From the Director of Denominational Ministries
"What does it mean to be Christian Reformed? Why does it matter?" These are questions sometimes encountered in the work of the CRC. In the following report, the core of our Reformed identity is articulated in the ministries of the CRC. We hope this gives you a picture of how our Reformed faith impacts the ministry that we do around the world. We look forward to continued partnership with you as we transform live and communities worldwide through the accent of our Reformed faith.
Chaplaincy Ministries
Representing the church of Jesus Christ embodied in the Christian Reformed Church, 95 full-time and 22 part-time chaplains to minister the presence and love of Christ in organizations like hospitals, military services, and other institutions. Many people ministered to have never heard of the CRCNA until they meet us.
A desire for the church to embrace and fully integrate this ministry at all levels as its very own in Christ’s name is reflected in the Chaplaincy and Care vision statement:
By being a place of grace in a broken world the chaplaincy ministry of the Christian Reformed Church will be a vital, vibrant, valued ministry by the Christian Reformed Church, the people served, the institutions where we serve, the professional chaplaincy organizations, and society at large.
Chaplaincy and Care core values rooted in the mission of God are:
- Identify with God's presence and mission in the world and in the lives of all persons.
- Enable the church to be dispersed in the world.
- Embody the presence of God in diverse contexts.
- Love and care for people unconditionally.
- Affirm and respect the dignity and worth of every human being.
- Affirm the provision of pastoral care to people as our primary focus.
- Pursue justice and peace in chaplaincy ministry contexts.
Christian Reformed Chaplaincy and Care shares a common theological commitment to the Reformed faith with the other ministries of our denomination. Together we embody the grace of God and proclaim it to each other and to the world.
Disability Concerns
As Reformed Christians, we believe
- that at creation God made everything good,
- that sin made defective every person and every aspect of creation,
- that Christ is making all things new through his redeeming work, and
- that God calls his people to participate with him in this work of renewal.
We affirm that both disabilities and our understanding of disabilities are tainted by sin. For example, we reject the idea that God inflicts disabilities on people as a punishment for their sin. We refuse to view people with disabilities only as objects of pity or as triumphs of the human spirit, but we see the image of God and the effects of sin in all people, nondisabled and disabled. We renounce the architectural, communication, and attitudinal barriers which relegate people with disabilities to the margins of society and of the church.
The CRC began the ministry of Disability Concerns “to assist the churches in identifying and eliminating those barriers which hinder the full participation of persons who have disabilities in the life of the church” (Synod 1987). In 1993 our synod “heartily recommend[ed] full compliance with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act . . . and its accompanying regulations in all portions of the CRC located in the U.S. and Canada.”
Accordingly, we must show leadership in our society by working intentionally and diligently for the full participation of people with disabilities in the life of our churches and in society as a whole.
Faith Alive Christian Resources
Publishing
Reformed people and churches are grounded in theological depth and richness, and their core belief that God is at the center of every part of lives gives our thinking wings. One of Faith Alive’s distinctives is it publishes from a Reformed perspective. Our challenge in 2010 and beyond will be to use this distinctive to facilitate life transformation—people engaging with our content to enable deeper, healthier relationships with their God, church, community and the world.
Faith Alive has a deep backlist of Reformed materials that can facilitate life transformation in a variety of ways. Faith Alive has recently taken to, as publishers say, "mining the backlist," or re-issuing a few older publications. One significant lesson in this enterprise is realizing the riches of our Christian Reformed heritage. For example, one backlist item is Rev. Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight: 366 Daily Devotional Readings. Rereading this book of meditations reminds us of the strong and solid foundation of preaching and teaching on which the CRC was built, and which continues to shape the church.
The Banner
Beginning in March The Banner will feature a new column called "True Confessions" that will present a monthly exploration of our denomination's confessional statements. Two major decisions the church must make in the next few years plead for such an extended discussion: the revision of the "Form of Subscription" that all office-bearers must sign, and the question of whether or not to adopt the Belhar Confession.
Office of Social Justice and Hunger Action
Cornelius Plantinga, helping to outline a definition of what it means to be Reformed, says that Reformed believers put a special “accent” on “…Christianity as a religion of the Kingdom.”
The Office of Social Justice (OSJ) is tasked with emphasizing this kingdom-focus in its work, especially in the political arena where powerful decision makers greatly impact those who are most vulnerable.
