The News and Views 2015

Here is a look at several of the  key stories, some inspired by international and national news events and others reporting on the business and activities  of the church, that appeared over the last 12 months in CRC News.

When the U.S. Supreme Court this summer ruled in favor of allowing gay marriage, Dr. Steven Timmermans, executive director of the CRC, sent out a letter detailing the denomination’s stance on the topic.

Meanwhile, representatives of the denomination sent out another letter after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Canada’s existing laws against assisted suicide are unconstitutional, and gave federal and provincial governments 12 months to change them.

And then there was the issue of refugees.

In late summer, news outlets around the world carried the story and dramatic photo of a young Syrian boy who drowned while fleeing fighting in his country. His body washed up on a Turkish beach.

Peter Vander Meulen, coordinator of the Office of Social Justice, said at the time he considered the photo “almost like a holy icon” because it helped to capture the desperation more than one million refugees have felt trying to find a new life.

In response to the crisis, the CRC reached out in various ways to refugees as they struggled against anti-refugee sentiment around the world while at the same time seeking assistance and a new home.

In late April, a massive earthquake hit the mountainous country of Nepal, where the CRC has personnel stationed. A few weeks after the first earthquake, another one caused widespread damage in Nepal.

Both World Renew and Christian Reformed World Missions responded to help people who lost family members, as well as their homes and livelihoods, as a result of the earthquakes.

In late November, the CRC sent four representatives to the COP 21 climate talks in France. The group made the trip to provide a Christian witness to delegates from more nearly 200 countries who were there to hammer out a wide-ranging agreement on climate change.

Closer to home, Synod 2015 made news when it met in June on the campus of Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. Among other things,  it voted to approve a proposal that changes the way in which the denomination is governed; four boards will be replaced by a Council of Delegates of perhaps 60 members by 2018 or sooner.

In other matters, synod expanded the role of deacons, discussed the issue of same-sex marriage, and heard a preliminary report on the worldwide oppression of Christians.

Synod also approved the unification of Christian Reformed World Missions and Home Missions into one agency for ministry. In the weeks after the approval, the agencies began taking the steps needed toward joining their ministries.

This was also a year in which the CRC took time in various settings to pray, including at the 2015 Prayer Summit, which was held in mid-April near Los Angeles, Calif., and at Synod 2015 following the mass shooting at an African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.

In the lead up to the Prayer Summit, a number of CRC members wrote stories about how prayer has affected their lives. Jamie Bird, a member of Caledonia CRC in Caledonia, Mich., for instance, wrote about the significance prayer played in the miraculous birth of her daughter Tessa.

Rev. James Halstead, pastor of  Community CRC in Fort Wayne, Ind., wrote about the power of prayer and how it helped bring healing to his wife, Kristi, who had a brain tumor.

Over the last 12 months, the CRC also filled top-level positions, appointing Colin Watson as Director of Ministries and Administration, and Carol Bremer-Bennett as the Director of World Renew-U.S. It also appointed Rev. Leonard Vander Zee interim editor of The Banner.

In addition, the CRC named two young adults to become members of the Board of Trustees and mourned the death of Rev. Ray Slim, a revered Native American leader.

Looking ahead to 2016, the CRC made preparations for three Gatherings, one in Canada and two in the U.S., for the purpose of bringing churches together to stimulate conversations about the mission and purpose God has for local congregations and the CRCNA at large.

This was also a year in which Calvin College reported that it has gone a long way toward getting back on firm financial footing and Calvin Theological Seminary was named to the 2015 list of Seminaries that are Changing the World.

In addition, over the last 12 months the CRC and the Reformed Church in America launched the Reformed Leadership Initiative, a two-year pilot project to develop leadership in congregations in selected areas across North America.

Stories also included one about a CRC pastor who donated a kidney to a member of his congregation, one about the closure of Roosevelt Park CRC in Grand Rapids, and another that reported on the journey CRC members made to the U.S./Mexico border so they could learn more about the migration issue.

One story this year that attracted readers was by Rev. David Koll, the CRC’s director of candidacy who took time to have lunch with "two humble servants" of the church.

Koll met with two retired Calvin College religion professors — John Primus, 83, and Clarence Vos — and they talked about their enduring love for the church and how the role of pastoral ministry in the CRC has changed over time.