Peter Noteboom, general secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches, brought greetings to Synod 2019 (the general assembly of the Christian Reformed Church) on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the CCC.
CCC was born in the throes of World War II. Noteboom said, “The pursuit of peace is built into our DNA.”
The churches that make up the CCC include 85% of Canadian Christians. The Christian Reformed Church is a member.
Part of the work of CCC is sponsoring conversations among churches and people. These “tables” include faith and witness, faith and life sciences, justice and peace, and others. Noteboom took special note of Project Plowshares which works for peace and disarmament in the world.
Modeling its pursuit of peace, CCC works by consensus. Before taking an action, they require all 26 member churches to agree.
Noteboom, who grew up in the Christian Reformed Church, noted that “this is the community that has shaped and formed me.” He cited Isaiah 54:2, which urges God’s people to “lengthen their cords and drive in their stakes farther,” urging the CRC to “extend [its] reach” and “deepen [its] roots.”
Synod 2019 is meeting at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., from June 14-20. For continuous coverage from our award-winning news team, download the Banner app on your mobile device or follow The Banner Magazine on Facebook or @crcbanner on Twitter. You can find more tweeting by following hashtag #crcsynod. News stories will be posted on The Banner’s dedicated Synod web page several times daily. Unless noted otherwise, all photographs are by Karen Huttenga.
About the Author
Clayton Libolt was the long time pastor of River Terrace Church in East Lansing, Mich. Since his retirement, he has served in a variety of interim positions. He is presently serving as the interim senior pastor of Sonlight Community CRC in Lynden, Wash.