Canada-USA: Letters, Prayers Try to Say ‘We Hear You’

The Apostle Paul calls Christians to rejoice and to suffer together: "If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it," 1 Cor. 12:26.

Some Canadian members of the Christian Reformed Church in North America have wanted more tangible expressions of that mutual care as economic and even annexation threats have come from President Trump towards Canada since his inauguration Jan. 20.

In Classis Lake Superior—the only one of the CRCNA’s 49 classes to include congregations in the U.S. and Canada—Bethlehem CRC in Thunder Bay, Ont., shared its difficulty in obtaining delegates willing to travel to the U.S. for the March meeting. Pastor Marg Rekman said their council felt compelled to write to convey the degree of disruption and unease experienced in Canada. Included in the agenda materials for the meeting, the letter elicited two responses from U.S. congregations and prompted a time of prayer during the classis worship time.

“We were not aware as we probably should have been of the pain and turmoil you have been experiencing,” read a response letter from Pastor David Zigterman of Emden CRC in Renville, Minn. “We also confess that our response to your pain has been inadequate. But we want to understand and learn how we can better value those coming from Canada. … We want to enter into your frustration and assure you, though our political climate might not be very hospitable, we warmly welcome you to the United States and affirm that the body of Christ is bigger than any one nationality.”

Al Postma, executive director, Canada, with the CRCNA, attended the two-day Classis Lake Superior meeting in March and led a workshop, Inside the CRC: Canada, during the pre-classis learning time. He said one of the things that stood out to him was a sense that Canadians have a desire to hear that they have a supportive ear from the Americans in their denominational family. “Kind of like a ‘Do you hear us?’ I think at classis, one of the hopes was to say, ‘Yes, we hear you.’”

Postma, who formerly worked in classis renewal and was a pastor in Classis Lake Superior, said part of the value of the regional assemblies is not having “the ability to ignore or to reduce to characterizations the differences among groups.” It requires a willingness to navigate the awkwardness, he said, for the sake of building “the full community that we’re called to.” In the context of the challenged Canadian-U.S. relationship, it requires asking “what does it mean to be part of a community that is bigger than just one nation?”

“People at the meeting weren’t sure how to enter that space,” Postma said, "but the Canadian and American delegates did come together in that moment." When an open mic was provided for lament, it was mostly guests to classis who shared. Rekman sensed a hesitation among classis delegates that seemed to come from a conviction that “politics has no place at a classis meeting.” Classis Interim Committee member Carol Rudie said the reticence could come from an obligation delegates feel to not speak to something without prior backing from their congregation or council. “Unfortunately we’ve become more and more inclined to just reflect our churches and not do any damage,” Rudie said.

Rekman did say she appreciated classis praying together. Classis “invited groups at different tables to pray—ask God’s leading for the churches,” she said. “After, four or five people spoke to me to share how difficult it is in the U.S. churches to have these political tensions where you’re not sure if you can say things.”

A Christian Reformed couple in British Columbia pushed for denominational leaders to say something public and specific in defense of Canada through February and March. After being dissatisfied with two responses, they unexpectedly gathered 761 signatures to a March 10 letter requesting denominational leader action.

Bev and John Bandstra, who belong to Ladner CRC in Delta, B.C., first reached out to CRCNA General Secretary Zachary King on Feb. 10, and again four days later after they found a joint response from King, Postma, and chief operations officer, U.S. ministry, Dan DeKam to be insufficient.

“Shortly after that letter,” Bev Bandstra said, “the Pastoral Letter was published. As our March 10th letter states, we found that pastoral letter to be tepid.” She said, “It was John’s idea to send this (the March 10) letter out more broadly in order to get perhaps 50 to 100 people signing it with us. In our cover letter to possible signatories, we suggested they pass it on via email if they wanted to.” That suggestion connected, and they “were hugely surprised” to see the response.

“Many, many people said our letter represented their sentiments precisely,” Bandstra said, noting, “We heard cries of anguish from some American signers.” Twenty-eight Americans signed. Both Rekman and Zigterman of Classis Lake Superior received email copies of the Bandstra-initiated letter, but neither did anything with it.

Kristen deRoo VanderBerg, director of communications and marketing for the denomination, said on March 26 that leadership had received a few similar requests. “In addition to that shared letter, we have received communications from a handful of people requesting a more unequivocal statement condemning the words and actions of the U.S. administration,” she said. She also referenced a report to Synod 2024 that was requested to specify “how and when the CRCNA organization comments and/or makes statements on social, economic, or political matters that synod has not previously specifically addressed.” Synod 2023 urged “the CRCNA organization to exercise discretion when responding to social, economic, and/or political matters” (Acts of Synod 2024, p. 645). That report to synod did acknowledge the role the church has “to be prophetic and speak into current issues.” Bev Bandstra referenced this in one of her requests for leadership to act. She told The Banner, “We did not create an overture as was suggested by many. We wanted a statement calling for justice from Zach, Al, and Dan (King, Postma, and DeKam). You can see from our February 10th letter our reference to Synod 2024 (and) the allowance for CRCNA staff to provide a prophetic voice on behalf of the church. This was our intent in all three letters—to ask Zach, Al, and Dan to provide a prophetic voice on behalf of the church. We have little faith in Synod for speaking up for justice.”

The three denominational leaders shared a public response to the many signatories of the March 10 letter on March 27. It outlined actions taken and resources provided by different agencies of the CRCNA and expressed shared grief: “We recognize the anger and pain experienced by many people around the world at this time. We oppose the disrespectful rhetoric and harmful actions coming from President Trump and his administration, and we lament the effect that these things are now having on Canada and other countries.”

Bandstra said she and her husband appreciated those points and that they “realize leadership in the CRCNA is not an easy matter with such diverse political stances and varying notions of the call of seeking justice.” However, “We feel that leaders can speak on behalf of the whole church when injustice is so clear. It is not better to remain silent,” Bandstra said. After receiving the March 27 response Bandstra said she shared it by email to every signatory. Most were generally happy with it, she said. For the few who asked what their next step would be, Bandstra said, “We cannot see what more we can do.”

*Because of expressed concerns of potential travel or other restrictions if people or institutions are identified by name, The Banner has decided to publish this story without identifying the specific pastor or Canadian congregation.