Danielle Steenwyk-Rowaan

Great! I'm sure there was a gap for American deacons, so I'm glad you're doing this. Just don't want really solid Canadian work to get lost in the shuffle, as I'm sure you don't either. (From one Canadian to another.) :)

Hi Doug, the document that Cam linked to re: the commitments of the CRC in Canada shares these goals: 

"In the spirit of these sacred commitments, in reliance on God our Creator, and in relationships with our Indigenous neighbours, the Christian Reformed Church will:

-engage with our congregations in a process of learning and dialogue on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People as a framework for reconciliation;

-engage in continuing discernment on the implications of the Declaration for the way we practice mission and social justice in concert with our ongoing discussions on the Doctrine of Christian Discovery;

-and engage in education and advocacy efforts to honour Indigenous self-determination, diversity, and rights."

Efforts to live into these commitments, made by the BOT (now the COD) in Canada are ongoing, including a prayer campaign calling the churches in Canada into prayer and reflection for Lent, which will be released soon.  I would encourage you to read more widely about the responses that Indigenous people are calling for as part of responding to the Declaration. There are no simple answers, but there are plenty of great proposals for next steps made by thoughtful and principled people. I would also point out to you that these are commitments of the CRC in Canada, not of the CRC as a whole.  Nevertheless, I would be happy to correspond more with you about these questions, if you're willing to first listen to the perspectives of Indigenous people in Canada on the subject. There are plenty of resources available online, and if you're looking for sources, I would be happy to direct you to ones that I've found helpful.

Hey Paul, I gave that article a read and perused some of the writer’s other articles as well. I can’t say I agree with everything he writes, especially his incredulity about structural racism, but I think I see what you’re getting at. It shouldn’t be too surprising to anyone who knows how idolatry works that idolatry takes a good thing and makes it a thing to be worshipped. So, if I’m understanding you correctly, are you saying that antiracism is a good thing that can be made into a competitor for our highest loyalties? I agree; lots of things can be competitors for our loyalties (technology, work, sex, money, environmentalism, nationalism, etc), and yet the answer isn’t often to throw those things out, but to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. So, assuming that you believe antiracism is good and is part of the Church’s call, following our Lord who broke down the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles, do you see a problem with educating kids about antiracism? (By antiracism I mean learning to truly value the inherent worth, dignity, and contributions of all people and to work to undo the ways that God-given worth isn’t valued in people of colour.)

Thank you for that encouragement, Karen! I'll pass that along to the others who worked on the resource as well. Appreciate it. 

Hi again Doug,

As you can see at the top of the article, I didn't actually write this piece--Christine did. I posted it. 

I think you may have missed the main point of this article by fixating on the example used. No matter where we fall on the political spectrum or, for that matter, on matters of theological discussion, Christine offers helpful advice for constructive dialogue. 

As a Canadian my understanding of socialism may be significantly different than yours. Sanders isn't quite so strange to us north of the border! I don't know that my CRC work hours would be well spent debating a topic which was not the focus of this article, but if you wanted to discuss what constructive dialogue could look like, particularly in the CRC, I'd be more than open to having that conversation with you. My work email is, of course, publicly available.