Saying Goodbye to the Old and Hello to the New

Christian Reformed Home Missions held a dinner last Friday, Sept. 30, for current and former ministry leaders at which they said goodbye to their old identity and welcomed in a new era as part of a new, expanding mission agency.

“This is a historic time for us,” said Moses Chung, director of Home Missions, before the dinner that took place at Encounter CRC in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“We’re celebrating God’s faithfulness for the past 137 years that Home Missions has been in existence,” he said. “There is a sense of loss, of letting go, that there no longer will be an agency called Home Missions. But there is joy in the work that will continue.”

Chung likens the upcoming unification of Home Missions with Christian Reformed World Missions to “an open window, and the Spirit of God is moving through it.”

Approved by Synod 2015, the formal unification of the two organizations into one agency for mission will take place at Synod 2017.

As part of marking the history of Home Missions, a display of photographs, books, pamphlets, newspaper articles, and other memorabilia is on display for the public through Oct. 13 in the atrium of the Christian Reformed Church offices at 1700 28th Street SE in Grand Rapids.

John Rozeboom, who served as director of Home Missions for 22 years and now serves as an associate pastor at Oakdale CRC in Grand Rapids, stopped by recently to view the display. He gazed at photos and names of church planters who worked for the agency.

Looking at the photos, he recalled how Home Missions was able to start more than 20 churches nearly every year during his tenure. It was a time, he said, “in which we were riding a vigorous wave of high ministry-share giving.” At the same time, though, he noted, there were also churches leaving the CRC for various reasons.

Considering the future for the new agency, Rozeboom said he is pleased that it has a mandate, as he understands it, that is virtually the same as that of Home Missions in the past.

“The new agency will work to call people to Christ and organizations into fellowship with the church and to do this through evangelistic support through church planting and specialized ministry,” he said.

Rozeboom said the new agency, however, will face challenges at a time when church membership is dropping and financial support is not what it once was.

“If ever there was a time when the CRC needed a focused vision for evangelism and growth, it is now,” he said.

Jerry Holleman, who served for several years as a regional leader for the West Central Region of Home Missions, was the master of ceremonies for the dinner at Encounter church.

In thinking back on his time with Home Missions, he said, he recalled what Duane VanderBrug, another Home Missions leader, offered when he started the job. “Make change your friend,” VanderBrug told him.

“Those were words I always wanted to remember because ‘change’ has always been a significant part of Home Missions’ work.”

Holleman said he has many fond memories of his time with Home Missions, but he believes it is time for even more change.

“I am convinced that a new agency, which picks up the work of Home Missions and World Missions, is needed for the CRCNA to move into the future.

“God has brought the world to North America, and we need a global vision and understanding if we are to minister effectively here in North America and in other parts of the world.”