When visitors come to a United Reformed Church, something stands out from many other churches: catechetical preaching. Catechetical preaching is when a minister “preach[es] the Word as summarized in the Three Forms of Unity” (URCNA Church Order, article 40), which happens at one of the worship services each Lord’s Day.
While the URCNA federation is young, this practice is not. However, some persons are uncomfortable with catechetical preaching and criticize it by claiming that it is illegitimate to preach on anything other than a text drawn directly from Scripture. While there are various ways to defend catechetical preaching, I want to defend and promote it from the actions of the apostolic church as we find them recorded in Acts 15.1
Acts 15 records how the apostolic church dealt with a deep controversy in the early church. The chapter begins with Luke setting forth a summary of the controversy: “Some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot saved.’ And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question” (Acts 15:1–2; quotations are from the English Standard Version).
Controversy in the church is nothing new, and it continues to this day. Our Three Forms of Unity (the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort) were composed in the midst of controversy, whether that be the momentous Reformation period or the Arminian challenge a generation later.

Luke tells us that “the apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter” (Acts 15:6). He also informs us that “after there had been much debate” (15:7) a solution to the controversy was proposed by James (the brother of the Lord, not the apostle), which was agreed to by the assembly; they were of “one accord” with the solution (15:25).
What is interesting to note is even though multiple apostles were present at the gathering, no revelation from God was delivered to settle the matter, as far as we are told. Instead, among other things, we read of James quoting Scripture and applying it to the situation before them (Acts15:14–18). The solution to the controversy was found by interpreting and applying Scripture. This application was written down in the form of a letter to be sent to the churches (15:23–29). Not only was the letter was brought to the church where the controversy erupted, but also the apostle Paul took it along with him to other churches (Acts 16:4–5). While the letter says that the solution “seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” (15:28), this is a different claim than that the solution was divinely inspired since humans are mentioned in a similar way that God is mentioned. This wording accords with Jesus’ promise in John 16:13, that the Holy Spirit will “guide you into all the truth.”2 We see this confirmed when Acts 16:4 refers to the decisions as ones “that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem,” rather than as ones inspired by the Holy Spirit.
What we see in Acts 15 is a model for the church to follow to address controversies once there would be no more apostles in the church. The church is to debate the controversy. In this debate, the church is to go back to Scripture. The church is to apply scriptural teaching to the controversy. The solution the church reaches won’t be divinely inspired, but it will be authoritative, for it is bringing scriptural teaching to bear on a subject, and Scripture’s teaching is authoritative. This is similar to what the Three Forms of Unity do: they bring out the scriptural teaching of various doctrines about which the Reformed churches as a whole have agreed.
All this is well and good, but what does it have to do with catechetical preaching? Look to Acts 15:30–32: “They went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words.”
The Greek word Luke uses for “gathered . . . together” is used in various New Testament passages to refer to the gathering together of the congregation for what appears to be the equivalent of a corporate worship service: Acts 4:31; 11:26; 13:44; 14:27; 20:7–8; and 1 Corinthians 5:4–5. We can assume it is similar in Acts 15.
At this official gathering of the congregation, they “read” the letter, which was a letter of human composition rather than divinely inspired Scripture. Also at this gathering in Antioch, something like what we call a sermon was delivered, as Judas and Silas “encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words.” Note that even though we are told that Judas and Silas were “prophets,” we are not told that they prophesied. The Greek word Luke used for “encouraged” is a common word, used at various times to refer to what goes on in sermons: Luke 3:18; Acts 2:40; 11:23; 14:21–22; 20:1–2; 28:20; Romans 12:1, 8; 1 Corinthians 14:31; 2 Corinthians 5:20; 6:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:12; 3:2; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:9; 2:15; Hebrews 3:13; 10:24–25; and 1 Peter 5:12.
When we are told that Judas and Silas used “many words” rather than solely reading Scripture or reading the letter, we can connect this to a minister using many words in a catechetical sermon. No doubt they also read Scripture, as James did, and showed how the teaching is scriptural, which every catechetical sermon ought to do.
What we see in Acts 15, then, can be applied to the church’s situation today to defend and promote catechetical preaching, for in verses 30–32 we see office bearers delivering to a gathered congregation a sermon that was based on human words summarizing the teaching of Scripture. Or, in our context, as article 40 of the URCNA Church Order puts it, “At one of the services each Lord’s Day, the minister shall ordinarily preach the Word as summarized in the Three Forms of Unity.” Catechetical preaching is a practice rooted in the example of the early church and is to be used today in our churches. As we do this, we trust the Lord will continue to strengthen us in the faith, just as he did the early church (Acts 15:31–32; 16:4–5).
1. A sermon related to this subject can be found at: sermonaudio.com/sermon/91719146411567.
2. R. C. H. Lenski, Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1934), 626.
Talman Wagenmaker is the pastor of the Dutton United Reformed Church in Caledonia, MI.