The News and Views in 2014

The year 2014 was one in which the Christian Reformed Church filled top-level leadership positions, worked amidst the Ebola epidemic and in the aftermath of terrorist attacks, and sought to draw closer to its closest ecumenical partner, the Reformed Church in America.

The year also saw the CRC focus attention on faith formation and administrative restructuring, offer prayers and a call to action over racial strife in the U.S., and experience the renewal of discovering fresh ways to worship and do mission.

The church reached out to those suffering in the wake of such disasters as tornadoes and floods that swept through the U.S. and Canada, experienced important transitions, and, as always, saw God’s saving grace at work in the lives of his people.

Here is a look at some of the stories featured in CRC News during the past year.

Changes at the Top

Of the many stories to come out of Synod 2014 was the appointment of Dr. Steven Timmermans to serve as the CRC’s new executive director. Timmermans is a psychologist, educator and served as president of Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Ill. for more than a decade before his appointment.

Meeting on the campus of Central College in Pella, Iowa, synod also ratified the appointment, made by the CRC’s Board of Trustees, of Rev. Darren Roorda to serve as the denomination’s new Canadian Ministries director.  Roorda left his role as lead pastor of Community CRC, a 900-member church in Kitchner, Ontario, to take the new position.

Changes between CRC and RCA

The Reformed Church in America (RCA) and the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) made history during Synod 2014 when the synods of both denominations held a joint session and voted simultaneously and unanimously to adopt a resolution declaring that “the principle that guides us, and the intention that motivates us, is to ‘act together in all matters except those in which deep differences of conviction compel [us] to act separately.’”

Two weeks later, Rev. Carlinda Peoples was ordained as a Reformed Church in America minister and then moments later installed as the pastor of community outreach at Bethany Christian Reformed Church in Muskegon, Mich., offering an example of ways in which the denominations can work together.

Changes in Focus and Structure

In July, Rev. Syd Hielema, a professor of youth ministries and a chaplain at Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ontario, said he was leaving the college to take on the task of helping the Christian Reformed Church develop its discipleship and faith formation ministries. Hielema said serving in the position would enable him to join in efforts that help churches to form the faith of their members.

Just as faith formation ministries are crucial to the future of the CRC, the denomination is also at a “Kairos Moment” when it comes to deciding how to best structure itself for the days ahead, said  Andrew Ryskamp, chair of the CRC’s Strategic Planning and Adaptive Change Team.

Connecting to a World in Crisis

World Renew worked with its partners in Liberia, one the epicenters of the Ebola outbreak, to supply much-needed medical supplies including antibacterial, antiviral and fever-reduction drugs. World Renew was also at work in Sierra Leone, another country hard hit by the virus, with its partners and with Christian Reformed World Missions (CRWM) to fight a lack of understanding about the disease.

Amid tumult in Iraq, Gaza and Ukraine, World Renew responded in various ways, working to help the people caught in those conflicts.

In 2014, World Renew also continued to assist Syrian refugees who have fled the ongoing civil war in their country.

In a May visit to the Grand Rapids office of the CRC, H.V. Thomas, World Renew’s country representative in South Sudan, asked Christian Reformed Church congregations to keep South Sudan, which is now facing a “brutal” civil war, in their prayers.

Stories of Renewal and Growth

Lombard CRC was the first church in Chicago to worship in English, not Dutch, and for many years the congregation flourished. But, as been the case for many churches in recent years, they found members leaving and their ministry languished. But then the church took steps to turn things around.

Madison Avenue CRC, a multicultural congregation in Paterson, New Jersey, is a church that offers an after-school program, a discipleship ministry, and help for those recovering from addictions. The church is an example of the kinds of congregations that are reaching out in new and fresh ways across North America.

Ten years ago, Prairie City CRC had to make a tough decision. Should they close their doors or start the long journey toward renewal? The decision they made changed the church and the broader community of Prairie City, Iowa.

Stories of the People

Chantal Huinik, a CRC member who uses an electric wheelchair, endured a grueling, seemingly endless Greyhound bus trip from Toronto to Waterloo in late January, escaping injury when her feet got trapped by tie-down straps.

Jonathan Owens, a Calvin Theological Seminary student, was one of five seminary and five rabbinical students in North America chosen to attend the annual conference of  the Islamic Society of North America assembly in Detroit. He was surprised by what he experienced.

Felipe and his wife came to this country four years ago from Guatemala on a legal visa. When the visa expired, they didn’t want to leave since their son, a U.S.-born citizen, has a rare blood disease requiring life-sustaining treatments. But then immigration officials started deportation proceedings -- until Felipe’s CRC congregation in Holland. Mich. got involved and a miracle happened.

