Category Archives: CRC

The Need for Calvin College

Posted on October 12, 2009 by PaulVK

This is a posting I wrote for Calvin in Common. This conversation centered around whether Calvin has lost its way by not faithfully teaching its students the most up to date scientific positions regarding earth origins and like matters. I … Continue reading →

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"hearts and minds renewing God's world"

Posted on July 31, 2009 by PaulVK

Calvin College recently announced receiving 150 million in their campaign. I’m thrilled. I love Calvin College. I’m sending my son to Calvin College. For me Calvin College is the happiest place on earth and I am not kidding when I … Continue reading →

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Let's not be naive about what learning from diversity requires

Posted on July 20, 2009 by PaulVK

Every since Dr. King declared 11:00am as the most segregated hour in America diversity has steadily become a desired value of many congregations and denominations, including my own, the CRC. I was raised in a “racial reconciliation” church of sorts. … Continue reading →

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Liberal churches die, conservative churches lie, where individualism takes us all

Posted on July 20, 2009 by PaulVK

This grew out of a CRC-Voices discussion on the rupturing of the American Anglican church. Ginger wrote: I’ll read this, of course. It’s difficult when a denomination or congregation loses its conservatives, because conservatives often do more work and give … Continue reading →

Posted in CRC, Culture commentary, Institutional Church | 1 Comment

Why are pastors so needy?

Posted on June 30, 2009 by PaulVK

This was from a conversation about pastors from CRC-Voices I have a friend who is a pastor and his father is a doctor. He told his son “I feel sorry for you. I don’t have to be friends with all … Continue reading →

Posted in CRC, Pastoral Identity | 1 Comment

CRC Belhar move as part of broader USA Christianity Transition

Posted on June 23, 2009 by PaulVK

This again was part of a CRC-Voices discussion, hence the names I left in. I was responsible for the subject heading and I stand behind the question. In our system of ecclesiology confessions are foundational documents. It is the deepest … Continue reading →

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The Belhar: Adoption vs. Embrace

Posted on June 23, 2009 by PaulVK

If I were Jerry Dykstra wouldn’t my #1 priority at this point have to be facilitating the process by which the CRC would come to a decision on the Belhar? If I were a member of the CRC BOT wouldn’t … Continue reading →

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Quotes from Schaap’s 150th CRC Anniversary Piece

Posted on June 19, 2009 by PaulVK

James Calvin Schaap is the bard of CRC (Christian Reformed Church) church history. He teaches at Dordt College. He wrote a piece for the CRC’s 150th anniversary that I thought was prophetic. Here are some quote from it. http://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1413&context=pro_rege Today … Continue reading →

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What's next for the CRC after the Belhar endorsement?

Posted on June 19, 2009 by PaulVK

I started to watch a bit of the Belhar debate on the CRC website. The second speaker asked “what happens to office bearers who have already signed the FOS (Form of Subscription) when you add another confession?” That raises an … Continue reading →

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How the egalitarian position opens up complementary beauty

Posted on May 18, 2009 by PaulVK

Even though I don’t believe in restricting women from serving in church office, I think the project of exploring the complementarian position looks promising. It seems to me that the egalitarian position has the liabilities of a contemporary cultural/political ideology … Continue reading →

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