The Christian Reformed Church in Canada

Ladner Christian Reformed Church is part of the denomination called The Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA). The Canadian part of the CRCNA has about 24% of the total membership of the denomination, and 29% of the number of churches.

The Canadian portion of the CRCNA is distinctive in many ways:

History

Life in Europe after WWII had the effect of spurring a new immigration of Dutch Calvinists, mostly to Canada. While CRC churches had been planted decades earlier in places like Nobleford and Edmonton, Alberta, new churches sprang up overnight in Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia.

The large immigration of Dutch Calvinists to Canada in the early 1950s brought some significant culture clash into the CRC. While the Dutch Canadians shared a commitment to the Reformed confessions, they differed from their American cousins in life experience, mindset, and moral and religious values. Dutch Canadians tended to focus their spiritual energies on working out the social ramifications of the gospel, not on personal piety.

These new immigrants arriving in Canada in the mid 20th century were shaped largely by the great Dutch theologian and statesman, Dr. Abraham Kuyper. Kuyper's great contribution to the Christian Reformed Church was a more outward-looking faith. While still solidly grounded in Scripture and the confessions, Kuyper's vision was to claim Christ's lordship over all of life. Believers were not only called to maintain holy lives in relation to God and each other, they were also called to extend God's kingdom into the society in which they lived. Believers were to look beyond their personal piety to take on the world for Christ - using Christian schools, institutions, and organizations to make God's redemptive and recreating work a reality in the marketplace, city hall, and factory.

World and Life View

The CRCNA in Canada began with this robust perspective championed by Abraham Kuyper who said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”

Newly immigrated Christian Reformed Church members banded together to promptly set up Christian schools in communities where there was a Christian Reformed Church, a Christian labour organization (CLAC), The Institute for Christian Studies  (ICS), Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ) and eventually two universities (Kings and Redeemer).

Ministries unique to the Canadian CRC

  • Centre for Public Dialogue promotes a positive voice of Christian faith in Canadian public life that seeks justice, hope, and reconciliation in political dialogue, and active citizenship. 

  • Diaconal Ministries Canada partners with deacons, churches, and ministries to demonstrate God’s love in the community.  They have great resources and training opportunities for Canadian deacons.  They are not funded by ministry shares.

  • The Indigenous Ministry is made up of a national committee (Canadian Indigenous Ministry Committee), three Urban Indigenous Ministries, and a Senior Leader for Indigenous Justice and Reconciliation, each using their strengths to support healing and reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous people in Canada.

  • Intercultural Ministries is made up of a national committee and a Senior Leader of Intercultural Ministry.  Each uses their gifts and strengths to help the church to become a place of belonging for people of all backgrounds.

Canadian Foodgrains Bank

Thirty years ago, World Renew was one of five founding members of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Today, this organization is comprised of 15 member organizations who are all committed to providing a Christian response to global hunger. On behalf of its members, Foodgrains Bank collects grain and cash donations, provides funds and expert advice for projects, and manages the purchase and shipment of food aid.