I have been asked to discuss in this article some of the issues before the General Synod of the Reformed Church this year. The assignment is not an easy one since there are no overtures available for the coming synod. The overtures were due from the Classes April 1 and the overtures from the Particular Synods […]

Aggiornamento is Italian for “up-dating” and is the key word in today’s Roman Catholic circles. In the last five years dramatic changes have been taking place—so dramatic that a decade ago they were not considered possible. How fundamental has this change been? Is it central or peripheral? Aggiornamento is associated chiefly with John XXIII (pope from 1958–1963) […]

A hymn calls us to “Count your blessings.” Counting our blessings to see what God has done is undoubtedly a good idea, but it is not the theme of this article. I do not want to consider blessings from God in general, but rather to consider the character of blessings spoken as part of our […]

Perhaps the title of this article puzzles you. What is the liturgy of life? By this I am suggesting that Christians must recover the comprehensive view of living life before the face of God. The church must diligently call her members to view life as an opportunity to work out the Word proclaimed from the […]

There was a time when the average man in the pew hardly knew the meaning of the word “liturgy.” At least not much attention was given to it. Worship services in the Christian Reformed Church were relatively simple and uniform. All that has changed over the last few decades. “Liturgy” is now the in thing. […]

The Reformed tradition has exhibited a range of thinking and practice regarding the use of patriotic music in corporate worship. Does the practice of free speech warrant the State’s advocacy of civil religion? Conversely, does this social freedom justify the Church’s promotion of the state as a quasi-confessional institution. The state, as a minister of […]