Bev and Tricia, these are both such great points. It's so important to recognize how people's past experiences shape how they are able to interact with both God and God's people in the church. Finally, I also think the the church hurt / trauma is yet another hugely significant part of understanding how people interact with church. As a young adult, I see so many of my peers who have been harmed (or who have seen others harmed) by the church and then told that the harm they experienced isn't or wasn't legitimate. And, building further on this theme, there is so little available in churches for young (unmarried) adults, many of whom grew up in church but experienced hurt or harm, and would love to find church communities but there simply aren't any churches that are willing and able to work through the hurt that these people have experienced. Do either of you have any ideas or suggestions for how churches can address these issues in our current North American context?
Bev, thanks so much for bringing this up! It's so cool to see how our togetherness is (and always has been, as evidenced here by Paul) such an essential part of our life together as Christians.
Gareth, thank you so much for your post! One part that particularly stood out to me is this paragraph: "The self-centered life is, as many other have written about, contrary to the God-centered life. Collectivism is not inherently opposed to the ways of God, but when it becomes the source of bullying, division, and arrogance, it is not aligned with Scriptural teachings on the nature of church and society." I think this is so true - often, our collective identity becomes what we center ourselves around, instead of centering ourselves around God. Obviously we should take care of others and care for others, but we shouldn't allow our collective identity to override how the Spirit is challenging us to engage with others.
Thank you for sharing this, Dr. Spoelstra! It's great to see how church plants are growing and thriving, both in North America and around the world. It's also great to see how there is an excellent, functional model for developing and supporting new and emerging leaders.
Ron, thank you for sharing this post! It's always challenging to start a new job of any sort, and starting a new pastoral position comes with all of the normal new-job challenges, plus many others. I especially appreciated your reflections on both human-to-human trust, as well as human-to-God trust. It's a good reminder that, just as we learn and grow in our ability to trust God, we also need to grow in our ability to trust each other (and our pastors/faith leaders).
After a quick survey of the communications staff here at the denomination, it seems like our churches all still use old fashioned pen and paper to check kids in and out of Sunday School and Nursery. I'm certainly interested to see if anyone else's church does anything different!
Thank you for sharing this reflection, David! Forgiveness is so important as we learn to shape our attitudes towards others to be more like Christ's attitude towards all of us.
Thank you for your deep dive into this text, Bev! It's so important to carefully study the Word of God to best understand what it means and how it can and should impact how we live.
Thank you for this reflection, Rob! One sentence especially stuck out to me: "Why does God write doubts into the stories of our lives? Doubt is the fuel of love." So often we choose to love despite our doubts. I think it's so important to accept the natural doubts that we all encounter and feel, and to learn and grow through those periods.
Thank you for all of your amazing work, Sandy! We're so thankful to have you on our team here at the CRCNA, and so thankful for all of the work you do to support local churches.
Posted in: Trauma-Informed Gospel
Bev and Tricia, these are both such great points. It's so important to recognize how people's past experiences shape how they are able to interact with both God and God's people in the church. Finally, I also think the the church hurt / trauma is yet another hugely significant part of understanding how people interact with church. As a young adult, I see so many of my peers who have been harmed (or who have seen others harmed) by the church and then told that the harm they experienced isn't or wasn't legitimate. And, building further on this theme, there is so little available in churches for young (unmarried) adults, many of whom grew up in church but experienced hurt or harm, and would love to find church communities but there simply aren't any churches that are willing and able to work through the hurt that these people have experienced. Do either of you have any ideas or suggestions for how churches can address these issues in our current North American context?
Posted in: Sent Together
Bev, thanks so much for bringing this up! It's so cool to see how our togetherness is (and always has been, as evidenced here by Paul) such an essential part of our life together as Christians.
Posted in: Leading By the Spirit In the Age of Algorithm
Gareth, thank you so much for your post! One part that particularly stood out to me is this paragraph: "The self-centered life is, as many other have written about, contrary to the God-centered life. Collectivism is not inherently opposed to the ways of God, but when it becomes the source of bullying, division, and arrogance, it is not aligned with Scriptural teachings on the nature of church and society." I think this is so true - often, our collective identity becomes what we center ourselves around, instead of centering ourselves around God. Obviously we should take care of others and care for others, but we shouldn't allow our collective identity to override how the Spirit is challenging us to engage with others.
Posted in: Leadership Development in Classis Quinte and Guyana Through Timothy Leadership Training
Thank you for sharing this, Dr. Spoelstra! It's great to see how church plants are growing and thriving, both in North America and around the world. It's also great to see how there is an excellent, functional model for developing and supporting new and emerging leaders.
Posted in: A Letter to a Pastor at the Start of a New Ministry
Ron, thank you for sharing this post! It's always challenging to start a new job of any sort, and starting a new pastoral position comes with all of the normal new-job challenges, plus many others. I especially appreciated your reflections on both human-to-human trust, as well as human-to-God trust. It's a good reminder that, just as we learn and grow in our ability to trust God, we also need to grow in our ability to trust each other (and our pastors/faith leaders).
Posted in: What Software Do You Use for Nursery and Sunday School Attendance?
After a quick survey of the communications staff here at the denomination, it seems like our churches all still use old fashioned pen and paper to check kids in and out of Sunday School and Nursery. I'm certainly interested to see if anyone else's church does anything different!
Posted in: Maintaining Forgiveness
Thank you for sharing this reflection, David! Forgiveness is so important as we learn to shape our attitudes towards others to be more like Christ's attitude towards all of us.
Posted in: Getting the Whole Picture, Part 7: The Shift Continues
Thank you for your deep dive into this text, Bev! It's so important to carefully study the Word of God to best understand what it means and how it can and should impact how we live.
Posted in: Good Doubt Friday
Thank you for this reflection, Rob! One sentence especially stuck out to me: "Why does God write doubts into the stories of our lives? Doubt is the fuel of love." So often we choose to love despite our doubts. I think it's so important to accept the natural doubts that we all encounter and feel, and to learn and grow through those periods.
Posted in: Meet Your Customer Service Representative, Sandy Woo
Thank you for all of your amazing work, Sandy! We're so thankful to have you on our team here at the CRCNA, and so thankful for all of the work you do to support local churches.
Posted in: Six Streams for the Canadian National Gathering
Thanks for sharing this! What a great resource for Canadian churches and others who attend the Canadian National Gathering.
Posted in: Ten Years from Now
Ron, thank you so much for sharing your perspective!