Dear Readers,

It is a great privilege for me to be writing you this month. I am thankful to God for the opportunity to serve you and the broader community of readers of our materials. As we look to the future, my prayer is that the Lord will continue to use Reformed Fellowship to challenge and encourage the people of God.

I have just been elected to the board and then appointed board president. I am attempting to acclimate myself to the present make-up of the board and its projects. This is my second stint on the board. About twenty years ago I served for nine years. Reformed Fellowship always faces challenges to its mission and future. Today that is no different.

Twenty years ago, as a new board member, I pressed for a number of changes that today are taken for granted. We had major discussions about using a computer for financial accountability. Our bookkeeper was still using and faithfully recording by hand everything through double-entry journals. We soon went to a computerized system of accounting that has been refined and continues to be beneficial.

We had a major discussion about using the internet. There were many objections to its use. Yet, the change took place, and now we are about ready to launch a revised web page for future use. This is a major upgrade, and we encourage everyone to log in when it is up and running. Years ago, we agreed to update our nine-by-eleven mimeographed Bible study material booklets into book format. This project has been completed. Bible studies are now readable in a far better format.

We began and continue a process of digitizing all our old Torch and Trumpet and Outlook magazines with the critical component of a strong search engine. There are many gems written in these old magazines that I am sure will continue to benefit God’s people for years to come. We have steadily increased the number of books published and offered to the public. We are confident that God will continue to raise up faithful authors and look forward to more publications in the future.

We continue to publish The Outlook. Very few magazines like The Outlook have survived the last twenty years. But Reformed Fellowship has remained convinced that solid articles related to the issues of our time are still relevant and helpful to the people of God. Our prayer is that the readership of The Outlook will grow while we maintain the original goals and commitments of Reformed Fellowship.

I recently read the first article in the first issue of Torch and Trumpet from April/May 1951. I remain convinced that the purposes articulated in that article penned by “Reformed Fellowship, Inc.” must be the same for Reformed Fellowship today:

It is our purpose to arouse those of like mind with us to a more serious study of the Word and the Reformed heritage, that we may all put on the whole armor of God and be the better equipped to fight the good fight of faith. We believe the disease of religious and doctrinal indifference is making insidious progress among us, and we would indoctrinate our people with the truth of God. Then too, we who think and live under the mandate to subdue all things for God’s glory must speak with greater clarity to a generation whose culture is decadent because the people stagger in drunkenness with man-centered ways of life and thought. If in God’s good providence we can do only a little to help many give clearer expression to that voice in our time, we shall find that our purpose is being realized.

Our current board recognizes the contemporary relevancy of this objective. As I and other new members join seasoned members of the board of Reformed Fellowship, we are considering new projects and ongoing opportunities. Pray that the Lord will continue to use and bless the work of Reformed Fellowship. We look forward to your ongoing support. Pray with us that the Lord would continue to use Reformed Fellowship to bring glory and honor to his name. May the Lord grant us his blessing; may the wonders of grace revealed in Jesus be proclaimed and the challenges to the faith addressed.

On behalf of Reformed Fellowship, Rev. Casey Freswick

 

Rev. Casey Freswick

is president of the board of Reformed Fellowship, Inc., and pastor of Bethany United Reformed Church, Wyoming, MI.