Thanks Ryan. I love the Bible journaling idea. When you finish going through it once, will you start a new Bible for your daughter too? If you are looking for other ideas, I know that Thrive also has several great resources on this area: https://www.crcna.org/FaithFormation/resources/family-faith-formation-resources
Thanks Ron. I walk my dog every morning (in addition to shorter walks throughout the day). I'm surprised by the things I notice just because I'm out walking. It isn't only an awareness of times that God talks to me on a walk, but also noticing when the birds return after winter, or when the leaves start changing in the fall. I notice which households are up early with me, and who the other dog walker and joggers are. It doesn't seem very profound, but in our culture where we tend to be constantly busy, this kind of awareness of the little things has been a gift to me.
Thank you for sharing your story Ryan. If anyone wants to get a glimpse of Ryan and some of the young people that he works alongside, his Clarington Youth ministry was featured in this video for Gather.
Thanks for this post Zach. In my role as director of communications for the CRCNA, I hear lots of stories from our congregations, and some of them display this exact benefit of community -- being able to discern together what the Spirit is telling us. I'll try to find a few examples, but this story about prayer cohorts is one that immediately came to mind. Praying together helped individuals discern what God was telling them for their congregations. Or this story about a specific congregation whose council prayed and discerned a new future that involved letting go of their old name and identity. Do you have other great communual discernment stories?
Thanks for this question Chad. I'm curious to see how others will answer it. In my household, the debate over the ideal temperature for the thermostat is an ongoing one. Do we really need it to be cold for sleeping? :)
I'm partial to 68 degrees F (20 Celsius) for winter settings.
Thank you Kyla for your vulnerability in sharing this post. It also reminds me of how much I miss the theatre in these COVID times. I'm praying that it will come back soon, for both the actors and the audience's sake.
Great point, Harry. I guess I was thinking that IF people wanted to participate in #GivingTuesday, that it might be nice for them to have one place where all of the CRCNA options are listed. That way they don't have to sift through emails or social media to find them all. I do agree, though, that the CRC has a long tradition of generous giving and we don't need a designated day for that.
HI Jeff. I serve as the director of communications and marketing for the CRCNA. I think a short video overview of the denomination's history is a great idea. I'm not sure I have it in my budget this year, but I'll definitely add it to my "idea file" to see what I can pull together as time and funds allow. Thanks for making the suggestion.
HI Bonnie. Sarah is brand new to the Network (Welcome Sarah!) and asked me for advice on how to handle this situation. I was the one who recommended that she respond as she did. I am still mulling over whether or not it is the right call. I do think that this post could be edited to included gender inclusive pronouns (or no pronouns at all) and would communicate Rob's points as he intended them. (His post isn't about headship, it is about the hardships of being a pastor. The things he describes would also apply to female pastors even if Rob wouldn't attend their churches). My concern was that it would change Rob's "voice" as a writer and that is something we try not to do. Perhaps a good policy going forward would be to flag the concern and then ask the author to consider revising. I will discuss this further with Sarah and others.
As for a disclaimer, we do already have that on the footer of each page of the Network. It says, "The Network is a collection of content posted by members of our online community. Our hosting of this content does not imply endorsement, nor can we verify the accuracy of user-submitted post".
Again, thank you for your feedback. It is appreciated.
As I've already stated, you don't have to express support for the concepts of white privilege or systemic racism. What I was suggesting is that you acknowledge the pain of racism and racist acts in our world before you get into critiquing the terminology or theory. I suppose that if someone believed that we were living in a society that didn't have any racism at all anymore, then that would be hard for them to do. In those cases, I would encourage the poster to look at our official denominational statements that task us to "to witness publicly against racism in defense of all people as imagebearers of God," and to “continued repentance of personal and institutional racism and other forms of discrimination.”
