The churches – Calvin Church, Grace Church, and Church of the Servant (COS) – join Sherman Street Church in leaving the CRC.
i was wondering what happ'd to Jim V- Bosch one of my English profs who I really appreciated ( I still remember "Anonymous Bosch" in the Chimes). Apparently he's not happy with the CRC anymore after Synod 2024 ( btw, i was there! not as a CRC delegate, but just an interested individual who grew up in the CRC & GR, mostly). I sensed he wasn't a far -right conservative (neither am I) but I thought he was a moderate with some theological convictions about the danger of too much "compromise". I personally agree with the CRC decision because I feel the church must have a minimum set of standards before it becomes meaningless.
It's sad to see these CRC churches deciding to leave the denomination. I pray for the Lord to convict their hearts and turn them in the right direction! Hear our prayer Lord.
"If you're not in agreement, you've got a year to change your mind. And then after that time, you are going to be forced to leave the denomination," said James Vanden Bosch, professor emeritus of English and a member of Calvin Church's disaffiliation committee. "We'd rather do it on our own terms and our own schedule."
NOTE:
I attended three of the four churches above periodically during college. I remember when COS was starting out in the gym at Seymour School. I remember Jack Roeda. He was a great pastor & seemed to like me (until he was told some false & blasphemous rumors about me spread by some of my so-called "friends" who I didn't realize were so far left; and actually despised me for being moderate, if not conservative at the time. They set a "honey pot" trap to try to bring me down; and when it failed they spread false rumors anyways. I wasn't savvy enough at the time to realize what they were doing. Shame shame shame on them).
And I remember Mark Vermaire preaching at Sherman (one time he played the song "What if God was one of us; just a slob like some of us" (by Alanis Morrisette) as a sermon illustration. I also remember the pastor from Grace during the 80's when the Diekemas attended there, and then Jack Kooreman took over (he was in my Greek class at RBC). And my parents were married at Calvin CRC, a short walk from my mother's EGR childhood home.
We pray for you to reconsider before you make a decision that will probably never be reversed. It's forever. Talk to God on your knees.
