At just about every church leadership event, the first question attendees ask of one another is “How big is your church?”
Big Questions
Our panel of contributors replies to questions from readers on topics like these: ethics, relationships, missional living, faith formation, vocation/calling, digital life, church/Bible/doctrine, and stewardship. Got a question you’d like answered?
My husband and I can’t agree on whether we should be cremated or not. Is there any biblical instruction for this?
Leaders in many Christian churches are embracing Enneagram personality typing. I would be very glad to have solidly Reformed feedback on this practice.
How do I live out my vocation when God doesn’t seem to be opening doors for me to do what I feel called to do?
Are there different standards of belief for officebearers and confessing members of the Christian Reformed Church?
As Reformed Christians we know that everything is being redeemed by God—even the giant, sometimes dark and sinister hole we call the internet.
Is Earth sacred? While we may have an obligation to be stewards of creation, is there a danger for Christians of falling into nature worship given some of the language used by those who refer to nature as “sacred”?
When we are surveyed, we feel like a number about to be made into a statistic, and often we are.
Idolatry is indeed a threat—a temptation that Christians ought to resist through the Spirit’s leading.
I was a child of Dutch immigrants in the 1950s, and my adult children are now asking more details about their grandparents, of whom they all have wonderful impressions.
Our Reformed tradition emphasizes a lot of head knowledge when it comes to growing in our faith.
I recently met some friends from church for coffee. They used a cash app to pay and spoke about something called cryptocurrency. Should Christians be adopting these modern financial innovations?
What’s the status of a congregational meeting and a congregational vote—especially when it comes to extending a call to a pastor?
The Bible cautions us not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought.
Prayer is a foundational practice for those seeking to join the Spirit on God’s mission.
I work for a large corporation. Recently I received a bonus in my paycheck. Though I could really use the money, I think it might have been given by mistake. Do I have an obligation to say anything?
It feels as if the CRC is headed for a denominational divorce over LGBTQ+ concerns. Is a church split inevitable?
Our church is filled with retired people. We don’t have many children. How can we minister to the children if there are so few of them?
Besides amazingly fast development to test for and combat COVID, has anything good come out of the pandemic technology-wise?
Our family joined a Christian Reformed church a few years ago. Recently a deacon expressed concern that we were not contributing more to the general fund. It makes me uncomfortable to think that deacons are talking about how much people are giving and whether it is sufficient. Is this what happens in the CRC?
Does it matter what kind of company I work for and what kind of values it seems to have?
Our church council called a special congregational meeting to vote on calling a chaplain. Is that necessary when the chaplain isn’t going to be working at our church?
There are several layers inherent in your question.
There are some important guiding Reformed principles that could lead us to more convergence.