In God’s kingdom, those created in the image of God along with all of creation, have an opportunity to flourish apart from powers of injustice, oppression, and evil and to live in right-relationship with God and with other created things—be they plants, policies, protons, or people. The weak have power, the forgotten are sought out, the cast-away are exalted. This kingdom of God is coming all around us—now!
OSJ tries to make the justice dimensions of this Kingdom more evident. When laws are passed to ensure that children are not murdered in a corrupt diamond trade, when processes are reviewed so that poor herders in Mali aren’t stripped of their land, when Christians choose to pay more for a bag of coffee so that growers can send their children to school, we are living as citizens of the coming kingdom. God’s kingdom is very near, and it is a kingdom of justice!
Programs like Brew Justice, efforts toward immigration reform in the US, and keeping the poor at the bargaining table during climate change negotiations are ways that OSJ is encouraging CRC members to raise their voice in heralding the kingdom so that it may come on earth more and more.
Pastor-Church Relations
Reformed theology, accenting God’s sovereignty and grace, blesses the work of Pastor-Church Relations deeply. Long before we enter into conversation with a pastor, or enter a council room for conversation with local church leaders, we know that God is already there, engaged with whomever it may be. The conversation has already been initiated, and groundwork is underway. One of the gifts we are able to bring is an extra set of eyes and ears through which to view and filter. But our role is to join a work already in process. The church is more than a merely human undertaking—it is a divine enterprise: “…the Son of God through his Spirit and Word gathers, protects and preserves for himself a community…”
When we understand our personal and congregational stories within the frame of Scripture’s story, we find a rich source “for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” We learn, for example, that the quick fix is not so much an option as a temptation, and that in this life, good and evil are often tightly entangled. We also learn that confessing Christ’s rule means conflict may be harnessed for constructive service and blessing. Sometimes we may introduce new options where few seemed available. In the end, our personal or communal challenges will not have the last word: that privilege belongs to Jesus!
Safe Church Ministry
The dawn of a new year and a new decade is a reminder that things are ever changing. For a congregation, change often occurs as the result of an unexpected event. The change can be welcomed or met with anxiety. Even a slight change reminds us that we are not in control. A congregation needs additional patience to absorb the intrusion of a change-event. This is more difficult when the end result isn’t clear.
Sometimes an event is strong enough to create change within the congregation, and sometimes the congregation must agree to change in response to an event. Change comes more easily to a congregation that had the opportunity to discuss the event and their reaction to it.
Safe Church Ministry keeps existing resources in front of congregations while remaining flexible to modify or create new resources for the unexpected events that challenge a congregation. One handout, Tips for Remodeling, is for a congregation faced with rebuilding after a disaster. A Covenant of Conduct might be a helpful tool when a church member is arrested for assaulting a family member, a spouse, or a member of the church. A consultation with the classis Safe Church Team may help a council faced with a member who refuses volunteer screening. When change-events effect a congregation, Safe Church Ministry will walk along side them.
Service Link
Reformed people believe their faith is relevant to the transformation of all of life according to God’s standards of love and justice. As such, our activities are not just limited to serving in the church alone, but we are called to take up the cause of Christ in all aspects of life – be that in education, agriculture, politics, economics, health etc.
The Contemporary Testimony, “Our World Belongs to God,” gives some excellent descriptions of how, as Reformed believers, we are to serve our Lord to the ends of the earth. We read that the mission of God’s people is to send out the church: to make disciples of all nations, to feed the hungry, to proclaim Christ’s forgiveness of sin, and to claim a new life in him (article 44). We are encouraged to “work for more than wages and manage for more than profit” (article 51). As a denomination, the CRC is active in sharing the message that all of life is redeemed and redeemable and so has ministries around the world that share this message. As the volunteer program of the CRC, ServiceLink partners with the denomination’s agencies in sending those willing to work for more than wages—to work for nothing other than to be an instrument in redeeming God’s world for him. Volunteers share their God given gifts and skills not only with the broken, destitute, and impoverished, but also in areas of Christ-centred politics, missions, research and development.
Sustaining Congregational Excellence
The word reform means to make changes for improvement. The word connotes that we haven’t arrived yet—that there is room to make things better. As Reformed believers we have a desire to always be reforming. To abe doing what we can, with God’s help, to improve ourselves, our families, our congregations, and so forth. SCE takes the need for change seriously. Change is an important part of SCE programming.
