| Vanguard Presbyterian Church | |
| Main Classification: | Evangelical Protestant |
| Orientation: | Reformed |
| Governance: | Presbyterian |
| Founded Date: | 2020 |
| Separations: | Christ Reformed Presbyterian Church (2022) |
| Congregations: | 22 (2023)[1] |
| Ministers: | 27 (2023) [2] |
Vanguard Presbyterian Church, formerly Vanguard Presbytery, is a Presbyterian denomination formed in 2020 by churches that separated from the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) due to conflicts over the application of ecclesiastical discipline and the charge that the PCA has become excessively hierarchical.[3] [4] It identifies as a continuing church.[5]
After the formation of the Vanguard Presbytery, the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States (RPCUS) - another splinter denomination from the Presbyterian Church in America, formed in 1973 - was dissolved and its local churches joined the new denomination.[6] [7]
In May 2022, just over a year later, the former RPCUS churches – Chalcedon in Cumming, Georgia and Trinity in Tazewell, Virginia – and three others left Vanguard to form another new denomination, the Christ Reformed Presbyterian Church. The Christ Reformed churches alleged "constitutional abuses and alarming theological errors" from Vanguard.[8] The disagreement centered around church governance and Vanguard's decisions regarding hierarchy and due process in disputes.[9] [10]
The Vanguard Presbytery believe in being a “grassroots” denomination, handing more responsibility for church planting to local churches and presbyteries, supporting evangelism both in and outside the congregation (New Side), the office of evangelist as a third office (along with elder and deacon) a commitment to Calvinism and the Westminster Standards (Old School),[11] and Young Earth Creationism.[12]