AKA Dr. Raymond A. Blacketer. Reformation scholar, sometime professor, native Californian, lover of the Reformed confessions, brought into the Christian Reformed Church through evangelism. Formerly pastor of Neerlandia CRC in Northern Alberta, Canada, and First Cutlerville CRC, Byron Center. Currently working as a theological editor and translator.
Excellent article; thank you for your thoughtful reflections. We just talked about this in our PM teaching service last Sunday. I'll have to check out that book by Allen Ross; it sounds like it might have some good sermon fodder in there.
There is one small typo in the list, #1: "subordinated" should be "subordinate."
Thanks, Pete. I already read your saga, which put the fear of God (or the Department of Homeland Security) into me. Our situation is different, in that most of us are US citizens, and Sandy is not applying for that religious workers visa (though as a youth director for over 20 years, that could be a possibility). We have contacted an immigration lawyer in Grand Rapids. I am a bit timid to ask whether we or the calling church are responsible for legal costs, however, and I don't know if there's any denominational policy in this regard.
I would like to see more resources and help from the denomination, particularly because we are a bi-national church. Pastors and people with other church-related vocations are regularly moving across the border. It could be that there are more resources from the CRCNA that I dont' know about, but everyone is on holidays this time of year, and I'm getting piles of "out of the office" responses to my emails. One immigration lawyer who specializes in pastors and religious workers hasn't even responded to my emails. I wonder if there are resources like: recommended moving companies who have lots of experience with international relocations (I think the CIA calls this secret renditions or something, but they are not for hire). Lists of dos and don'ts. Helping children transition to a new home and school. How should a pastor transition from one congregation to the next; should s/he take some time between ministries, etc. (If this were Facebook I would at this point "tag" Pastor-Church relations to alert them to my questions). There will also be a big learning curve financially, because taxes etc. are quite different between Canada and the US.
Time to call up the resources of our faith and rely on God's providence, but also to call on the Christian community to help each other out in our time of need.
I'm not aware of any "relatively new push" to participate in WCRC; I think we have been involved with its forerunners for decades. What does seem to be new (or maybe only recently more prominent) is an extremely politicized agenda on the part of the WCRC, which seems, at least, to be dominated by mainline liberal churches. The Accra confession is a very one-sided and extremely politicized (not to mention anti-American) document that has been subjected to some penetrating critique, e.g. by Calvin College Economics prof. Roland Hoksbergen ( http://www.calvin.edu/admin/cccs/rcc/chapters/Hoksbergen.pdf ) and South African economist Stan DuPlessis ( http://ideas.repec.org/p/sza/wpaper/wpapers101.html ). I agree that ecumenical organizations are important; but I'm not sure WCRC is a healthy place for the CRC to be; I'm not sure our voice would be heard, and I wonder who would be presuming to be our voice within that organization. I am not confident that every denominational agency represents the full spectrum of CRC opinion. We don't fit into NAPARC (because of their regrettable decision to expel us over women's ordination), but I don't think we belong in an organization that officially (in the person of its general secretary) claims that John Calvin would support the Occupy Wall Street movement ( http://wcrc.ch/node/694 ) and pushes the confessionalization of socialism. I would equally recoil from any canonization of capitalism or right-wing politics. It's the princple of the thing: What unites us: The Reformed theological tradition or some politicization of the gospel? Persons in the CRC span the political spectrum; to exercise a "preferential option" for one side or the other will inevitably lead to schism and a skewing of the church's genuine mission.
It's all good now...I'm not blocked or anything, which means that your network is obviously not very discriminating and should probably have higher standards.
Pastors certainly don't do much resting on Sundays, and often we find it challenging to make work of resting, so to speak, even though the spiritual practice of sabbath is essential for us as persons, spouses, parents, and pastors.
Our dilemma is that we use the lectionary and RW, but they don't usually mesh. Everything we do in Advent and Lent is related to RW somehow. It's our #1 go to resource, followed by the Worship Sourcebook.
I remember someone giving a presentation on the RCL at the Worship Symposium some years back; he had been involved in its creation, and he said sometimes the readings are all coordinated in some way, and sometimes they are not, or in different ways...it's confusing. The lectionary is not always so user-friendly or self-explanatory. If it weren't for the ecumenical aspect I might not use it that much; it certainly has its faults (skipping large portions of scripture; questionable verse selections, etc.) I've been using it for at least a decade and I still don't have it figured out. Sometimes I think they need a "Year D" to cover what they missed in A, B, and C.
What we are missing, or what we're looking for, is some kind of theme that ties the advent or lenten readings together. What we do now is basically create a hybrid of stuff we find on RW and the lectionary readings, and I do some exegetical gymanstics to relate the text to the theme; sometimes it works very naturally, other times its more like a trapeze act.
Joyce, you said "There are a plethora of good resources available for churches that follow the lectionary there are fewer good resources for non-lectionary based worship." That is not my experience as a lectionary user. I use Textweek.com, but I don't find the resources there anywhere as creative or helpful as RW. I don't want RW to leave us lectionary people behind. But I may be in a very small minority.
Posted in: Why Denominational Leaders Need to Address Clergy Mental Health Issues
Thank you, Larry, for this important article.
Posted in: You Write the Caption!
Job's three friends?
Posted in: Long Goodbye
Precisely.
