VilnaGaon
Puritan Board Sophomore
I know this may seem like blasphemy to many PBers, but is the Reformed Faith dying? It seems like that in Toronto. A dear Reformed Minister friend of mine recently moved his church of 8 members from a rented room in a Community Centre to the basement of his home----- not enough members to justify the expense of a rented room. This may seem isolated but set in the backdrop of at least 2 Reformed Church closures in the last 2 years, declining membership in Reformed Churches, explosive growth of Charismatic churches, I think we Reformed are a dying breed.
A Reformed Minister who agrees with my assesment, blames the situation on the lack of reaching out to the Unsaved by the Reformed Community. I think that is true. I also blame the decline in Reformed Publishing. Like many people in Reformed Churches, I came from a Pentecostal background. I was converted to the Reformed faith through reading Reformed Literature, mainly the Puritans. But today, it is getting harder to find good Reformed Literature.
We Reformed should learn from the Orthodox Jews, the importance of keeping our Faith alive through constantly reprinting the Classics. Go into any Orthodox Jewish Bookstore and you will see shelves of Jewish classics like the Shulchan Aruch, the various Midrashes, hundreds of Torah Commentaries by Rabbis from the past. For such a tiny community, the Orthodox Jews have managed to maintain in print their written heritage and thus pass it on. It is one of the 613 commandments to purchase and maintain Torah Literature.
Perhaps we Reformed should do likewise.
A Reformed Minister who agrees with my assesment, blames the situation on the lack of reaching out to the Unsaved by the Reformed Community. I think that is true. I also blame the decline in Reformed Publishing. Like many people in Reformed Churches, I came from a Pentecostal background. I was converted to the Reformed faith through reading Reformed Literature, mainly the Puritans. But today, it is getting harder to find good Reformed Literature.
We Reformed should learn from the Orthodox Jews, the importance of keeping our Faith alive through constantly reprinting the Classics. Go into any Orthodox Jewish Bookstore and you will see shelves of Jewish classics like the Shulchan Aruch, the various Midrashes, hundreds of Torah Commentaries by Rabbis from the past. For such a tiny community, the Orthodox Jews have managed to maintain in print their written heritage and thus pass it on. It is one of the 613 commandments to purchase and maintain Torah Literature.
Perhaps we Reformed should do likewise.