CRC/RCA Synods Unite in Worship
Rev. Denise Kingdom Grier presented the message.
Photo by Cyndi Boertje
Some 900 worshippers, consisting largely of delegates and staff of the synods (annual leadership meetings) of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) and the Reformed Church in America (RCA) joined in worship on Thursday evening at Third Reformed Church in Pella, Iowa.
The service began a week of joint meetings on the campus of Central College.
In his welcome, elder Paul Jones quipped that “Everyone has their own stories about CRC vs. RCA but tonight we’re not going to open that can of worms.”
But, he added, despite that sibling rivalry he is so excited to see the Lord working in bringing us together as denominations. “How countercultural is it not to fight but to embrace?” We are to forget what separated us as we are “preoccupied with Jesus together.”
Rev. Denise Kingdom Grier from Maple Ave. Ministries, Holland, Mich., presented the message based on 2 Corinthinians 1:3-7.
“There is a famine in the land,” Grier said “not of lust, fake smiles, liturgies, books, or overtures, but a famine of love.”
She challenged the RCA and CRC to “commit to [Christ’s] love this week.”
Echoing St. Paul, Grier concluded, “When we get together we share in the comfort of Christ and each other—so that we can comfort others also, to the glory of God.”
Rev. Ryan Faber, president pro tem of the CRC synod, and Rev. Carl Boersma, president of the General Synod of the RCA, jointly led in the celebration of communion.
For continuous coverage of Synod 2014 including the live webcast, news, video recordings, photos, liveblog, social media links, and more visit www.crcna.org/synod.
