THE GREYING OF THE CRC. One of the improvements in the 1982 Year book of the CRC is listing the number of professing and non–professing members under the statistics of the individual churches. Perusing the new Yearbook I was struck by the fact that in many of the Canadian congregations these numbers are almost equal, while in several of our older congregations professing members outnumber the others more than two to one. By way of example, First Lacombe, Alberta, has 295 to 294 while in Burton Heights, Grand Rapids, the numbers are 535 and 203. Checking back to 1952, when there were only two Canadian classes we find the totals for the denomination to be 92,204 to 73,597 or approximately 2.15/1.8; in 1982 the figures are 179,518 to 117,204 for a ratio of about 3/2. However for the nine Canadian classes we find 41,256 to 37,171 of 2/1.8. For the remaining U.S. churches the totals are 138,262 to 80,033 or approximately 7/4. Perhaps professions of faith are made in the U.S. at younger ages, but a comparison of church school enrollments would seem to indicate that the main difference is a drop in family size and a n increasing proportion of senior members. As we come to the 125th anniversary of the denomination we are greying!

EARLIER CHURCH SERVICES. In a news report in Christianity Today of February 19, 1982, on “A Look at the Local Church of the Future” mention is made of the fact that worship services are starting earlier on Sunday mornings. The traditional 11 o’clock morning service is too late for many. Factors mentioned as back of this change are “fewer hours spent in sleeping on the average, a desire to free more of the day up for family activities after church—and the National Football League. According to Schaller (author of the article being reviewed, E.H.O.) the NFL has been ‘an obvious fac t or in increasing church attendance at earlier services during the autumn.’”

A DECLARATION BY TWO THEOLOGICAL FACULTIES is the title of an Editorial in De Wachter for March 16, 1982. The Editor, Rev. William Haverkamp, reacts to an article “found in Centraal Weekblad, a periodical of the Reformed Churches in The Netherlands. The Dutch government has published a proposal for a law forbidding discrimination against people who are practicing homosexuals or unmarried people living together. Some boards of Christian schools have expressed concern that this would interfere with the right of such schools to apply their standards in employment. The faculties of the Theological School (Kampen) and the Theological Faculty of the Free University (Amsterdam) reacted to this concern of the school boards by publishing a declaration in which they protest this action. They regard it as “being very insulting (kwetsend) for those concerned, and find it to be disappointing and shameful that such ideas should especially be held in Christian circles.” They conclude: “Both faculties therefore expressly call upon boards of Christian schools not to exclude any persons from teaching on the ground that they are homosexual or live together without being married.” Prof. Dr. J. C. de Moor, rector of the Kampen faculty , did not agree with this declaration as far as unmarried cohabitants is concerned. Lest one get the impression that this is the position of all leaders in the GKN I may add that in a following editorial Rev. Haverkamp quotes at length from an article in Centraal Weekblad in which Dr. Bonda writes about “Emancipation and Modern Morality” and calls attention to the fact that application of the proposed anti-discrimination law to unwed people living together implies approval of such life-style and undermines the Biblical teaching concerning marriage.

THE BIBLE BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN. The Bible Society Record, monthly magazine of the American Bible Society, for March, 1982, has a very interesting “Eastern Europe UPDATE 1982.” The article begins: “As in many other parts of the world a resurgence of interest in the Scriptures is evident throughout Eastern Europe. With the single exception of Albania, where any form of religious witness is strictly forbidden by law, the Word of God is gradually becoming more widely available in many of these countries. In Hungary, for example, the Bible is now being used as a textbook in the public schools, and in Yugoslavia copies are even sold in state bookshops.” Reports are given in detail about Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Yugoslavia. While the number of Bibles being printed is small compared to population there are thousands of copies, and new translations. This doesn’t mean that persecution and opposition by the atheistic governments is relaxing, as an article on the church in Czechoslovakia in the April Moody Monthly demonstrates, but knowing that the Word of God will not return to Him void, we may rejoice that many are able to read it. A complete report on Scripture distribution in Eastern Europe is promised in the May 1982 Record.

ARE WE LOSING OUR RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS? This is the question asked by Martin Mawyer in a two-part article in the March and April numbers of Moody Monthly. His thesis is that “Many Christians are now in court trying to overcome regulations that restrict their beliefs and religious liberties. They fight government statutes, overreaching bureaucrats, and antagonistic organizations and invididuals.” He documents this with many really startling stories of clashes between ministers and other church leaders and law enforcement officials and courts. Some of these have been reported in the news media, but others will be new to many of us. A couple of examples taken at random—In Arkansas a man is suing a minister for $1 million charging that his sermons have alienated the affections of his wife by teaching that all men are sinful creatures. A realtor in Virginia used the slogan “Jesus Is Coming” on his advertising together with the fish symbol to let customers know he is a Christian; HUD ordered him to remove them as involving religious discrimination. In the second article he illustrates how the IRS can discriminate against churches and schools. Communities have used zoning laws to keep out new congregations considered “undesirable” and have set standards that make it prohibitively expensive for small groups to meet. Also Christian schools are often harassed by the strict application of building codes, etc. which are often not also applied to public schools. Although one cannot always agree with the people who are being prosecuted, the articles serve as a much needed and shocking warning of the dangers that threaten our hard–won religious freedom.