Posted in: A Project for Parents with Prodigal Children
Thanks Ryan. I love the Bible journaling idea. When you finish going through it once, will you start a new Bible for your daughter too? If you are looking for other ideas, I know that Thrive also has several great resources on this area: https://www.crcna.org/FaithFormation/resources/family-faith-formation-resources
Posted in: On the Move with Jesus
Thanks Ron. I walk my dog every morning (in addition to shorter walks throughout the day). I'm surprised by the things I notice just because I'm out walking. It isn't only an awareness of times that God talks to me on a walk, but also noticing when the birds return after winter, or when the leaves start changing in the fall. I notice which households are up early with me, and who the other dog walker and joggers are. It doesn't seem very profound, but in our culture where we tend to be constantly busy, this kind of awareness of the little things has been a gift to me.
Posted in: How A CRC Helped Save My Life
Thank you for sharing your story Ryan. If anyone wants to get a glimpse of Ryan and some of the young people that he works alongside, his Clarington Youth ministry was featured in this video for Gather.
Posted in: Why a Denomination?
Thanks for this post Zach. In my role as director of communications for the CRCNA, I hear lots of stories from our congregations, and some of them display this exact benefit of community -- being able to discern together what the Spirit is telling us. I'll try to find a few examples, but this story about prayer cohorts is one that immediately came to mind. Praying together helped individuals discern what God was telling them for their congregations. Or this story about a specific congregation whose council prayed and discerned a new future that involved letting go of their old name and identity. Do you have other great communual discernment stories?
Posted in: Happy New Year, 2025!
Thanks Sarah. Happy new year to you as well.
Posted in: What Temperature is Your Sanctuary?
Thanks for this question Chad. I'm curious to see how others will answer it. In my household, the debate over the ideal temperature for the thermostat is an ongoing one. Do we really need it to be cold for sleeping? :)
I'm partial to 68 degrees F (20 Celsius) for winter settings.
Posted in: Managing Anxiety through Art and Acting
Thank you Kyla for your vulnerability in sharing this post. It also reminds me of how much I miss the theatre in these COVID times. I'm praying that it will come back soon, for both the actors and the audience's sake.
Posted in: A CRCNA Guide to #GivingTuesday
Great point, Harry. I guess I was thinking that IF people wanted to participate in #GivingTuesday, that it might be nice for them to have one place where all of the CRCNA options are listed. That way they don't have to sift through emails or social media to find them all. I do agree, though, that the CRC has a long tradition of generous giving and we don't need a designated day for that.
Posted in: A CRCNA Guide to #GivingTuesday
This is a great idea.
Posted in: Resources for Inquirers Class?
HI Jeff. I serve as the director of communications and marketing for the CRCNA. I think a short video overview of the denomination's history is a great idea. I'm not sure I have it in my budget this year, but I'll definitely add it to my "idea file" to see what I can pull together as time and funds allow. Thanks for making the suggestion.
Posted in: What's So Hard About Being a Pastor?
HI Bonnie. Sarah is brand new to the Network (Welcome Sarah!) and asked me for advice on how to handle this situation. I was the one who recommended that she respond as she did. I am still mulling over whether or not it is the right call. I do think that this post could be edited to included gender inclusive pronouns (or no pronouns at all) and would communicate Rob's points as he intended them. (His post isn't about headship, it is about the hardships of being a pastor. The things he describes would also apply to female pastors even if Rob wouldn't attend their churches). My concern was that it would change Rob's "voice" as a writer and that is something we try not to do. Perhaps a good policy going forward would be to flag the concern and then ask the author to consider revising. I will discuss this further with Sarah and others.
As for a disclaimer, we do already have that on the footer of each page of the Network. It says, "The Network is a collection of content posted by members of our online community. Our hosting of this content does not imply endorsement, nor can we verify the accuracy of user-submitted post".
Again, thank you for your feedback. It is appreciated.
Posted in: "Censorship" on The Network
As I've already stated, you don't have to express support for the concepts of white privilege or systemic racism. What I was suggesting is that you acknowledge the pain of racism and racist acts in our world before you get into critiquing the terminology or theory. I suppose that if someone believed that we were living in a society that didn't have any racism at all anymore, then that would be hard for them to do. In those cases, I would encourage the poster to look at our official denominational statements that task us to "to witness publicly against racism in defense of all people as imagebearers of God," and to “continued repentance of personal and institutional racism and other forms of discrimination.”