Peripatetic Pastor

Tag: Synod

  • WHAT WILL BE

    A Post Synod and Post Debate Reflection It’s been a tough week for many of us. Make that a tough month. Beginning with what in too many places is happening to the church. Those of us who are Christian Reformed sadly watched last month as the synod systemically took steps to push out long loyal…

  • WHAT’S NEXT: WISPS OF A DREAM

    Dwell not on former things; Ponder not the past. Look, I’m doing a new thing. It’s already sprouting up; do you not see it? (Isaiah 43:18-19a) I confess I do not yet see it, the new thing sprouting up. Perhaps it is still too early. Perhaps the past is too much with us, with me.…

  • RIP CRC

    “Jesus called [his disciples] over and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them, and their big people rule over them, but not so among you. If anyone among you wants to be great, let them be your servant, and if anyone wants to be first, let them be your…

  • WHAT JEFFREY WEIMA GETS WRONG ABOUT THE FILM 1946: THE MISTRANSLATION THAT SHIFTED CULTURE

    It’s not often that Calvin Seminary professors review movies, but recently Dr. Jeffrey Weima, Professor of New Testament at Calvin Theology Seminary, did just that. The movie is a 2022 documentary, 1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture, directed by Sharon Roggio.  The film alleges that by mistranslating a brace of Greek words in 1 Corinthians 6:9, the…

  • NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS FOR SYNOD 2024: GRAVAMEN

    Synod 2024 of the Christian Reformed Church begins meeting in person on June 14. Until then and while synod is in session, I hope to offer a few notes and observations about the synodical process. This synod could mark the beginning of the end for the CRC or, perhaps, the beginning of something new. I…

  • WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE REFORMED? COVENANT AS ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY

    A note for my readers: With this post, I draw to a conclusion a brief series of blog posts on what it means to be Reformed. These posts collectively are an attempt to retrieve some of what remains valuable in the Reformed tradition. There is much more to be done. Traditions must periodically be retrieved,…

  • WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE REFORMED: THE REFORMED VIEW OF SCRIPTURE

    Traditions must sometimes be saved from those who claim them. In this series of posts, I’ve been asking the question, “What does it mean to be Reformed?” There are those who give ready answers to that question. Their answers might include the early 20th century acronym TULIP. Or penal substitutionary atonement. Or declaring that same…

  • QUESTIONS AND CONVERSATION: READING THE AKEDAH

    One task in literature is to formulate questions and construct counter-statements to the reigning pieties. And even when art is not oppositional, the arts gravitate toward contrariness. Literature is dialogue; responsiveness.  –Susan Sontag, quoted from The Best American Essays 2023, edited and with an introduction by Vivian Gornick; Robert Atwan, series editor, p. ix. The Bible…

  • THE POPE’S BLESSING

    This week the front page of the e-edition of the New York Times prominently featured two religion stories, each in its own way about whether the church will fully accept LGBTQ people and same-sex marriage. The lead story was the pope’s decision to allow priests to bless same-sex unions (“Pope Francis Allows Priests to Bless Same-Sex…

  • WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS AND WHAT THE BIBLE DOES

    Usually the question is what the Bible says. In my denomination, for example, we have carried on a long and often acrimonious debate about what the Bible says about women and a shorter but no less acrimonious debate about sexuality.  The standard procedure in my denomination for these kinds of questions is to appoint a…