“This would give me hope for the Canadian CRC.” That comment was one of hundreds sent in to Christian Courier as part of our recent survey, specifically regarding two key questions gauging interest in a distinct Christian Reformed Church (CRC) in Canada. Though at first glance the numbers seem to be overwhelmingly in support of…
As a delegate to the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) Synod last June, I experienced first-hand many of the difficult implications of Synod 2024’s decisions currently consuming the agendas of local church councils and regional classes. I find that I cannot now, in good conscience, re-sign the Covenant for Officebearers, as Synod 2024 has instructed all…
Heidi De Jonge, a former Christian Reformed Church (CRC) minister and chaplain, still remembers the night when she realized she would have to leave the denomination in which she was born and raised. She and her husband Tim were brushing their teeth before bed, listening to the proceedings of Synod 2016. “We just looked at…
We’re in our corner in Grace Manor dining hall – the Young People from the past. We’re a bit worried about our friend Jan Piersma, the one with “Old-timers” disease. He came to our table this morning and his whole face had sunken in. He sat down beside Douwe, the horse breeder – Frisian horses,…
For decades, the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) has described itself to itself as a denomination made up of three strands. Sometimes we use slightly different terms for each of these strands, and for at least half a century the CRC has described itself as a three-legged stool with a creed-emphasizing leg, a worldview (Kuyperian)-emphasizing leg,…
Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA) members from 116 congregations (representing 17 percent of the denomination and roughly 32,000 people) met in Grand Rapids, Michigan for a Convening of Concerned Congregations in August. Why were they concerned? It’s complicated. Nate DeJong-McCarron, the director of a group called Better Together, said the event was organized…
In early June, an unanticipated water-main rupture caused a Calgary-wide state of emergency. Later that same month, at the Christian Reformed Church’s (CRC) Synod 2024, another rupture occurred that everyone saw coming, but one that poses far-reaching challenges for the Canadian CRC. Synod 2024 decided to adopt a traditional, non-inclusive position on human sexuality and…
On one of the last days in June, we sneaked into church five minutes late. The Grade 12s looked resplendent in their dark blue gowns, cap tassels swinging jauntily with every movement. We waved at Emerson, a close family friend, and got ready to cheer our hearts out for his moment on stage. It was…
Two years ago, the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) held that any and all same sex relations are a form of unchastity. As such, per Lord’s Day 41, God condemns those relations and we are each called to detest them. This year, we decided what we are going to do with those who disagree. Synod 2024’s…
In team sports, it’s common for the coach to call a time-out when the game has gotten off track. At the pitching mound or hockey bench, a time-out is a brief opportunity to get back to fundamentals. After the way that the Christian Reformed Church’s (CRC) Synod handled the Human Sexuality Report (HSR), I wonder…
In what might have been one of the most dramatic meetings in Canadian Christian school history, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the Edmonton Society for Christian Education (ESCE) began at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 4, and didn’t end until nearly 2 a.m. the next morning. When the gym doors opened at 6 p.m.,…
I wrote most of this before Synod 2024 began. But I was certain we’d still be talking about it, for good or for ill. In 2022 and 2023, Synod discussed the Human Sexuality Report (HSR) and decided by a majority vote that the seventh commandment forbidding adultery, as explained in the Heidelberg Catechism, includes same-sex…
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