ABOUT US | Emmanuel Reformed Ch

About Emmanuel Reformed Church

Our History

Emmanuel Reformed Church began in the Fall of 2023 as a church plant of Trinity Reformed Church, also in Moscow, Idaho. We are thankful for the rich fellowship we share with Trinity Reformed Church, and we seek opportunities to grow in unity and fellowship with the many other faithful Christian churches in the Palouse.

Our Name

“Emmanuel” refers to one of the names by which we know our Lord Jesus Christ. This name was given in prophecy for the child to be conceived and born from the virgin (Isaiah 7:14). The angel sent to Joseph to announce the birth of Jesus quoted this prophecy as well. The meaning of the name, “God with us”, is fundamental to our understanding of the Gospel. God has come near to his people in his Son. And being with us He has rescued us from our sins and has united us to the Father through his suffering, his burial, his resurrection, and his ascension to the Father’s right hand. We are united to Christ so that we might truly be “with Him”, forever and ever.

“REFORMED” means that we are thankful to be part of the rich Reformation tradition. And like the reformers, we look to the medieval and early church as our heritage, the ancient catholic faith “once delivered to the saints.” At the same time, the Reformation and all faithful teaching and living is a continual call to repentance and renewal to walk in the Spirit. While we look back in gratitude, we also look forward in hope, trusting that “eye has not seen nor ear heard . . . the things which God has prepared.” We pray for and work toward the coming of the Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. The Reformation did not only occur once but is rather a picture of the way the church ought to continually renew herself through the Word and the Spirit.

Finally, “CHURCH” refers to the fact that we are a community, a fellowship, part of that body which Christ established through His death and resurrection and filled with His Spirit to carry on His mission in this world. We are disciples of Jesus, seeking to hold fast to the Bible as His living Word, committed to faithful worship on the Lord’s Day, given to hospitality, fellowship, and mercy, raising our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, seeking to carry on the Great Commission so that every knee may bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Our Beliefs

Emmanuel Reformed Church stands in the historic Protestant tradition of the Christian Church and is a mission church within the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches. With the Reformers we embrace the early church fathers and Christian creeds as our heritage, the medieval church as our family in Christ, and the recovery of the centrality and authority of Scripture as the only infallible rule for faith and practice. We are evangelical and Reformed with regard to our understanding of salvation and God’s grace to fallen sinners. We are covenantal, believing God’s mercy extends to our children and their children after them to a thousand generations. We are presbyterian in church government, believing the local church is best served by a plurality of elders and accountable to other elders in the broader church. We are optimistic about the power and success of the gospel in history and therefore ambitious about evangelism and missions. We love the rhythms of the Psalms and prayers and hymns of the historic Church, the Word proclaimed, the sacraments celebrated, exuberant living, filling the hungry, comforting the broken, and walking in the Light together.

These creeds, confessions, and theological statements represent the doctrinal standards and commitments of our leadership, but they do not supersede our commitment to Scripture nor do they limit our fellowship or membership. Members are required to subscribe to the Apostles’ Creed and live Christian lives under the pastoral care of the elders of Emmanuel Reformed Church.