Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. (Acts 20:28, King James Version) How healthy is the URCNA? We have been considering two barometers of spiritual health so far—love for […]
The third synod of the United Reformed Churches in North America (URC) convened on Tuesday, June 15, 1999, at the Cornerstone United Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan. One hundred twenty six delegates from 69 churches (all but two) were present as well as fraternal observers and many visitors. After opening devotions, a roll call and […]
The twelfth meeting of Classis Michigan of the United Reformed Churches in North America took place on June 3, 2003 at the Cornerstone United Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan. Cornerstone had called this special meeting for the purpose of examining Mr. Gene Crow who had accepted a call to the church plant in Muskegon. Rev. […]
Classis Southwest U.S. was held in beautiful Loveland, Colorado, as it conducted its 12th regular session on March 23–24, 2004, at the Calvary United Reformed Church. Tuesday afternoon was taken up with two matters. The first was the election of classical functionaries. Rev. Danny Hyde, from the Oceanside United Reformed Church of Oceanside, California, was […]
Report on the Synodical Decisions The mountains that were waiting for the delegates to the 5th Synod of the United Reformed Churches in North America meeting in Calgary, Alberta Canada were of two kinds. The one kind, called the Rocky Mountains, were visible to all and rose majestically in the distance just west of the […]
The Overtures It seems best to continue by dealing with the overtures in the order in which they appeared in the agenda. Overtures 1 and 2 were brought with the intention of changing the church order in very specific ways. Overture #1, coming from classis Western Canada, asked to add two words to the text […]
Not your prototypical “60’s child,” the founders of Boise’s Cloverdale United Reformed Church nevertheless trace their beginnings to the close of that turbulent decade. Although some might say the 60’s passed Idaho by, five Christian Reformed families who had moved to the area did not, and began meeting in homes for Bible studies. Classis approval […]
For the first time in its existence, Classis Southwest U.S. was hosted in the city of Oceanside, California, as the Oceanside URC had the privilege and joy of hosting the sixteen organized churches for Classis’ 13th meeting from September 14–15, 2004. The meeting was chaired by the very able Rev. Russell St. John of the […]
To fragment or federate? That is the question. Do we have any union as the church universal? Is there any mutual accountability in the URCNA? Are we a group constantly seeking to fragment along local church boundaries or are our local churches within actual federated borders? Are local churches seeking nothing more than counsel and […]
Some time (years) ago I wrote some critical comments about the Committee for Ecumenicity of the URC with regard to its contacts with the Canadian Reformed Churches. The point of what I said was this: We should strive for unity with the Canadian Reformed Churches short of federative unity. That was not taken kindly of […]