|
|
|
Christ-centred. Creative. Canadian.
|
|
|
|
|
|
LET'S TALK ABOUT IT
|
Join us this evening to chat about the June issue. We expect the focus to be on the CRC Synod and will start by discussing the June editorial. Contact Neil and Virginia Lettinga, friends of CC at [email protected] to get the zoom link. Conversation kicks off at 6:30 pm PT, 9:30 pm ET.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The part of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) Synod that I found most disturbing last week was when the denomination voted to withdraw from the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC). WCRC is an ecclesiastical organization that the CRC helped found in 2010 and it represents more than 230 churches in 109 countries.
|
|
|
|
The reasons for leaving? Speaking about the WCRC, a delegate told Synod that “they have had a corrupting influence on us,” and another read a condemnation from Revelation 2 regarding sexual immorality. The official reason given was that “the positions and the materials promoted by this organization are not Christian.”
|
|
The General Secretary of the WCRC, Philip Peacock was in attendance and responded, saying: “I stand before you sad and in pain, partly because the union is breaking, but also partly because I have been grossly misrepresented and words that I did not say were put into my mouth.”
|
|
|
|
I didn’t expect this to be the headlining moment for this year’s denominational gathering, but I felt shaken by the whole debate. I wish the CRC had chosen to stay, and I’m embarrassed to be a part of a denomination that can’t collaborate with other churches despite some differences in theology.
|
But all of this denominational drama pales in comparison to what’s going on elsewhere in the world, like in Congo where doctors and pastors are paying the price for being on the frontlines of the country’s seventeenth Ebola epidemic. My co-editor, Maaike, spent hours over the last two weeks doing interviews in Lingala and French to get highly localized stories from parts of Congo where she has family connections.
|
Maybe the CRC has something to learn from a Chinese church in Edmonton that juggles serious political, linguistic and generational differences and yet are committed to staying in communion with each other. The larger our communions, the bigger the challenge, but I don’t think we have a choice.
|
“Unity is God’s gift before it is our task,” Philip Peacock told Synod. “No decision taken in this hall can finally undo it. Whatever you choose, you will not cease to be our sisters and brothers in Christ.”
|
|
|
|
Did someone forward this newsletter to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
BIG QUESTIONS FOR A YOUNG CHURCH
|
Edmonton church navigates the complexities of three congregations with a shared history, but different languages.
|
Jessica Lum
|
From scheduling facilities to doctrinal clashes, the pitfalls of communication can cause a host of challenges. For Pastor Ryan Chau and the staff of three congregations at Edmonton Chinese Baptist Church, these challenges are written in triplicate for their trilingual church community. Chau works alongside the church’s Cantonese, Mandarin and children’s pastors to minister to Edmonton’s Chinese population.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
EBOLA EPIDEMIC TAKES BUNIA UNAWARE
|
Congolese doctors and pastors are paying the price of being on the frontlines of Congo’s seventeenth Ebola epidemic.
|
Maaike VanderMeer
|
Congo’s seventeenth Ebola epidemic was declared on May 15, over three months after the first suspected case in Mongbwalu, a few hours from Bunia in northeastern Congo. On June 15, Congo’s Ministry of Public Health confirmed 782 cases and 181 deaths. In the first week of June, the WHO closed clinics and hospitals across town until they were Ebola-ready.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
KAMLOOPS PILOT MAKES EBOLA HUMANITARIAN FLIGHTS
|
Dominic Villeneuve, a Missionary Aviation Fellowship pilot, was one of the first to hear the news of the Ebola epidemic and begin delivering medical supplies.
|
Maaike VanderMeer
|
Villeneuve was one of the first people to learn about the Ebola epidemic in Congo. On May 15, he was preparing to fly out of Bunia with Serge missionary, Doctor Patrick LaRochelle as a passenger. LaRochelle had interacted earlier with one of the first patients confirmed as a positive Ebola case – news that reached him in the airport waiting room.
|
|
|
|
|
|
A FRAGILE MARRIAGE
|
Mary Van Denend
|
Kelly Foster Lundquist’s memoir chronicles her ill-fated marriage to someone she deeply loved but barely knew. It’s also a social commentary on what it means to navigate being male and female in the eyes of God in the world one inhabits as a child – in her case, rural Mississippi and a culture soaked in the religion of conservative evangelical Christianity. The title, Beard, refers to someone who marries to help cover up another’s being gay.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE IN NORTH AMERICA
|
Matthijs Kronemeijer
|
I find history and political theory indispensable tools to get a grip on the reality of the present. This summer, Canadians and Americans celebrating their freedom together (ideally in Canada), do well to remember their founding history and consider what new things they could do together.
|
|
|
PERMISSION TO IMAGINE
|
Sara Pot
|
In recent years, our family has enjoyed visiting immersive light exhibits where people are bathed in a kaleidoscope of colour through projection mapping, LED arrays, motion sensors and spatial audio, creating a multisensory experience. It is with pure delight that we watch Rachel and Janneke take in the immersive light show, .
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We can't promise that the news won't be hard, or complicated, but we can promise to seek the good in every story. That's what redemptive journalism is about, after all! This summer, bring good news home: subscribe to Christian Courier in print and keep redemptive journalism in circulation.
|
If you are a church, good news! CC is offering subscription bundles at 50% off our regular rate. It's our small way of keeping a Reformed family connected. Contact [email protected] to learn more. If you already subscribe, consider marking your next donation to cover the cost of a bundle for a church (bundle of 20 issues/$60 a month; bundle of 100 issues/$280 a month).
|
|
|
|
   
|
|
|
|
