With this article, L. Oostendorp, retired Christian Reformed pastor and Reformed Bible College professor, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, begins a new series of studies on the Doctrine of the Church. Nowhere have more theories been modified to support practice than in church polity. A surprising number of strange practices have been justified by appeals to […]

The subject for debate was, Resolved that the Reformed Church in America· and the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.* (Southern) should merge to form one church denomination. The debaters were, for the affirmative: the Reverend Doctor M. Verne Oggel, pastor of the Community Reformed Church, Glen Rock, N. J., and current president of General Synod; for the negative: […]

Why has the Reformed Church in Hungary succumbed to the tremendous pressures which have been put upon it since World War II? Perhaps this question will never be fully and satisfactorily answered. So many factors enter into the picture, that it is almost impossible to see them all and analyze them accurately. Yet we would like […]

INTRODUCTION Scotland and the Netherlands are in the same latitude and separated only by the North Sea. The cold, wet winds bf the North Sea may be partly responsible for the hardiness of the Scots and the Dutch, their work ethic, and their reputation for thriftiness. From the days of New Amsterdam onwards, thousands of […]

SIOUX FALLS, SD (EP) – Despite a spirited debate over the church’s position on homosexuality, the Reformed Church in America (RCA) decided to retain its ties to the United Church of Christ (UCC) during its June 10–16 general synod. The debate on the RCA’s relationship with the UCC was sparked by a request from Florida […]