Calling all women
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Calling all women

All women are invited to attend the 2023 Inspirational Women’s Conference hosted by Global Coffee Break. Join us for a day of encouragement, biblical teaching, and worship. The conference will be held on April 29, 2023 from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm at Compass Point Bible Church in Burlington, Ontario. There is also an opportunity…

A generational project
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A generational project

Lead Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Commissioner Murray Sinclair is known for speaking in memorable one-liners. Seven years after the TRC’s release, two of these have stuck with me: “education got us into this mess and education will get us out” and “reconciliation is a generational project.” Both of these zingers have inspired our long-term…

Do No Harm
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Do No Harm

I recently walked into a doctor’s office where I saw a sign that read, “This is a place of healing – no forms of aggressive behavior will be tolerated.” While I grieve the fact that the sign was needed, what impressed me was the clear recognition on the part of the medical establishment of why…

The Posture of grace
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The Posture of grace

This beautifully designed volume presents a collection of 22 sermons, delivered by Christian Reformed Church Pastor Herm Van Niejenhuis during his 37-year-career serving congregations in Lethbridge (Alberta), Kingston (Ontario), Saskatoon (Saskatchewan),  Willowdale (Ontario), and Sioux Centre (Iowa).  Who would dare to publish and expect to sell a collection of sermons in 2022, you might ask? The…

Be-Longing
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Be-Longing

I cried out.“I no longer belong.”You heard my painful cry.You walked by on the other side.Afraid to be contaminated?Concerned about what others might say?Confident in your holiness.You threw out those you judged unholy.Now I sit with them in the ashes. I had belonged.All my life I belonged.I belonged to the church, the schools. The community was…

A scalpel, a word, a schism
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A scalpel, a word, a schism

One night, in the midst of the CRC’s Synod, I awoke with a word in my head. Vivisection. I’m not entirely sure what to make of this early morning revelation. Some folks dream lucidly, others sweat through nightmares. Me? Apparently I receive ten-dollar words. It might be just the peculiarity of my own gray matter…

Feeling our way forward
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Feeling our way forward

From grief to relief; from shock to anxiety; from weariness to embarrassment and many points in between. For this editorial, I asked members of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC), “Now that the Human Sexuality Report has passed, with a good majority, how does it feel?” While the theological and biblical reflection has been intense, this…

Common Ground after the HSR
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Common Ground after the HSR

We know that you, our CC readers, have lots to say about decisions made at the Christian Reformed Church’s Synod regarding the Human Sexuality Report. One year ago, our Editor pleaded for unity on this issue, and while denominational unity is beyond CC’s mission statement, our membership in the body of Christ remains.  Honesty and Understanding CC is committed…

‘Blood on our hands’
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‘Blood on our hands’

When CRC Synod delegate Dominic Palacios said “I believe our theology around this issue has caused there to be blood on our hands, and there will continue to be blood on our hands because of it,” he lost the right to speak again for ‘violating the rules of decorum.’ CC reached out to both the…

Seeking ‘clarity’ on Sexual sin
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Seeking ‘clarity’ on Sexual sin

“There are two deeply divergent interpretations of Scripture in this denomination,” Paul VanderKlay said on June 14, addressing 188 delegates of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC). To most CRC members, the degree of that difference is painfully clear, and it was only accentuated at this year’s annual meeting. Synod 2022 made three key decisions concerning…

Affirming or Confessional: Aren’t there other options?
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Affirming or Confessional: Aren’t there other options?

As pundits and pew quarterbacks are struggling to find descriptions for what transpired at the Christian Reformed Church’s Synod 2022, I’m at a bit of a loss. Most descriptions are two-sided, fitting our bifurcated partisan day and age. When it comes to human sexuality, almost everyone seems to be either affirming or confessional. But I…

When God closes a church
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When God closes a church

For 70 years, Fruitland Christian Reformed Church (CRC) and its congregation in and around Fruitland, Ontario have given faithful witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ over four generations of mostly Dutch-born or -descended members. Before the church was built in 1952, the growing congregation worshiped in a local Legion Hall. Early on, the fledgling…