Manhattan Declaration

Since one of the primary goals of the Returning Church is to encourage the CRC to be a committed confessional church, it's important to know what the means. Historically, for the CRC, this has meant understanding the Three Forms of Unity (Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession and Canons of Dort) and the Three Ecumenical Creeds (Apostles', Nicene and Athanasian) as faithful interpreting and reflecting the Scriptures and then standing upon this commitment.

Today, we seem to have many confessions/declarations/statements being made which pastors, churches and layfolk are beign asked to sign their names to in agreement. Most recently, the Manhattan Declaration has come out with good statements on the sanctity of human life, the fidelity of marriage and also religious liberty. There have been other such statements that have been floating around - certainly we know about the Belhar Confession in the CRC as of late. More liberal Reformed Churches have kicked around the Barmen Declaration (which isn't all that new). More conservative Reformed folks have signed their names to documents like the Cambridge Declaration, the Danvers Statement or the Chicago Statement. This just names a few.

Are these statements "confessional" in how we understand what it means to be a confessing church? Do they have a place in the life of the church? Do too many statements/confessions/declarations water down each other down - just become to much to digest? What do you think?

Winter Classis Meetings

The number of important topics and issues the CRCNA is dealing with on a denominational level at this time in history is a bit overwhelming. What are your churches and classes discussing or what should they be discussing right now??

We're Still Here!

No, recently we haven't been posting any blogs... or is it blogging any posts... whatever. We've been watching others' blogs/websites/etc and, of course, just trying to keep up with the demands of local ministry.

We will be starting the process of planning for our spring event (yeah, summer's not even over yet and we're already thinking "spring" - we'll it's been cold here in West Michigan this summer). Any thoughts on speakers/topics would be appreciated. Our goal is help strength and encourage local CRC congregations to be Christ-adoring, lost-seeking, truth-loving, grace-extending, Word-centered, Bible-saturated and confessionally-Reformed. That's still pretty broad, but we've been encouraged by the results of our meetings over the past couple of years.

Most of the action in terms of events has been in West Michigan - but we would encourage congregations to meet together in other areas as well - to encourage one another and discuss the challenges and blessings facing us as a denomination and churches in general. If you're interested in networking in your area, let us know and we can try to help make some connections.

CRCNA Synod 2009

Pastor and elder delegates from classes all across the United States and Canada will begin converging on Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, IL, Friday, June 11, to convene Synod 2009. There are the usual items of business on the agenda: new candidates for ministry, budgets, appointments, agency and committee reports, etc. On top of that there seems to be quite a bit of business from the Inter-Church Relations Committee, headlined by the proposal to study the Belhar Confession (see earlier posts and comments on this topic) with an eye to approval as our fourth confession in 2012.

For more information on Synod, you can go to the official Synod web-site by clicking here. If you have time, you may be interested in watching a few moments of the live webcast - and I think Twitter and facebook will be buzzing with Synod news as well (every means of communication, but do we really have that much to say?!). If we receive any updates from the floor of Synod thoughout the week, we'll be sure to post them. Be certain to leave your thoughts and comments about the proceedings here as well. Yeah, even the Returning Church is on facebook if you prefer that format.

More Thoughts on the Belhar

Since our previous post on the Belhar Confession there have been several comments made that are insightful and helpful. Recently, the Belhar Implementation Team from 1st Seattle CRC sent out a communcation with some of their research to the churches. We encourage you to take a look at that, as well as the study report from the Inter-Church Relations Committee (IRC) printed in the agenda for Synod. To give some balance to the evaluation you will find the following links helpful:

Kevin De Young in the RCA Church Herald
Richard Mouw of Fuller Seminary

Kevin De Young Audio from 03.26.09

We were greatly blessed through Kevin De Young at CTS on March 26, 2009. Not only did we get a good analysis of the emergent church movement but also a challenge to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our churches. The audio is here. You can go to www.sermon.net/returningchurch to get the podcast, etc. This is the cleaned up version. For some reason the entire Q&A was not recorded. We apologize and wish we had it to give to you. Enjoy and feel free to share this with your friends and collegues.

