CRC Contacts Canadian, U.S. Governments

Leaders of the Christian Reformed Church on both sides of the border have been writing to their governments in recent weeks.

Denominational executive director Rev. Peter Borgdorff joined more than 50 evangelical leaders and organizations calling on the U.S. government to support immigration reform.

And north of the 49th parallel, Henry Hess, acting director of the CRC in Canada, joined leaders from mainline churches calling on the Canadian government to release funds for affordable housing.

In the letter to Congress and the U.S. president, a wide assortment of evangelical leaders asked for reform of the family-based immigration system to reduce waiting times for separated families and to find more legal avenues for migrant workers to enter the United States to work in safe environments that prevent their exploitation.

In Canada, the CRC joined with the Anglican Church, the United Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church to press Canada’s new Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to release $1.6 billion for housing that was approved in the 2005 federal budget.

“Many of our church members are involved in nonprofit housing organizations,” the leaders wrote. “Along with other civil society groups, they are at the ready to partner with your government and provincial and territorial governments to develop affordable housing that is long overdue and desperately needed.”