Posted in: Time-Regulated Worship
Excellent article; thank you for your thoughtful reflections. We just talked about this in our PM teaching service last Sunday. I'll have to check out that book by Allen Ross; it sounds like it might have some good sermon fodder in there.
There is one small typo in the list, #1: "subordinated" should be "subordinate."
Posted in: CRC Church Order Commentary
I just got my shiny new copy!
Posted in: Planning an International Move
This article is not encouraging:
http://www.thebanner.org/news/2011/01/us-immigration-delays-pastor-s-call
Posted in: Planning an International Move
Thanks, Pete. I already read your saga, which put the fear of God (or the Department of Homeland Security) into me. Our situation is different, in that most of us are US citizens, and Sandy is not applying for that religious workers visa (though as a youth director for over 20 years, that could be a possibility). We have contacted an immigration lawyer in Grand Rapids. I am a bit timid to ask whether we or the calling church are responsible for legal costs, however, and I don't know if there's any denominational policy in this regard.
I would like to see more resources and help from the denomination, particularly because we are a bi-national church. Pastors and people with other church-related vocations are regularly moving across the border. It could be that there are more resources from the CRCNA that I dont' know about, but everyone is on holidays this time of year, and I'm getting piles of "out of the office" responses to my emails. One immigration lawyer who specializes in pastors and religious workers hasn't even responded to my emails. I wonder if there are resources like: recommended moving companies who have lots of experience with international relocations (I think the CIA calls this secret renditions or something, but they are not for hire). Lists of dos and don'ts. Helping children transition to a new home and school. How should a pastor transition from one congregation to the next; should s/he take some time between ministries, etc. (If this were Facebook I would at this point "tag" Pastor-Church relations to alert them to my questions). There will also be a big learning curve financially, because taxes etc. are quite different between Canada and the US.
Time to call up the resources of our faith and rely on God's providence, but also to call on the Christian community to help each other out in our time of need.
Posted in: What Does It Mean To/For the CRC When WCRC Adopts or Declares Something — or Does Stuff?
I'm not aware of any "relatively new push" to participate in WCRC; I think we have been involved with its forerunners for decades. What does seem to be new (or maybe only recently more prominent) is an extremely politicized agenda on the part of the WCRC, which seems, at least, to be dominated by mainline liberal churches. The Accra confession is a very one-sided and extremely politicized (not to mention anti-American) document that has been subjected to some penetrating critique, e.g. by Calvin College Economics prof. Roland Hoksbergen ( http://www.calvin.edu/admin/cccs/rcc/chapters/Hoksbergen.pdf ) and South African economist Stan DuPlessis ( http://ideas.repec.org/p/sza/wpaper/wpapers101.html ). I agree that ecumenical organizations are important; but I'm not sure WCRC is a healthy place for the CRC to be; I'm not sure our voice would be heard, and I wonder who would be presuming to be our voice within that organization. I am not confident that every denominational agency represents the full spectrum of CRC opinion. We don't fit into NAPARC (because of their regrettable decision to expel us over women's ordination), but I don't think we belong in an organization that officially (in the person of its general secretary) claims that John Calvin would support the Occupy Wall Street movement ( http://wcrc.ch/node/694 ) and pushes the confessionalization of socialism. I would equally recoil from any canonization of capitalism or right-wing politics. It's the princple of the thing: What unites us: The Reformed theological tradition or some politicization of the gospel? Persons in the CRC span the political spectrum; to exercise a "preferential option" for one side or the other will inevitably lead to schism and a skewing of the church's genuine mission.
Posted in: Article 59 Assent to Creeds
Has any progress been made on this issue?
Posted in: Triggered Spam Filter
It's all good now...I'm not blocked or anything, which means that your network is obviously not very discriminating and should probably have higher standards.
Posted in: Can You Really Rest on Sundays?
Pastors certainly don't do much resting on Sundays, and often we find it challenging to make work of resting, so to speak, even though the spiritual practice of sabbath is essential for us as persons, spouses, parents, and pastors.
Posted in: Reformed Worship and the Lectionary
Thank you, Joyce!
Our dilemma is that we use the lectionary and RW, but they don't usually mesh. Everything we do in Advent and Lent is related to RW somehow. It's our #1 go to resource, followed by the Worship Sourcebook.
I remember someone giving a presentation on the RCL at the Worship Symposium some years back; he had been involved in its creation, and he said sometimes the readings are all coordinated in some way, and sometimes they are not, or in different ways...it's confusing. The lectionary is not always so user-friendly or self-explanatory. If it weren't for the ecumenical aspect I might not use it that much; it certainly has its faults (skipping large portions of scripture; questionable verse selections, etc.) I've been using it for at least a decade and I still don't have it figured out. Sometimes I think they need a "Year D" to cover what they missed in A, B, and C.
What we are missing, or what we're looking for, is some kind of theme that ties the advent or lenten readings together. What we do now is basically create a hybrid of stuff we find on RW and the lectionary readings, and I do some exegetical gymanstics to relate the text to the theme; sometimes it works very naturally, other times its more like a trapeze act.
Joyce, you said "There are a plethora of good resources available for churches that follow the lectionary there are fewer good resources for non-lectionary based worship." That is not my experience as a lectionary user. I use Textweek.com, but I don't find the resources there anywhere as creative or helpful as RW. I don't want RW to leave us lectionary people behind. But I may be in a very small minority.
Thanks again for the response!
Randy