Helping Out at Home

World Renew’s Disaster Response Services (DRS) continued its work in such places as High River, Alberta and along the East Coast of the U.S. in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. But it was also busy responding, for instance, to an outbreak of tornadoes across several U.S. states and to floods in Burlington, Ontario and what it calls a “stealth flood” in Pensacola, Florida.

A Milestone

Seventy-five years ago, on Dec. 17, 1939, the CRC’s first radio broadcast reached through the airwaves into the homes of church members or car radios of seekers. This was the beginning of Back to God Ministries International.

Transitions

Rev. Bob De Moor informed the Board of Trustees of the Christian Reformed Church of his intent to retire as editor of The Banner, the denomination’s official publication, at the end of August 2015 to go from half time to full time parish ministry at West End Christian Reformed Church in Edmonton, Alberta.

In an emotional speech at Synod 2014, Rev. Joel R. Boot celebrated the CRC’s progress during his three-year tenure as executive director and challenged it to do more. Boot now serves as director of ministries and administration.

Earlier this year, Ronald Willett began his job as director of World Renew’s Disaster Response Services, stepping into the role following the retirement of the previous director, Bill Adams. Willett came to World Renew from a 35-year career with the Boy Scouts of America.

Calls for Justice

Rev. Esteban Lugo said that the church must speak out and bring the message of Christ’s grace and truth to situations such as those that occurred in Ferguson, Mo. and Staten Island, N.Y., where grand juries decided not to indict white police officers for killing unarmed black men.

A panel of pastors held a press conference in the Grand Rapids, Mich. office at the CRC and called for the U.S. to create a more just immigration system.

As a way to better understand issues facing Canada’s aboriginal people, a CRC group took a trip to a Six Nations reserve, engaging in a conversation of justice and healing.

Stories of Prayer

Surrounded by several others, Dr. Steve Timmermans, executive director of the Christian Reformed Church, bowed his head and prayed for a range of world concerns.

In late October, the CRC issued a statement asking members of the church to stand together in sympathy with the family of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, 24, a Canadian Forces reservist from Hamilton, Ontario. Cirillo was killed at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, Canada by a gunman who was then fatally shot in Parliament's Centre Block.

Christian Reformed Church leaders called on congregations to pray for the release of the more than 250 secondary schoolgirls who were kidnapped in Nigeria by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram.

Led by Mwaya Wa Kitavi, CRWM’s East and South Africa regional leader, seven people this year took a prayer safari to Kenya.

Synod 2014 delegates paid painful and prayerful tribute to Rev. George Vander Weit, a retired minister who served many times at synod but who has been missing for many months.

Stories of Salvation

When an EF2 tornado swept into Pantega, North Carolina, Mark Van Essendelft  and his family felt certain they would be injured or killed. But they took cover in a ditch, and not their home, and he said the decision saved their lives. He told a World Renew Disaster Response Services worker that he credits their being saved to divine intervention.

After just learning she needed an operation, Sonia was crossing a street in Brazil when she received a call to accept Jesus in the form of a card from DisquePaz (Dial Peace), a Portuguese telephone ministry produced by Back to God Ministries International. She ended up calling the ministry and found a whole new life in Christ.

With the help of mentors in the CRC, Rev. Martin Sisneroz was able to leave behind a world of crime and drug abuse and find salvation, comfort and a new-found sense of faith. He now is pastor of Open Door Community Church, which is located in a poor neighborhood of Stockton, Calif.

Other Stories

Three Calvin College alums were among the handful of artists chosen as finalists for ArtPrize, an international art competition in Grand Rapids, Mich.

A group of Chinese pastors worked diligently for more than a year to translate the CRC Church Order into Chinese.

In other stories, Michael Le Roy, president of Calvin College, made a presentation at the school’s annual January Series in which he discussed challenges facing higher education.

Less than two years after its publication, Lift Up Your Hearts, the CRC’s hymnal, has sold nearly 40,000 copies in its various editions.

For strategic purposes, CRWM ended its involvement with Hope Equals, a program that connected young North Americans with peacemaking efforts in the Holy Land.

Not long after the 17th Cadet International Camporee opened in Central Alberta in July, the skies opened with heavy rain and strong winds swept Kamp Lone Pine, where more than 1,200 men and boys had set up their tents for the week. The storm sent them scurrying.

During a visit to Egypt, Rev. Joel R. Boot signed a document formalizing an ecclesiastical fellowship agreement between the Christian Reformed Church and the Synod of the Nile Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Egypt.

And Synod 2014 approved 49 candidates for the office of minister of the Word in the Christian Reformed Church. Sixteen candidates made the trip to Pella, Iowa, to share in synod’s rejoicing that six women and 43 men are now available to be called to a variety of ministries.