Before reading this, please see my previous article, which together with this article and two following form an introductory series regarding establishing a Church Constitution for the 2026 Stratford church plant and regarding the Great Confessions of the Reformed Tradition.
Previous article: Part I: He’s been in a good paddock…
STRATFORD CHURCH PLANT 2026
INTRODUCTION TO CHURCH CONSTITUTION AND CONFESSIONS
SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING FOR CONSTITUTION OF NEW CHURCH PLANT FOR STRATFORD
Tuesday November 11, 7:30pm
THE GREAT CONFESSIONS OF THE REFORMED TRADITION (PART II OF IV)
In my last post, I talked about Jesus’ intent, as the good shepherd, to lead us into good pasture, beside still waters. I talked about the importance of boundaries when establishing a constitution for a new church. I talked about the rich resource of church confessions, and their ability to articulate scripture in a way that sets clear boundaries. And I talked about the challenge that comes with confessions being both valuable and fallible.
For those interested in being part of Stratford’s new church plant for 2026, especially those interested in helping to lead and steer the church, it is important to understand how to value and apply these historical confessions in the 21st century. Such understanding is critical to being diligent as we pay attention to detail, and establish patterns of care, to help make this new church plant a success.
Trying to get your head around confessions can be a daunting task. The purpose of these articles is to help people to come to grips with the basics of what the confessions are about, where they have come from, and what their differences are. And to do so in a way that helps people value the confessions, and use them diligently. Not for the sake of knowing the confessions, or being proud about being a confessional church. But so we know that we have understood the bible well, and can faithfully articulate and obey what it teaches.
Confessions of the Reformed Traditions present in Taranaki
In the information sessions I held last month, I discussed 3 particular confessions that are particular relevance to churches already present in Taranaki:
- The 39 Articles of Religion (1571)
- The Westminster Confession (1646)
- The London Baptist Confession of (1689)
These are historically the confessions of the Anglican Church, the Presbyterian Church, and the Reformed Baptists. Yet today many Anglican, Presbyterian and Baptist churches are long departed from seeing these confessions as authoritative and useful for maintaining boundaries and discipline.
And, so, new denominations have arisen that explicitly hold to these confessions, namely:
- Confessing Anglicans
- Reformed Presbyterians
- Reformed Baptists
These denominations are present in Taranaki, providing paddocks that are relatively well-tended, and well-fenced by doctrine that richly honours the Bible.
In considering a new church for Stratford, though, it is very evident that those who profess faith in Christ are really not all cut from the same cloth, when it comes to confessions and denominations.
To take a cookie-cutter approach to a new church plant, and expect everyone to subscribe to one of these confessions wholesale and outright, doesn’t seem to be a realistic option for a small town like Stratford.
The upshot of that is that while forming a constitution may take more work because of this, it will hopefully produce something more authentic, more valuable, and more biblical.
Confessions of the CREC
At the information sessions I discussed the very interesting phenomenon that is the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, that has emerged in the USA over the last 30 years and is now present as close to home as Tasmania (see website by clicking here).
Instead of requiring adherence to one confession, the CREC includes churches that may subscribe to any of the following confessions:
- Belgic Confession (1561)
- Second Helvetic Confession (1562)
- Heidelberg Catechism (1563)
- 39 Articles of Christian Religion (1571)
- Three Forms of Unity (Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, and Canons of the Synod at Dordt (1619)
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1646)
- Savoy Declaration (1658)
- London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689)
- American Westminster Confession of Faith (1788)
- Reformed Evangelical Confession (CREC Constitution)
These confessions are considered to be the authoritative confessions for the Reformed tradition. The Reformed tradition is a historical term used for those churches whose origin goes back to the Protestant Reformation – to leaders like Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin.
These confessions sought to ground the theology of the church entirely in scripture, especially concerning the authority of scripture, the Gospel of God’s justification of sinners through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, crucified, and the application of that salvation to a sinful and fallen human race.
