The Reformed Ecumenical Synod met in Lunteren, the Netherlands from August 12-23. The Synod got off to a very slow start taking a whole morning to elect a Moderamen. Thereupon the Modefamen appointed personnel to the various committees then went to work preparing their reports. Procedure is always the difficulty in international meetings of this […]
There is much discussion these days about the changes taking place in the Roman Catholic church. One of the changes that is said to be most noticeable is the openness of that church toward non-Roman Catholics. This is evidenced by an increasing number of discussions of various types which are taking place between Protestants and […]
Editor, TORCH AND TRUMPET Dear Brother in Christ: The June 11 issue of De Wachter contains an article written by its editor commending the official prayer rendered by the World Council of Churches at its General Assembly meeting in Uppsala, Sweden this month. Apparently he sees nothing wrong with this prayer, having been in all […]
THE TIDE IS TURNING There was a time when the great universities in this country were Christian institutions. Today the Christian witness that once was heard in all of these great centers of learning is being muted, or has already been silenced. Secularism is the new religion to which professor and student alike arc committed. The […]
One of the most significant issues decided at the recent meeting of the synod of the Christian Reformed Church concerned its evaluation of the World Council of Churches as a possible avenue of witness and work for a confessional Reformed church. Earlier the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands (Gereformeerde Kerken) had judged there were “no […]
Several firsts are to be noted in regard to the Agenda for 1967 Synod. The first is the voluminous size of this year’s Agenda. It consists of 550 pages, the largest ever produced by the Christian Reformed Church. A second notable distinction is the format of the cover of the Agenda. It consists of the proposed […]
It was a desire for some kind of unity of churches which occasioned the initial formation and the subsequent development of the World Council of Churches. This is evidenced, even today, by the fact that the continuing theme of Council utterances is “the unity that we seek.” It is supposed then that the present structure of the […]
At our house afternoon mail-call is always awaited eagerly. We never quite know what to expect. Sometimes the box contains much that is useless and uninteresting. At other times there are letters from family or friends, important periodicals, and even materials for this magazine. Today the contents of the mailbox were especially significant. Today the […]
One of the projects of the World Council of Churches during the last few years has been an elaborate and detailed study of what it calls the “Missionary Structure of the Local Congregation.” Some of the results of that study are very revealing. According to the WCC, “The Church is nothing other than a segment of […]
“The World Council of Churches is relatively young, but it did not come about overnight. After centuries of separation, the Christian Churches in the twentieth century set about to heal their divisions and earnestly to seek the unity of the Church.” So reads the brochure, “What is the World Council of Churches?,” published by the WCC shortly […]