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The Christian
Reformed Church is a denomination that has about 300,000 members in 1,000
congregations across the United States and Canada.
We
call ourselves:
Christian
because
we belong to Jesus Christ and want to be his followers. We recognize as
fellow-Christians all people who accept the teachings of the Bible as
summarized in the Apostle’s Creed.
Reformed
because
we're part of that historic branch of the Christian church that follows the
teachings of 16th-century reformer John Calvin, who struggled to return
Christianity to its biblical roots.
Church
because
God has called us to be a fellowship of his people in the world.
We
often call ourselves "the CRC" for
short.
Our Emblem
Our
emblem is the cross in a triangle. The triangle represents the Trinity, our
belief in the one God we know as three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The cross symbolizes our belief in Jesus Christ's sacrificial death for our
salvation.
Woodlawn
CRC and You
What
is this church we call Christian Reformed?
1.
We are trying to be an inclusive church.
We welcome and embrace people of different gifts, races, tongues, and
traditions as members of our congregations. We want to reflect the church of
Revelation 7:9-10, a church in which "there were so many people that no one
could count them.
2.
We are a family-centered church.
We believe in the importance of the family unit. We encourage worship as
families, and we believe that the church is the family of God, a spiritual
family. We are a family made up of many different people. Some are old, some
are young, some are single, some are married, some are men, and some are women.
We come together as natural families and as singles to form this spiritual
family of God.
Since
we are a family, children are important to us. In the sacrament of baptism, we
as Christian parents present our children to God. We recognize that our
children are a part of God's covenant family.
When
we promise at our children's baptisms to raise them in the faith, we are not
alone. The other members of our church family also take a vow, promising to
help instruct our children in the Christian faith and to encourage their
development as believers.
Why
should I become a member?
God
wants you - and all Christians - to become part of a local church. We in the
CRC believe that it is difficult to live as a Christian outside of a local body
of believers. Apart from the church we can be easily turned aside by false
teachers or discouraged when things go wrong. In the local church, we have
brothers and sisters who care about us. They become our spiritual family to
comfort us, to laugh with us, to worship and to pray with us.
God
also wants you to serve the church with the gifts you have been given. The
Bible tells us "Christ gave gifts to prepare God's holy people for the work of
serving. He gave those gifts to make the body of Christ stronger." (Eph.
4:12b). You may be called to be an elder or a deacon or a church schoolteacher
or to serve in the church's evangelism program. God may even be calling you to
volunteer for short-term work on a mission field or to become a trained
minister.
Whatever
you do, God has a place for you in the church. The important thing is to pray
that God will show you what to do-and then to willingly respond to God's call.
3.
The Word of God is central to our worship.
For this reason the focal point in our churches is the open Bible on the
pulpit, and the focal point in our worship together is the sermon. The sermon
is an exposition, or careful explanation, of God's Word. Because we think it is
important to hear God's Word preached faithfully and in all of its fullness,
the CRC carefully educates and screens the ministers we call to our pulpits.
4.
The songs and hymns we sing are based on Scripture.
The Word is so important to us that even the texts of the hymns we sing must be
in agreement with Scripture.
5.
We believe that all of life is governed by our faith.
Our faith helps us make the important decisions of life not only on Sunday but
every day of the week. Things like whom we marry, for whom we vote, how we do
our work, how we study this world in our schools-all of these things should be
influenced by our faith and understanding of God's Word. The apostle Paul says
it beautifully:
"Continue
to think about the things that are good and worthy of praise. Think about the
things that are true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and
respected. And do what you learned and received from me. Do what I told you and
what you saw me do. And the God who gives peace will be with you" (Phil.
4:8-9b).
6.
We believe in the priesthood of all believers.
By that we mean that all Christians are God's servants, wherever God has placed
them. Whether we work in the classroom, the factory, the farm, or the church,
whether we attend school or stay at home, we use the gifts of ministry that God
has given us for the good of the church. "But you are a chosen people. You are
the King's priests. You are a holy nation. You are a nation that belongs to God
alone. God chose you to tell about the wonderful things he has done. He called
you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Pet. 2:9b).
7.
We have a strong commitment to Christian education.
Because of our concern for family and our belief that our faith is important in
all areas of our lives, we offer many programs to help families grow
spiritually. We want all members to be informed Christians, who can read the
Bible intelligently and act on its teachings.
We
do this through the local church, in our church school classes and youth
groups. We promote Christian schools and colleges so that parents have the
opportunity of providing our children and young people with a Christian
education, and we support a seminary for the training of our ministers.
For
more information, please visit the CRC website (www.crcna.org)
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