Reformed · Confessional · PCA
A Reformed church
in Miami
Christchurch Miami is a Reformed congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America in Kendall. We hold the Westminster Confession of Faith and its catechisms. If you want to know what that means before you ever walk in, start here and read.
Start reading
Read what we believe, in our own words and the Confession's
The Westminster Confession and Catechisms
The full text of the Confession, the Larger Catechism and the Shorter Catechism, with Scripture proofs, from the PCA.
What we believe
Our statement of faith, with references to the Confession.
Sermons
Preaching that works through books of the Bible, passage by passage. Listen to a few before you visit.
If God is sovereign, are our choices real?
James Drake on sovereignty and human responsibility.
Ten ways the Reformation changed the world
Where the Reformed tradition came from, and why it still matters.
The Covenant of Grace
Kent Keller on Genesis 9 and the promise God keeps with His people. A sermon from our Foundations series.
The short answer
What “Reformed” means
Reformed churches trace their convictions to the Protestant Reformation, and to the conviction at the heart of it: salvation is God’s work from first to last, received by faith alone, through Christ alone, by grace alone.
Being Reformed is less a mood than a set of beliefs written down. Reformed churches state what they believe in confessions, so you can read the beliefs before you trust the people. Ours is the Westminster Confession of Faith.
Why confessions
What a confessional church is
A confessional church has written down what it believes and holds its leaders to it. The confession does not replace the Bible. It is the church’s public summary of what the Bible teaches, so anyone can check a church’s teaching against it.
That is useful to you before you ever visit. You do not have to guess what you will hear on a Sunday or wait months to find out where a pastor stands. You can read it tonight.
Calvinism, briefly
The doctrines of grace
People often ask about “Calvinism” or the five points summed up as TULIP. The heart of it is simple to say: God saves sinners, and He does not leave the outcome to chance. We cannot save ourselves. He chooses, Christ redeems, the Spirit gives new life, and God keeps His people to the end.
Reformed Christians also insist that our choices are real and that we are responsible for them. Scripture holds both together, and so does the Confession.
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Total depravity
Sin reaches every part of us. Left to ourselves, we do not turn to God.
Romans 3:10–12 · Ephesians 2:1 · WCF 6
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Unconditional election
God chose His people in Christ before the world began, not because of anything in them.
Ephesians 1:4–5 · Romans 9:16 · WCF 3
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Particular redemption
Often called limited atonement. Christ died to save His people, and His death accomplishes it.
John 10:11 · Matthew 1:21 · WCF 8
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Effectual calling
Often called irresistible grace. The Spirit gives new life and draws us to Christ, and He does not fail.
John 6:37, 44 · Ezekiel 36:26 · WCF 10
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Perseverance of the saints
Those God saves, He keeps to the end.
John 10:28–29 · Philippians 1:6 · WCF 17
Covenant and baptism
Why Presbyterians baptize children
Reformed theology reads the Bible as one story of God’s covenant of grace, His promise to be God to His people and to their children. That is why Presbyterian churches baptize adults who come to faith and also the children of believers, as the sign of that promise (Westminster Confession, chapter 28).
Baptism by itself does not save a child. It marks the child as belonging to the covenant community, to be raised in the faith and called to trust Christ for themselves.
This way of reading Scripture is called covenant theology. It sees one people of God and one way of salvation across the Old and New Testaments: the promise made to Abraham is the promise fulfilled in Christ. The Confession sets it out in chapter 7, “Of God’s Covenant with Man.”
Listen: The Covenant of Grace (Genesis 9)Confessional
The Westminster Standards
The Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger Catechism and the Shorter Catechism were written in the 1640s and are the doctrinal standards of the PCA. Our elders and deacons vow that they receive and adopt them as containing the system of doctrine taught in Scripture. The Shorter Catechism’s first question is still a good place to begin: “What is the chief end of man?”
Scripture is the final authority. The Standards are our summary of what Scripture teaches, and they tell you what you can expect to hear from this pulpit.
- The Confession
- 33 chapters, from Holy Scripture and God’s decree through salvation, the church and the sacraments to the last judgment.
- The Larger Catechism
- 196 questions and answers, written for teaching from the pulpit.
- The Shorter Catechism
- 107 questions and answers, written to be learned by heart, often with children.
Reformed church near me
A Reformed church in Kendall
We meet at 8485 SW 112th Street in Kendall, Miami, a short drive from Pinecrest, South Miami, Palmetto Bay and Dadeland. Christchurch Miami is a congregation of the PCA’s South Florida Presbytery.
There is one service, Sundays at 11 AM, with free parking and a kids’ program during the service. If you are moving to Miami from a Reformed church elsewhere, or looking for one for the first time, you will find the same Confession here.
Questions people ask
Is Christchurch Miami a Reformed church?
Yes. We are a Reformed, confessional congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America, and we hold the Westminster Confession of Faith and its catechisms.
Is this a Reformed Baptist church?
No. We are Presbyterian. We share much with Reformed Baptists, but we baptize the children of believers as well as adults who come to faith.
Do I have to agree with the Confession to attend?
No. Everyone is welcome to worship, ask questions and learn. Our elders and deacons vow to receive and adopt the Westminster Standards; members profess faith in Christ.
What is worship like?
One service, Sundays at 11 AM, about an hour and fifteen minutes: contemporary music, prayer, Scripture read aloud, and a sermon that works through a book of the Bible.
Is there anything in Spanish?
The service is in English. Each Sunday’s sermon is dubbed into Spanish on our YouTube channel and in the church app.
Is the PCA a Reformed denomination?
Yes. The Presbyterian Church in America was formed in 1973 as a Reformed denomination. Its ministers, elders and deacons vow that they receive and adopt the Westminster Standards.
Is the PCA the same as the PC(USA)?
No. They are separate denominations. The PCA was formed in 1973; the PC(USA) was formed in 1983. Christchurch Miami is PCA.
What is a confessional church?
A church that has written down what it believes and holds its leaders to it. Ours is the Westminster Confession of Faith, so you can read what we teach before you visit.
What is the difference between Reformed and Presbyterian?
Reformed describes what a church believes. Presbyterian describes how it is governed: by elders, called presbyters, rather than by bishops or by the congregation alone. Christchurch Miami is both.
Is Christchurch Miami a Calvinist church?
If you mean the doctrines of grace, yes. We hold them as the Westminster Confession states them, because we believe Scripture teaches them.
What is covenant theology?
A way of reading the whole Bible as the story of God’s covenants, above all the covenant of grace He makes with His people in Christ. The Westminster Confession sets it out in chapter 7.
Do you baptize babies?
Yes. We baptize the children of believing parents, and adults who come to faith and have not been baptized. The Westminster Confession explains why in chapter 28.
Do I have to be Reformed to become a member?
No. Members profess faith in Jesus Christ and promise to follow Him with this church. Our elders and deacons are the ones who vow to receive and adopt the Westminster Standards.
Is there a Reformed church near me in Miami?
Christchurch Miami is a Reformed PCA church at 8485 SW 112th Street in Kendall, near Pinecrest, South Miami and Palmetto Bay. We worship Sundays at 11 AM.
When you’re ready
Then come on a Sunday
Sundays at 11 AM · 8485 SW 112th Street, Miami, FL 33156 · contemporary worship, expository preaching, free parking.