Just seven minutes each—that was the time allotted to three ministers at the South Florida celebration of the Christian Reformed Church’s 150th anniversary. And that included three-and-a-half minutes of translation into English or Spanish.
Six diverse congregations gathered this spring in Miami: Iglesia El Buen Samaritano, South Kendall Community CRC, Iglesia Cristiana Piedras Vivas, Iglesia Buenas Nuevas, all of Miami; and Comunidad de Cristo de Doral (Fla.) and Iglesia Cristiana Vida Nueva in Miami Lakes.
Many celebrants hailed from Latin America or the Netherlands during the last half century, said Rev. Vernon Vander Zee of South Kendall CRC.
Arlene Nyenhuis, who with her husband, the late Rev. Clarence J. Nyenhuis, started the Refugee Center to minister to Cuban refugees, came from California for the celebration. Betty Diemer, widow of Rev. Fred Diemer, pastor of El Buen in the 1970s, also spoke.
