When the Christian Reformed Church’s Synod 2023 makes its decisions, it will be like a rubber mallet smacking a reflex point. For some people, there will be joy. For others, an angry kick. A reflex is a short-circuit nerve pattern that causes a leg to jump when the knee is struck. Reflex does not require…
In 1993, when the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) suffered a protracted conflict over the expanding role of women in church office (elder and minister), there was a decline in membership of approximately 40,000 within 10 years. (Of course, the general decline of religion in North America and fewer children being baptized also contributed to that…
I love the self-quarantine of the COVID-19 pandemic. Really, I do. Sequestered in my study either reading or writing, my imagination slips through closed doors and roams freely. I love this gift of quiet and solitude. Sort of. Sort of, because I am realizing how shriveled my world has become.
In Vancouver, Washington, Richard Liedtke greets up to 1,000 people by name every Sunday. If he doesn’t know someone, he makes a point of introducing himself and learning a new name. A finish carpenter by trade, Liedtke shares his theology of hospitality in his terrific booklet Master Greeter. He’s always looking for the next member.
I believe restoring healthy positive relations among the church people, congregations, classes and leadership is key to the viability of the CRCNA. No, I know it is.
Can we, like the residents of Fraser Flats, come together to draw strength from our communal meeting with God? Can we seek forgiveness from each other? (Matt. 5: 21-26). Can we forgive one another in order to restore unity in Christ? (Matt. 6:14-15). Last June, Overture 18 urged Synod to focus on denominational unity and reconciliation – to reestablish binational unity, as much as practicable.
The Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) is not a large denomination. It currently has 227,900 members, compared to the Lutheran Church’s eight million. Its relatively small size, however, has never stopped the CRC from large-scale outreach and mission work or from big-picture thinking. But membership has been steadily declining for 25 years, and no one seems to know how to stop it.
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