“With thanksgiving, we acknowledge our bonds,” Rev. Douglas Rollwage, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Canada (PCC), told Synod 2016. “[Our denominations] both have a strong commitment to mission in Canada and around the world. We look forward to developing together new horizons of ministry.”
The PCC and the CRC created a formal ecumenical affirmation in 2009. One area of shared ministry has been work with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, he said. His church has also been involved in sponsoring refugees and has been discussing matters of human sexuality, as has the CRC. He added that he is “grateful that we have an ongoing dialogue” so the denominations can learn from each other in such matters.
Synod president Paul De Vries thanked God that “as we wrestle with similar issues of human sexuality that can vex us, we have brothers and sisters in other denominations and we can struggle together.”
Rollwage presented De Vries with a mug that has logos of both the CRC and PCC on it. “It is given in the spirit of Scottish frugality,” he said. “We invite you to our synod, but we just ask that you bring back the mug.”
Synod 2016 is meeting at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., from June 10-17. For continuous Banner coverage, please follow The Banner Magazine on Facebook or @crcbanner on Twitter. You can find more tweeting by following hashtag #crcsynod. News stories will be posted at thebanner.org several times daily. For CRC Communications releases, webcast, and live blogging, please visit crcna.org/synod. Unless noted otherwise, all photographs are by Karen Huttenga.
About the Author
Roxanne VanFarowe is a freelance writer who claims both Canadian and American citizenship and grew up in the Christian Reformed Church. She is a member of Blacknall Presbyterian Church in Durham, North Carolina.
