Our History, Our Purpose and Our Beliefs


HISTORY

The Reformed Church of Box Hill (RCBH) was instituted on 19 May 1957.

In its early years, the church was made up of mainly Dutch migrants. As the years passed however, the church has increasingly become a truly multicultural body, which reflects the diverse cultural mix of Melbourne’s population.

In 1969, the reformed church building in Box Hill was established. The congregation currently includes people with cultural origins from Australia, Brazil, China, England, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and USA. Such diversity - worshipping and serving together in harmony - is seldom found outside of the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Church is Presbyterian in its government. It is a congregation of the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia (CRCA).

 

PURPOSE

Our aim is to "to preach Christ crucified" (1 Cor 1:23a) for "there is salvation in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

In response to God’s call, it is the purpose of the Reformed Church of Box Hill to be a community of believers committed to Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaiming in word and deed the Word of God by worship, fellowship and care, diaconal service, evangelism and outreach.

We hold the Bible as the Word of God and therefore the only authority for all of faith and life, and that God must receive all glory.

The Reformed Church of Box Hill exists to:

Unite the people of God in joyful worship (by song, prayer and by reading and preaching the Word of God) to declare and celebrate their joy, gratitude and wonder at being freely redeemed from eternal death to eternal life, through the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. By that Divine, sovereign work of grace, we who are by nature and practice sinful and rebellious are made children of God the Father.

Proclaim the free offer of salvation in Christ to all who are searching for solutions to life's perplexing problems. Our greatest problem is the problem of sin – that we have disobeyed God’s righteous commands, and we have neither the desire nor the spiritual strength to consistently do what He requires of us. All who by faith confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour will be assisted, encouraged and strengthened in their growth in grace by instruction from the pulpit, Bible studies, catechism classes, youth groups, and fellowship with other Christians. We shall at all times endeavour to care for the needy in our midst, in the community of Box Hill, and in the world, by acts of mercy.

Lead one another to lives of godliness and service. We shall glorify the Lord God of heaven and earth by dedicating our whole lives and all our resources to implement the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20, so that His church may grow in grace and unbelievers may be reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ through life-style evangelism, that gives ready testimony to the salvation received in Christ.

For this purpose to be executed, we recognise God has called elders and deacons into leadership in the Church, to equip and direct it to fulfil its calling so that the church may advance and His Kingdom rule be established.

 

BELIEFS

As a Reformed church, the RCBH proclaims the entire Bible as the inspired, infallible Word of God, and holds the historic Reformed creeds (the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession of Faith, the Canons of Dordt, and the Westminster Confession of Faith) as accurate summaries of the teachings of God's Word.

Click the link to understand about 'What We Teach'.

 

NAME

REFORMED - means that this church is in the tradition of the historic Protestant Reformation, accepting the entire Bible as the authoritative and inspired Word of God as our only rule for faith and life.

CHURCH - tells us that we belong to Christ, and recognise Him as our King and Saviour. As Saviour, Christ alone has paid the price of sin and made peace with God the Father for everyone who trusts in Him. As King, Christ rules the church so that what we do together as the church, and individually as members of the church, is not left up to us alone to decide. As Christians we recognise the need for a living faith in Jesus, which looks to the Bible to shape everything we do.

BOX HILL - a suburb of the city of Melbourne, 16 kilometres east of Melbourne City centre, and it is home to the city's tallest high-rise buildings outside the CBD. Box Hill is a major transport hub for trains, trams and buses.