I’ve fallen in love with this binational denomination, warts and all. I’m a dual citizen (Canada/U.S.) and have served at Dordt University (Iowa) for 10 years while spending most of my life in Canada. I’ve worked for the Christian Reformed Church the past nine years in two binational roles: Director of Faith Formation Ministries and,…
CCC2 added some pepper to the SALT report. Spirited discussion of other options continues in informal dialogues. The options presented to 95 people on Zoom are not mutually exclusive or complete. They could be reframed as steps on a path, and they need more detailed study than could be done for an informal meeting. The…
When the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) began allowing the ordination of women as clergy, Helen Reitsma anticipated positive change for the church she attends in Brantford, Ontario. Twenty-five years later, however, her congregation still has no women in office, let alone female clergy. Even so, she says, “a lot of stuff is really run by…
In three years, Willowdale Christian Reformed Church (CRC) in Toronto has almost doubled in size, thanks to Farsi-speaking newcomers from Iran. Long-time members of Willowdale’s congregation will tell anyone who listens that this is the work of the Holy Spirit. No one planned to have a ministry to Christians who speak Farsi, but church members…
Sytsma: As difficult as it is to discuss homosexuality today, I appreciate how Christians with different perspectives all emphasize the importance of listening. Most importantly we listen to those who experience same-sex attraction themselves. But I am sensing a new desire among North American churches to listen to Christians around the world. Emmanuel, please tell…
“It’s really hard to keep loving a denomination that doesn’t love you back. Honestly, it’s getting harder and harder to stay.” That’s one of many sobering responses to a Christian Courier survey of ordained women in the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) a quarter century after the denomination opened that office to women. Of the 20…
Maybe the answer seems immediately obvious – of course we do, we fight all the time! So much, in fact, that schism is one of our chief contributions to the broader history of the Christian church. But do we know how to fight well? I don’t mean tactically, or strategically. Instead, since I believe everything…
Decades before the first woman was ordained in the Christian Reformed Church (CRC), groups of women (and some men) with a vision for the full expression of women’s gifts were at work, opening a path toward leadership. For me and other Edmonton women, that journey began in 1983 with informal house meetings and grew into…
Twin nieces turned 25 the day I began writing this article. They were born in 1996, the very year when the synod of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) first approved women for ordination and gave congregations the option of calling women as Ministers of the Word. Born prematurely, those two tiny girls spent agonizing months…
Before the Christian Reformed Church’s (CRC) annual June Synod for 2021 was cancelled in late February, there were at least 58 formal responses to the Human Sexuality Report (HSR) on classical agendas (not including 15 responses specific to Neland Ave CRC). Generally, 12 were for “fully adopting” the HSR, 15 asked for “more time,” and…
Sex and money Bob Bruinsma·March 1, 2023·0 comments I have purposely not written a column expressing my opinion on the 2022 Christian Reformed Synod’s Human Sexuality Report, and specifically not about the report’s recommendations concerning same sex relations. My reason is that, from the outset, I judged the entire process to be disingenuous. Handcuffing the…
-768x432.jpg)
I grew up in the Christian Reformed Church. I was born into a Christian home, baptized on the eighth day, Sunday-schooled at age four, children’s-choired at eight, catechized at 13, faith-professed at 17. I went to Christian day schools from K-12, then Calvin College and Calvin Seminary.
Get a curated collection of our articles in your inbox every Monday morning.
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| akavpau_ppsd | session | This cookie is provided by Paypal. The cookie is used in context with transactions on the website. |
| bcookie | 2 years | This cookie is set by linkedIn. The purpose of the cookie is to enable LinkedIn functionalities on the page. |
| lang | session | This cookie is used to store the language preferences of a user to serve up content in that stored language the next time user visit the website. |
| lidc | 1 day | This cookie is set by LinkedIn and used for routing. |
| mailchimp_landing_site | 1 month | The cookie is set by the email marketing service MailChimp. |
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| _gat | 1 minute | This cookies is installed by Google Universal Analytics to throttle the request rate to limit the colllection of data on high traffic sites. |
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | 2 years | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. |
| _gid | 1 day | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form. |
| _uetsid | never | This cookies are used to collect analytical information about how visitors use the website. This information is used to compile report and improve site. |
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| advanced_ads_browser_width | 1 month | This cookie is set by Advanced ads plugin.This cookie is used to measure and store the user browser width for adverts. |
| bscookie | 2 years | This cookie is a browser ID cookie set by Linked share Buttons and ad tags. |
| MUID | 1 year 24 days | Used by Microsoft as a unique identifier. The cookie is set by embedded Microsoft scripts. The purpose of this cookie is to synchronize the ID across many different Microsoft domains to enable user tracking. |
| test_cookie | 15 minutes | This cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. |
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| _uetvid | never | No description available. |
| AnalyticsSyncHistory | 1 month | No description |
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 1 year | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
| cookies.js | session | No description available. |
| li_gc | 2 years | No description |
| m | 2 years | No description available. |
| ultp_view_16128 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_22052 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_22126 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4231 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4234 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4237 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4240 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4243 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4246 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4249 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4252 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4255 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4258 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4261 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4264 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4267 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4270 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4273 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4276 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4279 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4282 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4285 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4288 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4291 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4294 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4297 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4300 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4303 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4306 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4309 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4312 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4315 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4318 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4321 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4324 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4327 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4330 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4333 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4336 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4339 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4342 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4345 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4348 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4351 | 1 day | No description |
|
Uploaded
Failed
|
 |
