About Second Reformed

When Christ said, "I Will Build My Church..." He was not talking about a building. He was not talking about a corporation. He was talking about people - building the lives of individuals and families under His leadership.

The Chief Cornerstone of the Church is Jesus Christ Himself. The full history of the Church therefore originates with Him - even before time began. The history of the Second Reformed Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis is a testimony to the kind of building Jesus has been doing all through history in the lives of men, women, children, and families.

The Lord began preparing the way for His work in our midst long before any of us were born...

Persecution in Scotland from 1660 to 1690 caused many believers to take their faith more seriously than earlier generations had. They gathered secretly to study the Scriptures. They noticed that God's Word contains many promises (covenants) from God to His people. They also noticed that God's people should respond to His covenant promises by making covenants back to Him.

These Christians came to be known as "Covenanters." They made it a practice to study the Bible, claim God's Word for their individual lives, and then respond by making commitments back to God.

Today, at Second Reformed Presbyterian, we continue this discipline. We use the term "ABC Study" to help us remember to apply each of these steps to our study of Scripture:

Analyze the passage: what is God saying through His Word to me?
Best Verse - claim the verse that summarizes what God is saying to me.
Commit - what am I going to do in response to what God is telling me.

When our senior pastor, Dr. Roy Blackwood and his wife Margie, moved to Indianapolis in 1963, they did not know what all God would do. Roy and Margie had just returned from Scotland where Roy received his doctorate in church history at the University of Edinburgh.

Focusing on the responsibilities delegated to us by Christ:
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God" "I will build my church." (Matthew 6:33; 16:18)
Roy and others working with him began reaching out to students, parents, professionals, families, and individuals. Leaving the building of God's Church in His hands, Roy spoke with young people on college campuses and conducted evangelistic Bible studies from his home.

These evangelistic Bible studies looked through the Gospel of John chapter-by-chapter, asking the questions: "Who is Jesus?" "What is faith?" "What kind of life is it that the Christian has?" Many came to Christ through this introduction. However, God wants us to do more than reaching.

"And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." (II Timothy 2:2)

Paul was not done working with Timothy until he saw that Timothy was able to reach others. In fact, Paul was not done with Timothy until he saw that those Timothy had reached were also equipped to reach others. Following this principle, those who came to Christ received further training in the Christian life and ministry through one-on-one Bible study.

In late 1963 and early 1964, Sabbath evening Bible studies began. The purpose of these times was to search Scripture for direction on family relationships, our personal walk with Christ, and how to communicate our faith through the home. Going beyond the one-on-one training, the goal of these building times was to learn how our lives and families could be "tools" useful to Christ for His kingdom work.

Friday night meetings were also conducted. These were attended by students from several area campuses. These sessions were designed to help believers develop four "spokes" by which a person can be sure his life revolves around Christ, is spiritually maturing, and reaches out to others. These four "spokes" are:

the Word - reading Scripture daily to hear God speak personally to me.
Prayer - answering God's Words to me by praying back to Him, claiming His promises, agreeing with His truth, seeking His will, and committing to obey His commands.
Obedience - letting God lead my life by acting in harmony with His Word.
Witnessing - letting God use me to communicate His Word to others.

Early in 1964, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) recommended that a church be organized in Indianapolis. Roy and Margie had been working as "missionaries without salary" under the oversight of an RPCNA Commission. On October 16, 1964, the Second Reformed Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis was organized.

After several more years of reaching, training, and building, we began to experience another phase of ministry. Many of those in whom much had been invested began to be called to other works and other places. We soon discovered that God's purpose for building His church is not to "keep it all to ourselves," but to send with open hands.

God is always faithful to bring people to us so long as we are willing to send on those He calls away. And it is a great joy to see God continuing to build His church in our midst, and in the midst of those He has led to other locations.

Because God is a reaching, training, building, sending God, we are committed to being a reaching, training, building, sending church.