Toleration and schism. Toleration is one of the great virtues of our time. Toleration is a benevolent attitude to views or practices different from one’s own. The tolerant accept and cooperate with those who are distinct in some significant way from themselves. Schism is a serious sin against love. From the ancient period church leaders […]

All Reformed believers who cherish the church as the bride of Jesus Christ are vitally interested in the preservation and promotion of unity within the local church and in the relations between all true churches of Jesus Christ. Such believers confess, in the language of the Nicene Creed, “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.” They […]

When my husband and I left the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) December 31, 1997 after 36 years in the ministry there, we decided that as editors of The Outlook we would “forget those things that are behind” in the CRC, and “press on” in our new church home, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). We […]

Usually in this column, I write very practically, reviewing issues of specific relevance for the daily and weekly work of elders and deacons in the Lord’s church. It is my prayerful intent to continue to do just that in future issues. Except for this column. In it, I have no specific and practical goal, but […]