Have you noticed the beams? The ones that make a church worship space look like an upside-down ark? Maybe you enjoyed counting them as a kid during a long sermon (once you were done tallying the organ pipes or tracking the sun’s progress across the hymnal board). Those familiar wooden ribs are a bit of…
“I believe that the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) is at a pivot point,” declared General Secretary Zachary King in his opening address at the denomination’s annual meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 13. As King called the church to renewal, he also acknowledged the disunity the CRC has experienced in recent years. At least…
“Christian nationalism conflicts with the reformed understanding of government.” This statement, and others like it, were under discussion at the Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA) Synod as delegates from across Canada and the U.S. gathered from June 12-18, at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. On June 15, delegates voted 93 in favour and…
I was raised in the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) in Canada. Its rich Reformed tradition fed my curiosity, encouraged debate and dialogue and allowed room for questions and doubt. I found it liberating, healing, inclusive and inviting, full of hope for those seeking meaning and purpose. But it no longer feels that way to me….
Can we be strong and weak? Many would reject this as unrealistic, but it’s a paradox that provides hope for the leadership complexities facing the church today and the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) specifically. In his book, Strong and Weak, Andy Crouch explores this paradox and provides a helpful framework for flourishing leadership. A framework…
It has been a confusing time in the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) since Synod 2022, as members of the denomination continue to wrestle with the implications of the CRCNA’s position on human sexuality. Fourteen churches in Canada have left the denomination, with a dozen or more others having disaffiliation discussions. The rest…
Several years ago, my father gave me a copy of our family tree going back seven generations. It was quite grounding to see where I came from and how I fit in. Interestingly, our family genealogist (a distant relative in the Netherlands) chose to include two important pieces of information alongside many of the names…
This October, representatives from more than 300 denominations, all members of the World Council of Churches (WCC), will gather in Egypt to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. The creed this council produced in 325 AD begins, “We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things…
At the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) Synod last month, the denomination decisively rejected a proposal aimed at splitting the bi-national denomination along the Canada-U.S. border. The primary group supporting this proposal is Toward Christian Reformed Church Canada (TCRCC). Since 2023, the group has been advocating for Canadian churches to have a greater degree of separation…
It didn’t have to happen. Nobody in Jubilee Fellowship Christian Reformed Church (CRC) in St. Catharines, Ontario, originally wanted it to happen. But on June 23, 2025, 97 percent of our members voted to leave the CRC. The decision took a long, agonizing time. Yet staying became impossible after Synod 2024 summarily put all protesting…
Spring is nomination season, that time of year when church councils thank retiring members and count empty seats to see how many new officebearers are needed. This spring, however, it might be harder than usual to find members ready to take on a leadership role at church – at least if Christian Courier’s survey results…
When the motion for Edmonton’s Fellowship Church’s disaffiliation from the Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA) was approved at the March 8 Classis Alberta North meeting, members of Fellowship met the news with murmurs, joined hands, smiles and tears. The motion didn’t take long: a unanimous vote, a farewell letter, a blessing and a…
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