Congregations write grant proposals for their projects. Much time, energy, and thought go into these proposals. Often, everything sounds good, right, and doable at the outset. But, as the project unfolds, it sometimes becomes clear that adjustments are needed. The SCE staff works with congregations as they seek to revise or reform their original plan. Changes may be made in budget allocation, programming details, or project time frames.
Offering the option to reform an initially approved proposal allows churches the flexibility needed to carry out the project’s ministry. This can greatly reduce the project team’s stress level and often results in significantly greater impact than was originally anticipated. A number of SCE grant recipients have experienced this very thing.
Policies are necessary for any organization—maybe even more so for those who award grants. But equally important is flexibility. We live in a world that is constantly changing. In order to deal with the changes in a positive manner, one must be willing to change or reform the plans.
Sustaining Pastoral Excellence
Transformation is an important part of the Reformed faith. It involves the act or desire to change—to make progress toward a greater goal. Just as no two people are the same, neither are paths of transformation. Sustaining Pastoral Excellence (SPE) is careful to acknowledge this. Prescribing options results in much lower participation and binds the possibilities for transformation.
Therefore, pastors who gather together in SPE peer groups are more or less given free reign regarding their focus. SPE encourages creativity by giving pastors freedom to decide what makes their hearts sing and opportunities to dream. For many this is a new experience. In seminary their learning is prescribed so being able to design their own learning is exciting and freeing, if at times overwhelming. When SPE encourages pastors to pick up a book, it is a book the pastors choose and SPE pays for —now that is something to get excited about.
What are the results of this permission to plan their learning? Renewed, refreshed, encouraged, supported, and transformed pastors. One pastor said: “We would all agree that at each of our peer group meetings something unexplainable happens as we share and discuss and pray.” Another comments “The peer group set in motion a season of personal, spiritual, and professional revitalization.”
Transformation at work? You bet!
CRWRC
As Christians of Reformed faith, we are called to be his kingdom on earth. As such, CRWRC builds that kingdom by providing aid to survivors of disaster, empowerment to communities in need, and justice for the oppressed.
Disaster Response
- North America: CRWRC-DRS completed work in Port Arthur, Texas, in December. Work here began in 2005 hours after Hurricane Rita struck.
- Internationally: CRWRC remains on the scene where earthquakes rocked Indonesia; reconstruction will take several months. Continuing typhoon response in the Philippines is addressing waterborne and infectious disease.
Community Development
- Bangladesh/India: In October, USAID awarded CRWRC a five-year, $1.4 million innovation grant to continue maternal and newborn health services.
- Haiti: Three new videos capture CRWRC achievements since the 2008 hurricane.
- Nicaragua: An agricultural project will soon reach more than 1,000 farmers in twenty-eight communities.
- Uganda: CRWRC partner Katuna PAG Church is reaching out to widows, orphans, and other vulnerable people, particularly those impacted by HIV and AIDS.
Embrace AIDS
In November, CRWRC launched a contest. Entrants pledged to help raise AIDS awareness or support for Embrace AIDS. The winner will spend three weeks in Uganda, working alongside CRWRC staff.
Financial Challenge Mounting
Unless income improves, CRWRC will end the fiscal year $2.2 million behind core funding (2006-2007).
New Resources
- 2010 DRS spring break work trips and DRS Sunday materials.
- Through the Dust Winter 2010, magazine for deacons and champions.
- HIV/AIDS and Creation Care tours.
Calvin College
Calvin, founded in 1876 by the Christian Reformed Church, first prepared men to be ministers in the Christian Reformed Church. The first class of seven students met in an upper room of a small Christian school in Grand Rapids.
Calvin today is one of America’s largest Christian colleges and maintains its identity and connection to the denomination—a rarity among major American colleges and universities, many of which were originally founded on Reformed principles.
The CRC is blessed to support several colleges with a Reformed Calvinist worldview. Calvin is the only one linked to CRC governance (Calvin’s Board reports to Synod), and ownership (the CRC purchased the original Knollcrest campus land in 1957).
