Confessions & Creeds The Burning Of The Wooden Shoes

The Burning of the Wooden Shoes
POSTED BY CHRISTOPHER J. GORDON
It was a painful decision for my father to leave the Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRC). He was pulled apart over it. He expressed all of his concerns to the new minister. "The direction you're taking," my father said, "is undermining the Great Commission of Jesus." Immediately, the pastor yelled back, "this is what's wrong with you Reformed people." My father retorted, "But aren't you Reformed?" That is a great question.

By being raised in the CRC I learned a lot about what can happen to a church. I have been a pastor in a confessional Reformed church for almost 15 years now. As I watch the shifts and listen to the discussions, this all seems like déjà vu. What took the CRC thirty to forty years to accomplish, in jettisoning her Reformed heritage, seems to be taking some NAPARC churches about a decade. I am particularly concerned for the PCA, but they are not the only one. There are other Reformed denominations following suit, but the PCA, at the moment, appears to be leading the pack.

The most disturbing part is that many seem completely oblivious to the shifts. Among a new generation of Reformed pastors and churchgoers, there seems to be little awareness that the project they are pursuing, and the shifts they are pushing, have already been tried and have ended with catastrophic consequences in the life of a major Reformed denomination.

I write this out of sincere love and concern for my brothers and sisters in NAPARC churches. Don't do this. I've witnessed families, friends, and churches ripped apart by the direction the CRC chose. .... See full article posted at Reformation21.
http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2018/03/the-burning-of-the-wooden-shoe.php
About author
NaphtaliPress
Since 1987 through his imprint Naphtali Press, Chris Coldwell has edited and published new and critical text editions of classic Presbyterian & Reformed books. He is general editor and publisher of The Confessional Presbyterian journal.

Comments

I am a member of the CRC. I receive the Banner in my church mailbox. There are sometimes decent articles in it, although there is a lot of social justice stuff. I just want people to know that there are still a lot of good CRCs. Based on my research there is a divide in the denomination between those who want to hold fast to Biblical teaching, and those who want to be culturally relevant. My pastor describes it as a "liberal group that just won't shut up". I look forward to the challenge of helping to re-plant the roots of confessional reformed practices to the CRC.

Best Regards,

Izaak
 
I searched to find a reformed church ..the are but a few in my area. When I found my church it was a BPC..but it felt more like a non denominational church with most people not knowing reformation doctrine. One of the elders pushed to leave the BPC and move to the more "lenient" PCA ..the vote was taken and we became PCA. The most I read about the direction of the PCA the more worried I became. We recently got a new Pastor that is more OPC than PCA. We are now following the Regulative Principle...and singing psalms ....about 1/2 the members have left to go to a "New Calvinist" Harvest church ...
 

Article information

Author
NaphtaliPress
Article read time
2 min read
Views
5,563
Comments
2
Last update

More in Confessions & Creeds

More from NaphtaliPress

Back
Top