Distinctives are not requirements for every church, like a statement of faith or constitution, but rather particular convictions and practices that shape the unique culture and calling of our local body. While our statement of faith lays out what we believe, and our constitution governs how we operate, our distinctives describe how we live out our faith in specific, intentional ways. At Trinity Reformed Church, these include our commitment to covenant renewal worship, keeping our children in the faith, cultivating real community, and laboring toward catholic unity. These priorities guide how we worship, disciple, and serve together, expressing what we believe God has especially called us to pursue.
At Trinity Reformed Church, the Lord’s Service is the heartbeat of our life together. It is the central act by which we are renewed and reordered. We gather on Sundays not merely to find encouragement but to enter the heavenly court, where God is enthroned upon the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). Each week, the triune God, who has revealed Himself as both a covenant of divine Persons and the gracious Covenant-Maker of history, welcomes us into His presence to renew His promises and reshape His people. As we offer the “sacrifice of praise,” we participate in God’s work of advancing His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. By Word and Sacrament, He transforms us, forming us more fully into the image of His Son. Because worship is covenantal, we joyfully receive the pattern God has revealed in Scripture—not only in spirit but also in structure. Our service follows a rich fivefold rhythm: Call, Confession, Consecration, Communion, and Commission. These movements guide us through the drama of redemption, as God calls, cleanses, teaches, feeds, and sends His people into the world, renewed to serve in His name.
In Ephesians 6:4, Paul exhorts parents to bring up their children in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord,” a command that is not isolated but scattered throughout the Scriptures. The children of believers are called holy (1 Cor. 7:14), set apart as citizens in the kingdom of God (Matt. 19:14). They are arrows in the hands of a warrior (Ps. 127:4), entrusted to parents—especially fathers—to be straightened, sharpened, and shot without shame at the enemies of Christ (Ps. 8:2; 127:5). At Trinity Reformed Church, we receive this charge gladly. To that end, we are committed to whole-family worship, robust Christian education, and lives shaped by a close fellowship of godly families. Keeping our children begins with keeping them in worship on Sunday morning, but it does not end there. It extends outward into our homes, our habits, and our hopes. We aim not only to raise children who stay in the pews, but saints who stand firm in the faith, bearing fruit in every good work.
When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ established His Church, He founded it as a communion, which is not a loose affiliation of like-minded individuals but a covenant fellowship, a people bound together in love to God and one another (John 17:23). More than a mere gathering, the Church is the embodiment of a new humanity in Christ (Eph. 2:15). In Christ, our life together is held by vows of personal obedience, mutual submission, and reciprocal edification. As such, we do not seek mere association, but assimilation—not the erasure of persons, but the edification of saints—through a culture of militant hospitality. This hospitality means joyfully receiving strangers into the household of God and patiently building one another up in grace and truth. We practice table fellowship not only at the Lord’s Table on the Lord’s Day, but around our dinner tables throughout the week, extending the peace of Christ into every corner of our common life.
On His final night with the disciples, Jesus prayed that all who believed in Him would be one (John 17:21-22). While the Church is historically united in its creedal and moral affirmations, we believe that the Lord Christ also intended this unity to be visibly evident to the world (John 17:24). Therefore, recognizing and respecting denominational distinctives, Trinity Reformed Church both affirms and works to realize the covenant unity of all those who are baptized into the Triune Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We do this through public intercession for the peace and purity of other local congregations, tangible service to the shepherds and sheep of neighboring flocks, and open fellowship around the Lord’s Table. We believe that, by patient faithfulness, these acts of love will result in the reunion and reconciliation of the Body of Christ on earth as it is in heaven.