What is the Christian Reformed Church?

Question

Are these generally conservative alternatives to the Presbyterian Church (USA)? Are they growing? Evangelical?

Answer 1

I am a member of the Christian Reformed Church. We call it the CRC for short. It started at the time of Luther and Calvin in the 1500's. They were great "Reformers" (Thus part of the name.) Most of the original members of the church were from Holland.

To many others the denomination was known as the "Dutch" Reformed church. The reason: after WWII many Dutch people came to the USA and Canada. (It was the Canadians that liberated Holland near the end of the war.)

Today the CRC is a blend of Evangelicals and Fundamentalists, with a good dose of love and care. In our congregation there are many Dutch people. We are not Dutch. there are also Japanese, African Americans, Native Americans, and lots of other races and nationalities. At the CRC seminary the most common sir-name is "Kim".

I have been part of many other Churches, but without a doubt this is the most loving church I have attended. My wife suffers from depression. In fact she is in the hospital as I write. In other churches mental disorders were a sign that the devil was at work. In our church the overwhelming response was "How can we help!" As an example: Tonight's supper was from another member.

Since we started going to Burlington (Ontario) CRC we have been visited several times by the pastor, and elders. By the way, in those six visits, some were about Mary's health, some were about how the church could better serve us. Not once was money mentioned.

In addition, CRC is active in all parts of the world. The CRWRC (The Christian Reform World Relief Committee) is active in many areas of the world just giving help. They were one of the first to be on the scene when the Tidal Wave hit. (Their philosophy is not "Why did God allow this to happen?" but rather "This has happened, how can we show God's love to those that are hurting?"

Here at home, Mary and I are part of the "Frendship" group. This program was set up in response to the need, that those who are mentally challenged have a Spiritual component to their lives. It seemed that nobody was addressing that need.

Each Wednesday we have a "Friendship" church service. Normally 40 - 50 "Friends" arrive at 7:00 from group homes or with their parents. There are about 40 church volunteers on hand as well. (A ratio of about 1 to 1) We sing Gospel songs and well known hymns. We listen to a simplified Bible story. We then spend time on crafts. Sing some more and then dismiss. My special "Friend" is David. He is about 35 and completely non verbal. He can however, say my name. When he first said it I felt honored.

I hope this helps.

I have not worshipped in all CRC churches, but if they are anything like mine, they will be a great place to Worship, Help and serve.

Are you looking for a new church home? Try the CRC

God bless

Bryan

PS If I can be of anymore help, my email is:

[e-mail]

Answer 2

I went to the Christian reformed church's school...Calvin College, I'm now not CRC nor ever been. But they suppose in Pre-vacation spot and I'm lovely definite they do not submerge a man or woman like baptists whilst being baptisted, there just like the Presbyterian church. There an attractive typical denomination, despite the fact that a few of their offerings are rather dull. Anything with reformed within the name suppose in predestination which is solely god is aware of who's going to visit heaven, and is aware of the whole thing, long run beyond reward.

Answer 3

I am a minister in the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC) and could write a long paper on this. If you have any additional questions, feel free to email me. Here's my best at a succinct answer:
CRC is from the Reformed tradition of the Protestant Reformation. The Reformed tradition is similar in many ways to the Lutheran tradition - both are creedal and confessionally based (i.e. they have statements of faith - catechisms, confessions, etc.) by which Christian belief is the primary emphasis. But while the Lutheran tradition was mostly limited to Germany and Scandinavia, the Reformed tradition took root in the Netherlands, Scotland (today the Presbyterians), Hungary, Switzerland, and many places of France. Reformed and Lutheran beliefs are very similar on many topics. The exceptions would be the details of the order of salvation, Christ's presence in the bread and cup of Communion/Lord's Supper, and the impact of baptism.
The CRC comes from the Reformed tradition that took root in the Netherlands in the 1500s. Other denominations/churches that come from the Reformed roots in the Netherlands include: the Reformed Church in America (RCA), Protestant Reformed Church, United Reformed Churches in North America, Netherlands Reformed Churches in North America, and a few other small groups. Each of these groups would hold to the same three creeds (Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed, Athanasian Creed) and same three confessions of faith (the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, Canons of Dort), but each can vary a great deal on the roles of women in leadership positions, how much doctrinal deviation is allowable, and interpretations of Genesis 1-11.
The CRC was organized on this side of the Atlantic in 1857. It is "evangelical" in that it belongs to the National Association of Evangelicals, along with the Assemblies of God, Church of the Nazarene, The Wesleyan Church, and many others. The common element of this group is the primacy of Jesus Christ being the only salvation, the necessity to spread the good news about him, and the Bible as the only infallible rule for faith and life.
Unique aspects of the CRC are its support for Christian schools from elementary through college, but unlike Catholic or Lutheran schools, CRC Christian schools are run not by churches but parents and independent boards. Many CRC members send their kids to public schools also, but support for at least the option of Christian schools is widespread. The CRC emphasis on education has put it's main college, Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI), on the mainstream academic map. The percentage of Calvin graduates to earn PhDs is extremely high, and Calvin is considered along with Wheaton College in Illinois to be among the top two "evangelical" colleges in the country.
The Dutch identity of the CRC has historically been strong. For most of its existence, almost all of its membership had Dutch ancestry, but in the past 20-40 years many other immigrant congregations have sprung up, especially Koreans. The Korean segment of the CRC is probably fastest growing of the denomination and around 10 percent of the whole CRC is now Korean-speaking, not counting other groups. On any given Sunday, CRC worship is conducted in at least 15 languages other than English.
The CRC has many in-depth position papers on a wide variety of current issues: homosexuality, abortion, capital punishment, women's role in ministry, science and Scripture, conditions for justified warfare, pornography, cinema, and others.
The CRC officially allows women to all offices of ministry leadership. However, this came from a decades-long debate about what Scripture says on the matter, and many are not going to forbid any church from ordaining any woman but are still uncomfortable about the topic and lots of pain still lingers over those debates. Homosexuality and same-sex marriage have recently entered the field of debate, but the widespread position is still that sexual acts between members of the same sex are sinful, but having such inclinations or desires is not itself sinful.
There is leniency on interpretation of the creation accounts in Genesis 1-2, and a variety of standards for participation in Communion.
About one third of CRC members are on the Canadian side of North America.
Hope that wasn't too much!

Answer 4

I think they're evangelical, but I didn't think they were that conservative.