Calvin has wide diversity in students and faculty. In 2010, 46 percent of Calvin students are listed as CRC. Calvin faculty are required to sign the Form of Subscription (Three Forms of Unity) of the CRC, write a statement of faith reflecting a Reformed world view in teaching and life, and take the Kuiper Seminars (Reformed worldview) in their first year of teaching. Do these requirements make Calvin Christian Reformed?
Do governance, ownership, and requirements make Calvin Christian Reformed? In 2008, the Calvin Board appointed a group of trustees, faculty, and CRC leaders to study this question. In May 2009, the Task Force on Reformed Identity and Mission completed one of its tasks. The “Summary Statement on Reformed Identity and Mission” was approved by the Faculty Senate and the Board of Trustees. See: ttp://www.calvin.edu/about/identity.htm.
Calvin Theological Seminary
At Calvin Theological Seminary (CTS), we are committed to a Reformed world view that includes
- a high view of Scripture as God’s authoritative and infallible revelation to his world.
- the framing of Scripture and human history in terms of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation.
- an appreciation of God as the sovereign creator of all things—hence the CRC’s passion for education through which the mysteries and glory of God are uncovered in every area of life and learning.
- an acknowledgement of the depth of human sin and need for radical redemption through Christ—“Nothing in my hands I bring. Only to thy cross I cling.”
- an appreciation for the cosmic scope of Christ’s redemption—“Through Christ all things were created . . . in Christ all things hold together.”
- a deep hope for human history and the future because Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, is making all things new, and will one day triumph over all evil.
- a clear understanding that all that we have and are exists to give glory to God.
- Reformed theology is spreading throughout North America and around the world. The CRC has in its heritage the very gifts and emphasis that Christians around the world are embracing more fully than ever before! We at CTS feel privileged to have a small but critical role as champions and teachers of this Reformed worldview. “Your kingdom come; your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."
Urban Aboriginal Ministries
Harold Roscher writes: “The Reformed world and life view has opened many doors for me to explore my Cree heritage. If our world belongs to God, then my Cree culture must be an integral part of God’s world. The church has not always been open to Aboriginal culture, ceremony and worship. Under the broad strokes of creation, fall and redemption, there is an opportunity to tell the biblical story in a way that transcends all cultures and engages all nations. In our Cree traditions, we have creation stories and an understanding of a broken relationship with the Creator. We are also waiting for the sacred hoop to be restored, so our relationship with the Creator can be healed. These similarities create great opportunity to introduce Jesus as the son of the Creator who gives meaning to the sacred and the profane. All three urban Aboriginal ministry centres in Canada work hard to tell the biblical story in a culturally relevant way.”
Back to God Ministries International
Through the use of media, Back to God Ministries International (BTGMI) proclaims the story of God’s unfailing love worldwide in order that lives and communities might be transformed by God’s grace. Programs in ten languages introduce listeners to a Reformed perspective on biblical truth. These programs invite a heart-response of faith, worship, and obedience to God’s grace in Jesus Christ. True to its Reformed and Christian roots, BTGMI tells the whole story—from creation and fall to salvation and transformation—that reclaims every part of one’s life and God’s world for his kingdom.
For example, through English broadcast ReFrame Media, our daily audio and video program Walk the Way challenges its audience to find out how God matters to real people who seek to live out their faith in everyday life. Our website ThinkChristian.net asks, “How should Christians think about life’s questions?” A collaborative online community leads a discussion of world events, science, literature, and spirituality—any topic that impacts how we relate to the world around us—from the Reformed perspective.
This kind of culture-changing programming is a priority for all ten of BTGMI’s worldwide ministries. For example, Spanish, Portuguese, and Indonesian television programs seek to engage audiences with contemporary issues presented from the Christian viewpoint. In addition, radio and internet programs in Arabic, Chinese, French, Hindi, Japanese, and Russian bring the perspective of Christ’s Lordship to all aspects of culture.
Thanks to support from the Christian Reformed Church, BTGMI is uniquely positioned in the media ministry world to share the Reformed perspective with a world in need of good news.
Home Missions
All Home Missions(HM) ministries, from church plants to campus ministries to small groups, are working to be agents of God’s reconciliation in renewing and restoring the world to him. In neighborhoods, in churches, and at universities, HM is taking a distinctly Reformed approach to ministry.
New and existing HM-supported churches are living out the Reformed idea that the entire world belongs to God. These churches are following the movement of the gospel by bringing the Word to God’s people where they are—whether it’s a neighborhood council meeting or the local coffeehouse.
