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The Canadian and American Reformed Churches (CanRC) is a federation of Protestant Christian churches. Its emphasis is on Christ-centered preaching. It teaches that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. It follows Reformed Calvinist theology and has adopted the three forms of unity as its doctrinal standards.
The CanRC was founded by Dutch immigrants who came to Canada following World War II. At that time these Dutch immigrants first made contact with already existing Reformed churches in Canada, The Protestant Reformed Church (PRC) and the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC), in the hopes that they could join with them. The immigrants ultimately decided, however, that this was not possible, due to their theological differences with the PRC and what they perceived as a gradual leftward movement in the CRC.
The first Canadian congregation was instituted in Lethbridge, Alberta on April 16, 1950. There are currently just over 50 congregation and two "house congregations". They are found in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario, as well as in the American states Washington, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Colorado.
Throughout the years there has been contact between the CanRC and the CRC. In 1996, the United Reformed Church of North America (URCNA) was formed in Lynwood, Illinois by members who split away from the CRC due to their belief that the denomination was moving to "the left". Currently unification is being pursued between the CanRC and the URCNA.
The CanRC also has "sister church" relationships with a number of other Reformed and Presbyterian church federations. These include the Free Reformed Churches in Australia, Presbyterian Church in Korea, Free Reformed Churches of South Africa, the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated), the Free Church of Scotland, the Reformed Churches in Brazil, the Reformed Church in the United States, and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
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