Belhar Confession

It's been a couple of years since the CRC has been introduced to the Belhar Confession. We are supposed in a time of reflection and study to see if it would be appropriate to add this as a fourth "confession" along with the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession and Canons of Dort. Still, it seems that the Interchurch Relations Committee (IRC) certainly knows what we should do with it as seen in the title of their report: "The Belhar Confession: What the CRC Can Do with This Gift." If we view it as a gift, why wouldn't we accept it, right?!? (Yes, you correctly read a bit of facetiousness there). What are your thoughts about the Belhar? Is this something we need to adopt as confessional in status? Be assured that you won't be labelled a "racist" by offering a critique nor will you be tagged as a "liberal" is you find some merit. If you have any links to good reviews of the Belhar or if your church would like to share it's reponse, please post that here as well.

For a copy of the IRC's report to Synod, click here.

Details on March 26 "Not Emergent" Meeting

The meeting with Rev. Kevin De Young on March 26 will begin at 7:00 p.m. and is being held at the Calvin Seminary Auditorium in Grand Rapids, MI. Seating is first-come, first served. Ted Kluck, co-author with De Young of Why We're Not Emergent, will not be present due to a prior commitment. For more information, see the post below. If you would like a copy of the promotional poster, just send at email to returningchurch@yahoo.com.

Pastors' Gathering at the Piper Conference

Below is a letter from Rev. Jack Gray (Sully, IA, CRC) reporting on a small gathering of pastors during the Desiring God Pastors' Conference in Minneapolis at the beginning of February.

Dear Brothers,

Most of us CRC pastors who attended the John Piper Pastors’ Conference were truly inspired and energized by the event. It was great to hear God’s word straight and clear without any nuance to what God says. It is great to be in a company where God’s word is held without reservation. No 'Did God say . . . ?', but 'This is what the Lord says...' In my view this is the defining issue among us in the CRCNA, what we do with the Bible.

Eleven us present at Piper’s Pastors’ Conference went to dinner together on Tuesday night and two ideas surfaced in our discussion.

First, we are aware of Reformed Churches and their leaders who do not like the drift they are seeing in their denominations. Perhaps this idea was spawned because of the next speakers coming to address the Michigan Returning Church movement from University RCA. “Why We’re Not Emergent” is a great topic presented by men, Kevin De Young and Ted Kluck, who likely share our vision for Reformed orthodoxy, though I do not know these men’s views personally. Should we open the Returning Church to RCA pastors and congregations who desire to see their denomination also return to a solid foundation of Biblical, Reformed thinking?

Second, many of us find great support in events like Piper’s Pastors’ Conference, R. C. Sproul’s Conferences, the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology, and others like them. We are looking outside the CRCNA for guidance, direction, and support. We can all cite reasons for the drift in the CRCNA, but one of them in my judgment was the immersion of pastors and leadership persons from congregations who were paid to attend events at the Crystal Cathedral or Willow Creek. This shifted focus from our great gift to the body of Christ—solid, Biblically Reformed thought— to other priorities that now drive the CRCNA agenda. Could we find some benefactors who would support pastors and church leaders to attend the conferences and events that are so encouraging and uplifting to us? I discovered on the last day of the Piper Pastors’ Conference from one of their staff people that the reason many churches have several people there is that they consider all elders to be pastors. Could we arrange for some persons to finance pastors and their church leaders to attend conferences like these that stress our Biblically Reformed theology and faith? If we could, we might significantly influence the atmosphere of our congregations and eventually our denomination.

We wish you Michigan Returning Church men well in the upcoming event at Calvin Seminary and the Philadelphia Conference. I went to the Philadelphia Conference several times the years I served in New England, and then several us started a conference patterned after it that is still going. We need the camaraderie and mutual support to stand strong for our Reformed faith in the current church culture of our time.

For the preachers have a great day Sunday as you bring God’s word, which is after all, what we really are—preachers of God’s great word. For you who listen Sunday, keep praying and working for the church to return to its historic Biblical Reformed roots.

Yours, Jack

RETURNING CHURCH EVENT: "Why We're Not Emergent"

“You can be young, passionate about Jesus Christ, surrounded by diversity, engaged in a postmodern world, reared in evangelicalism and not be an emergent Christian. In fact, I want to argue that it would be better if you weren’t.”

Some of you may be asking, "What is the emergent church?" Others of you may be interacting with emergent Christians every day. The emergent church is a strong voice in today’s Christian community. And they’re talking about good things: caring for the poor, peace for all men, loving Jesus. They’re doing church a new way, not content to fit the mold. Again, all good. But there’s more to the movement than that. Much more.

