Especially on February 21, 2021, we can look back and recount God’s faithfulness and blessings over the past seventy years on Reformed Fellowship and its publication, The Outlook. It was on that date in 1951 that a group of men organized Reformed Fellowship with a goal to also publish a Reformed journal.

Calvin Theological Seminary had been publishing a theological journal, and as 1950 approached, some Christian Reformed ministers and laymen became concerned about some things they were reading in that journal. To counter that which was seen as contrary to Scripture, Reformed Fellowship was organized by ten ministers and two laymen. They chose the name Torch and Trumpet for their new publication. The Scripture verse chosen for the publication was Judges 7:20, “And the three companies blew the trumpets . . . and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands . . . and they cried, The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon.” Most of the men who organized Reformed Fellowship have gone home to glory, but their legacy continues by the grace of God. Seventy years later there are new concerns, false teachings, and heresies to be defended with the timeless truths of God’s Word as set forth in the Reformed confessions and creeds.

In early 2000, the name Torch and Trumpet was changed to The Outlook. The verse was changed to Jude 3, “Exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” The stated purpose of Reformed Fellowship is “to study the Reformed faith and to develop its implications as it relates to all of human life and activity; to disseminate and defend the Reformed faith in opposition to all errors, heresies and trends of thought hostile to the development of a full-orbed and fully committed Christian life; to encourage and promote respect for the Reformed tradition by all lawful means; to publish Reformed periodicals and literature” (Reformed Fellowship Articles of Incorporation, Article 2).

In keeping with the purpose of publishing Reformed literature, in later years books and Bible study books also began to be published, and that practice continues now. For this seventieth anniversary, Reformed Fellowship is excited to announce a new book being published featuring articles gleaned from The Outlook throughout those seventy years. A name for the book hasn’t been determined yet, but watch for it soon.

In the twenty-first century there is a need to defend the faith just as much or more as

there was seventy years ago. May God continue to bless Reformed Fellowship to do so vigorously even as our forefathers did under God’s blessings. Reformed Fellowship could not have survived without the prayers and loyal support of its members and all supporters.

May it all be to God’s honor and glory alone.

Mr. Myron Rau is past president of the Reformed Fellowship board.