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Christ-centred. Creative. Canadian.
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At least 70 churches have disaffiliated from the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) since 2022. The majority of these are driven by the CRC's decisions on human sexuality and the requirement that all ordained leaders agree to the denomination’s position against gay marriage. Sixteen of these churches are in Canada. I included a list of them with my reporting on Synod, the CRC’s denominational meeting that happened in June. Will more follow in the coming years? CC is going to keep tracking.
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Unlike these churches, the pastors whom I interviewed for this story were all excited about the new direction of the CRC. “It is okay to put the emphasis on moving forward,” said Andrew Aukema, pastor of Inglewood CRC in Edmonton. He says he was encouraged when someone at Synod reminded him that “We’re allowed to be happy in our churches.”
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Since this story was published in our August issue, I’ve heard from several readers who found this line painful to read. They aren’t ready to move on and they’re struggling with deciding whether they should stay and accept what their beloved denomination has done, stay and fight, or leave. Which is the same set of choices that the characters in Miriam Toews’ book Women Talking deliberate over. When I read it in 2022, I was struck by the similarities in the dilemma. Although it's important to remember that the characters in Toews' story are living with a very different kind of trauma than members of the CRC today.
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When you are troubled or harmed by your community of faith do you: do nothing, stay and fight, or leave? I’d love to know. Email me at [email protected] if you’d like to tell me which of those three options you tend to choose and why.
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Did someone forward this newsletter to you?
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THE CRC'S NEW DIRECTION
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Delegates at the denominational meeting in June acted quickly and decisively on issues of worship, ecumenical partnership and discipline.
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Meghan Kort
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As Synod 2026 looked to move forward, several noteworthy decisions showed the CRC’s new path. Greater powers were given to higher ecclesiastical bodies to discipline local churches that stray from the denomination’s theological or covenantal commitments. A change was also made to the church order, the CRC’s written constitution, to explicitly emphasize psalm singing during worship. This change will have to be ratified by next year’s synod.
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CAN AI TEACH THEOLOGY?
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New tech is changing the way we train the next generation of Christian leaders.
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Jordan Nobel
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Would you take a university course about ethics and artificial intelligence that was built by an algorithm? How about if the professor was an avatar and the marking was done by a machine? In 2024, six graduate students at Acadia Divinity College in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, said “yes” to these questions and embarked on a futuristic experiment. What does faithful leadership look like now, when AI is raising some of the most fundamental questions about our institutions?
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THE MOST FAMOUS MARTYR OF THE THIRD CENTURY
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John Menendorp
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Sarah Ruden’s biography of Perpetua is part of Yale University Press’s “Ancient Lives” collection, a series exploring stories of ancient thinkers, writers and leaders. While much of her story was a legend, we fortunately have her own words as a window into her world.
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WE ARE THE DANCING QUEENS
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Sara Pot
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When a friend invited me to attend Inclusiv, a Toronto dance event, I was curious. Inclusiv is “the world’s largest outdoor patio event designed to celebrate and include people of all abilities, creating welcoming social spaces rooted in accessibility, dignity and community.” I’m not much of a dancer, but I was moved by this description.
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WHERE HAVE THE PASTORS GONE?
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Darren Roorda
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I have begun to notice congregations are taking longer to fill pastoral vacancies. Some churches have restructured their staffing altogether because they simply cannot find the leaders they had hoped to call. We may be witnessing a vocational shift unlike anything the Canadian church has experienced in generations. The outcomes are rarely accidental.
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Christian Courier features authors from across Canada, making each issue feel like a trip across the country. Subscribe to CC in print and travel Canada with us!
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