Rereading Swierenga’s piece brings back memories in me from the 70s
and 80s. I really wasn’t old enough to have much of a scope in the 70s
but I spent most of the 80s at CC and CTS.

https://swierenga.com/BurnWoodenShoesOrigPaper.html

The generational transitions and factional fightings are quite
something in the story. They are both factors as generational cohorts
really aren’t tidal in terms of the changes they bring to the church.

Looking back through the eyes of the 2020s other things emerge.

1. We were VERY concerned about ideas. Today practices get more attention.

2. We were very institutional. These wars in this piece were fought to
control institutions. I think today it’s easier to “just walk away”
even though there was a lot of walking away then too.

3. Walking away was harder then because the community was tighter.
Many of us over 60 (and some younger, see point 1) lived in a
situation where large extended families had everyone participating in
CRC institutions without exception. Extended families all were CRC.
All the kids went to Xian schools. Very tight. Today we’re far more
“diverse”.

4. Many of the issues we face today were just in their infancy.

5. Ties to Holland were far more significant then. Today? CRC elites
are more likely to go Ivy League, England (Oxford, Durham), or Notre
Dame rather than Free University. Massive change.

6. We were not as isolated or unique as thought we were. The issues
the CRC was wrestling with were the same issues as other conservative
denominations. We were a more discrete cluster floating on the changes
in the broader culture. World Wars, counter cultures, technology,
economics all had their way with us for better or for worse.

7. The SSM war reshaped the church in a very sudden way compared to
WICO or even “The Veterans come home changed” which pushed those
changes at the Seminary and beyond.

pvk