The Returning Church has invited Rev. Kevin DeYoung (University RCA, East Lansing, MI) to speak the evening of THURSDAY, MARCH 26 (preceding the PCRT Conference in Grand Rapids area) at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium of Calvin Theological Seminary. Watch for more details to come. Seating is first-come, first-served.

Kevin and Ted are two guys who, demographically, should be all over the emergent church movement. But they’re not. They've co-authored a book called "Why We’re Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be)." They also have a web-site: http://www.notemergent.com/. Check that out for more information. We hope to see you there - and your young people. This event will be especially applicable for the younger generations - but something we all need to be aware of.

Conference Season

On the liturgical calendar, the time after Christmas and Epiphany is labelled "Ordinary Time." Maybe we should call it conference season. It seems that as winter lingers people are looking for something to do - so bring on the conferences. One goal of the Returning Church is to encourage the local congregations with good, biblical teaching. Highlighting conferences that draw deeply from the Word is a way to do that.

We've chosen not to highlight conferences within the CRC - we all have access to that information through The Banner. The conferences listed below broadens our perspective throughout the Reformed, evangelical family.

Here are some great conferences that are coming up for both pastors and for layfolk. As you know, it would be impossible to attend all of them - so if you do get there, share your thoughts and observations in the comments below. Also, if you are attending any conference, please leave you name in the comments section along with the conference you're attending - it is always good to connect with other at these conferences.

GENERAL CONFERENCES:

Ligonier National Conference
March 19-21 in Orlando, FL
Theme: The Holiness of God (pre-conference on Calvin's 500th birthday)
Speakers: Thabiti Anyabwile, Alistair Begg, D.A. Carson, Ligon Duncan, Sinclair Ferguson, Robert Godfrey, Steven Lawson, Albert Mohler, R.C. Sproul Jr., R.C. Sproul, Derek Thomas

Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology (Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals)
March 13-15 in Sacramento, CA
March 27-29 in Grand Rapids, MI*
April 17-19 in Greenville, SC
May 1-3 in Philadelphia, PA
Theme: "Right with God: the Doctrine of Justification"
Speakers: Jerry Bridges, Ligon Duncan, Michael Horton, Steven Lawson, Al Mohler, Richard Phillips and/or Philip Ryken.

*Hosted by 1st CRC, Byron Center. The Returning Church will also be holding pre-conference event again this year the evening of Thursday, March 26. Please watch for dedicated post coming for more information.

Ligonier West Coast Conference (& Cruise)
September 28-October 2 in Seattle, WA
Theme: The Resurrection of Christ
Speakers: R.C. Sproul



PASTORS' CONFERENCES

Desiring God Conference for Pastors*
February 2-4 in Minneapolis, MN
Theme: "Commending Christ: the Pastor, the Church and the Perishing"
Speakers: John Piper, Mark Dever, Michael Oh

*The Center for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood is holding a pre-conference event with D.A. Carson in Minneapolis the morning of February 2. Click here for more information.

Workshops on Bibilical Exposition (The Simeon Trust)
February 4-6 in Philadelphia, PA
February 23-25 in Madison, WI
March 17-19 in Spokane, WA
March 24-26 in Calgary, AB
March 25-27 in Toronto, ON
March 31-April 2 in New Castle, PA
May 13-15 in Wheaton, IL
September 29-October 1 in McMinnville, OR*
Theme: Recovering the Centrality of God's Word, Preached Expositionally
Speakers: varies by location (Phil Ryken, David Helm, Kent Hughes, Barry Webb, D.A. Carson to name a few)

*Co-hosted by Sunrise CRC

Entrusted with the Gospel (The Gospel Coalition)
April 21-23 in Chicago, IL
Theme: "Living the Vision of II Timothy"
Speakers: Bryan Chapell, D.A. Carson, John Piper, K. Edward Copeland, Ligon Duncan, Mark Driscoll, Phil Ryken, Tim Keller, Ajith Fernando, etc.

Basics 2009 (Truth for Life)
May 11-13 in Cleveland, OH
Theme: Expository Preaching
Speakers: John Piper, Allistair Begg, John Lennox

Banner of Truth Ministers' Conference
May 26-28 in Grantham, PA
Speakers: Sinclair Ferguson, Alistar Begg, etc.


And just to dream a little... The Calvin Quincentenary in Paris, Strasbourg, Bern and Geneva... June 30-July 10, 2009 - celebrating John Calvin's 500th birthday.


If you know of others that would be good to recommend, please leave it in the comment's section.