A Reformed perspective is also at the very heart of the twenty campus ministries supported by Home Missions. Christian Reformed campus pastors on secular campuses are actively engaged in promoting the Reformed world and life view, enabling students, faculty, and staff to explore and unfold the wonders of God’s creation and equipping them to better serve God in this world.
Throughout North America, groups of ministry leaders are synergistically working to bring renewal to the spiritual decay found in their urban communities. As part of HM’s growing emphasis on helping to create gospel movements and develop diverse missional leaders, many of these leaders are deliberately connecting with each other in regional “clusters,” or groups of churches and church leaders that share a common geographic location. Together, they are working to renew their whole communities through God’s grace.
World Missions
The international ministry of Christian Reformed World Missions can be summarized under these main headings—Unreached Peoples: evangelism and church planting; Leadership Development: grade school to grad school; and Transformation Networks. In all areas our work is shaped by a Reformed theology that puts its accent on the Sovereignty of God and the power and authority of His Word.
Work among unreached peoples is difficult and lengthy. It is tempting to say, “Let’s go somewhere else and do something easier.” But God’s Word calls for gathering communities from every tribe, language, people and nation. In His time God will multiply the number coming to faith. Our calling is to be faithful as the firstfruits of that community put their trust in Jesus.
The qualities needed in Christian leaders come from the Spirit, but they are also rooted in the created goodness of those coming to faith. For both of these reasons it is vital to see the potential that characterizes emerging leaders. Having been created and gifted by God, they often need training resources and opportunities to fulfill God’s call on their lives.
In many parts of the world, people are coming to faith in large numbers. Soon after embracing new life in Christ and rejoicing in powerful worship, they often ask, “What is next?” The Reformed emphasis on responding to God’s grace and authority in every area of life resonates with many thoughtful Christians of a variety of traditions. Transformation Networks bring together believers who see the effects of sin throughout society, and who are eager to be part of God’s transforming work in it.
Dynamic Youth Ministries
Calvinist Cadet Corps: Men of the Christian Reformed Church developed the Calvinist Cadet Corps in the 1930s and into 1952 when it became an independent organization. During that time, these men looked at the Boy Scout movement. Although they liked much of what they saw, they didn’t want a scout program with a Bible lesson tacked on. They wanted a ministry that put Christ at the heart and core. They wanted a ministry that recognized the depravity of man and aimed to help boys to become more Christ-like in all areas of life—mental, physical, sprirtual, and social. They based their goal on Luke 2:52: “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.”
The goal of the Cadet ministry remains the same today, and the program, structure, and materials are all designed to help accomplish that goal. For that reason the Cadet Corps has Bible studies, but much more than that. They also have a wide variety of merit badges, an emphasis on camping and outdoor activities, which have proven to be very effective arenas in changing lives for Christ, and other events. And more than that, the Cadet ministry is a nurturing ministry where primary emphasis is placed on the relationship that develops between a man and his small group of boys.
GEMS Girls’ Clubs: Over 24,000 girls are currently registered in GEMS Clubs in the US, Canada, Spain, and Zambia. Each and every one of these girls is using curriculum materials in her club that was written by a person who holds a Reformed world view—someone from the reformed tradition and perspective that has a passion for seeing girls walk in God’s ways throughout their lives. This tradition and set of foundational beliefs has been in place from the very beginning of the ministry 51 years ago and has shaped and molded us into the ministry we are today.
Youth Unlimited: Youth Unlimited (YU) hears many sad stories of young people showing little interest in the Church or walking away from it all together. An often cited explanation for this lack of interest is frustration with the Church not “walking the talk”. As a Reformed ministry trying to combat this perception/reality, we emphasize the Lordship of Jesus Christ over all creation, teaching that God is in and through everything and has a plan and purpose for life, and we create experiences where youth and youth workers see and learn that truth.
We live out Reformed values in many ways. One way is through SERVE—our short-term mission program. Through SERVE experiences students find Christ in many different settings—from big cities to small rural communities. In each of these places there are opportunities to be God’s “hands and feet”. YU is also working very hard to help youth workers understand how to rebuild the bridge between adults and youth in their churches so that through these relationships youth see adults who are passionate about their faith and are actively living out Christ’s plan and purpose wherever and however that might be in this world.
