Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/83

Contributor - Rev. Cor G. Bons

Title - Editorial

Topic - Editorial

Why has the Reformed Church not been established in many more towns and cities throughout the Dominion of Canada over the last forty years? It would certainly have been much easier for parents and pastors to advise their children where to go to church, when they moved away from home. As it is now we have already lost many of our young people, and we continue to do so.

This question is raised time and time again in our discussions about the situation of our church and the future prospects for growth. We desire to reach out in the community, and we are working for a unified approach to church growth work in Western Canada and Ontario. Of course, several reasons can be given why the RCA is found only in some isolated locations, but one of them stands out. This reason is found in our Book of Church Order where a description is given of the nature of the church. The Reformed Church in America believes that the church is "the body of people in the world which professes faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and which is dispersed throughout the world in many denominations".

For this reason our denomination decided years ago not to compete, and not to invade the territory of the existing Canadian denominations, but only to respond to the spiritual and material needs of those immigrants who specifically asked for an RCA ministry in their midst because they could not feel at home in the existing churches. Some RCA ministers were found to come and serve here, and some ministers from "De Hervormde Kerk' in the Netherlands came to work for the RCA. At that time Pioneer was also published as a tool for contact between the scattered immigrants.

In view of the above mentioned description of the nature of the church you may wonder, why then we should begin to spend time, energy and money on outreach in the Canadian communities. Is that not against RCA policy and beliefs? Should we not rather leave that task to the existing Canadian denominations, and be only concerned about our existing congregations for as long as they happen to last? After all, we are not very strong in numbers, and in this vast land the name of the Reformed Church is not very well known, not even in the areas where we exist Starting new churches is very expensive; it requires considerable sacrifice on the part of our church members. The larger Canadian denominations have so many advantages over us; they have well-known names, much more money and many more people. Let's be realistic, and leave that outreach work to them!

All this sounds very logical and true. However, we must not forget, that after all these years of our existence in this country we cannot just erase the history of the RCA in Canada. We must face the reality that the RCA has become an established church here, and that as such we have now the same assignment and mandate which is the first priority for all people who profess faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. That mandate is to go out and proclaim the Good News of Salvation in Jesus Christ at home and abroad. Another important reality is the fact that after all those years millions of people in Canada are still not being reached by all the Canadian denominations together. We can use all the help we can get, to carry out the mandate of the Lord of the church, without competing with each other and without fear of stealing sheep.

The immigrant situation belongs to the past, and the future is upon us. We must be prepared and ready for that future, and we must also make sure that we have done whatever we could to prepare our fellow Canadians for that future.

In this season of Pentecost we celebrate that great outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the people of the Lord, and we pray that the same power may the Reformed Church in Canada in a mighty way, and that people will forget ut their "good" excuses which are holding back the potential of the God's le. We trust in the God of Whom it is written in Colossians 2 verse 15:

He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them triumphing over them in Him (Jesus Christ).

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