men who are called to be elders, deacons, or pastors. Elders are given the task of spiritual care in the congregation. Deacons are given the task of make sure that physical needs are met in the congregation. The pastor is given the task to preach, teach, provide counsel, and prayer.