Links to these confessions can be found at the end of this article, below.
A very brief history of the Confessions
The first wave of these confessions, in the 16th Century, was associated with the establishment of Reformed churches in Switzerland, France, Belgium and Holland, the Lutheran church in Germany and Scandinavia, and the Church of England.
The next confession on the list, the Canons of the Synod at Dordt, was produced to counter the development of Arminian theology in the Dutch church, in 1619.
The Westminister Confession was produced in 1646, outlining the doctrines of grace through faith in more detail, to protect the church against Arminian extremes in a way the 39 Articles of Religion of the Anglican Church had not been designed to do. It also set out a Presbyterian vision for the Church of the Commonwealth, rather than a Church run by bishops.
The Westminister Confession articulated Christian doctrine with a depth and breadth unseen before in the English language. And yet, it didn’t go far enough for the Congregationalists. With England raging in civil war, the Congregationalists sought to limit the power of government, and preserve the sovereignty of congregations in governing their churches, and so they produced the Savoy Declaration of 1658.
Meanwhile, the Baptists were being sorely persecuted, imprisoned and driven underground. And as freedom of conscience and liberty in religion came to the fore in England, they produced a Confession of Faith in 1689. Like the Congregationalists, the Baptist confession limited the power of government and preserved the sovereignty of congregations in governing their churches. And at the same time, they argued that the only proper subjects of baptism are those who actually profess repentance, faith and obedience.
Another iteration of the Westminster Confession was produced in 1788, when a range of amendments, largely concerning the limiting of government powers, were made to produce the American Westminster Confession.
Links to these various confessions, and to a document that shows the variation between the Westminster, Savoy, London Baptist and American Westminster Confessions, are provided at the end of this article.
For the English-speaking world, the Westminster Confession has been perhaps the greatest resource for theology and church discipline, apart from obviously scripture itself. And yet these points of tension that saw other Christians with strong and sound biblical reasoning take to it with a red pen reveal that, as the Confession itself appears to admit, it is not infallible.
Fallibility of Confessions
The Westminister Confession itself says in Chapter 31,
“All synods or councils, since the Apostles’ times, whether general or particular, may err; and many have erred. Therefore they are not to be made the rule of faith, or practice; but to be used as a help in both.” (Article 31, Clause 4).
Indeed, this must then also be true of the Westminster Assembly that produced this confession.
But this fallibility is not a reason to reject or decry such confessions. It is a reminder that we must be diligent to engage confessions with another great rule of the Westminster, that when it comes to understanding the will of God revealed in the Bible, the infallible rule of interpretation of scripture is scripture itself (Article 1, Clause 9).
Amendments and exceptions
While the CREC requires churches to subscribe to at least one of the great reformed confessions, the CREC also allows for amendments and exceptions. Many churches in these great traditions operate this way in practice – for example, not requiring all members to baptise their infants if it goes against their conscience. The CREC appears to be much more explicit about allowing for amendments and exceptions, while preserving power to deal with amendments and exceptions deemed to be at odds with the broadly Reformed standard of the CREC.
The Westminster Confession of Faith stands out as the confession that is the baseline for articulating the great doctrines of the church with breadth, richness and faithfulness. However, there are elements of the Confession that appear to go beyond the rule of scripture alone interpreting scripture, in a way that can unnecessarily offend the conscience of Christian brothers and sisters.
In my next video and post I will discuss what it would look like to have a church constitution based on the Westminster Confession, with amendments and exceptions to address such matters.
Links for the Confessions:
Second Helvetic Confession (1562)
39 Articles of Religion (1571)
Canons of the Synod of Dort (1619)
Westminster Confession of Faith (1646)
London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689)
American Westminster Confession of Faith (1788)
Up next:
Part III: Adopting and Adapting the Westminster Confession Faithfully for 2026
Stratford Church Plant 2026 
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