Office-Bearers

Churches who end their church calendar in the summer are no doubt beginning the process of nominating new elders and deacons. Has your church had difficulty gathering enough names for office-bearer nominations? Yes, it is a common problem all over North America. Are we just too busy? Have mixed-up priorities? Have our elders and deacons become just "managers" or "board members"? What lies behind the problem and how can we encourage men to faithfully stand up to shepherd our congregations? Click here to see a letter First CRC in Byron Center, Michigan, sent out to its congregation. Let's use it as a springboard for discussion.

History of the CRCNA

Robert P. Swierenga (author of Dutch Chicago and many other historical titles and articles) gave a lecture in 2000 that resulted in an article posted on his personal web-site entitled, "Burn the Wooden Shoes: Modernity and Division in the Christian Reformed Church in North America." It provides an good overview and critical analysis of events in our beloved denomination. Check it out at this link: http://www.swierenga.com/Africa_pap.html.

ADDITION: One of the comments mentions the future of the CRCNA with reference to Rev. Sam Hamstra's March 2007 The Banner article entitled "A Modest Proposal." Rev. Hamstra has also set up a blog for discussion on this at http://www.xanga.com/ACRC. We aren't necessarily endorsing his "proposal," but think it is good for discussion.

Biblical, Confessional, Reformed Worship

We are hoping to provide a forum on a variety of topics as they relate to the Christian life. Certainly central to our lives is worship. What is biblical, confessional, reformed worship? Do those adjectives flow from one to the other or not? Have we been missing the ball somewhere? Or are we more in danger of "throwing the baby out with the bath water"? Anyway, a few questions to ponder. Please - leave your comments.