Inter-Church Relations
By Rev. Benjamin Glaser
he Synod’s Inter-Church committee is, in many ways, the public relations arm of the ARP. It is our job to maintain and grow contacts with other like-mind- ed confessionally Reformed denominations both domestically in the United States and Canada as well as internationally with people on every continent outside (who knows about the future) of Antarctica. What that means is that the men on our team take turns attending the summer assemblies of these churches as well as con- ferences where opportunities abound to hear about how the Lord is working in and through these faithful saints to bring sinners to Christ. There is also plenty of time devoted to prayer and fellowship to grow the bonds that will be perfected in the day to come when Jesus brings us all together as one. You can learn quite a lot when you sit down at a meal with your brothers. As chairman of ICRC for the ARP, I have had the privilege and the honor, along with many others, to attend multiple events in the past six months representing our denomination in places as varied as Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Windhoek. Each is unique in its own way. That has given me much time and space to be humbled, encouraged, and reminded that the world is at the same time a lot bigger than we can comprehend and yet smaller than we sometimes think. It is a testimony to our unity in our Redeemer that our brothers in South Korea or the Netherlands deal with some of the same problems regarding the encroaching national promotion of sexual sin, congregational disharmony, and ministerial laziness. That may seem strange to describe “unity”; however, it is a reminder that sinners are the same everywhere, and the answer to the problem is the same regardless of your physical location on the planet. It can be a common plea from some that cultural conditions should change how the people of God go about teaching the Bible, especially when it comes to the Commandments and the law generally. In this gentle token of the unanimity of the human race in the fall of Adam, there is a comforting testimony to the covenantal blessing of preaching the whole Christ for the need we all have for the gospel mes- sage. That’s one of the things I took away from the time spent with these brothers over the summer and this Autumn. There is a lot more we have in common than what may separate us when it comes to the lack of sweet tea in Namibia or seasoning in the food of Pennsylvania. Our God is much bigger than our parochial concerns. What we may consider to be important is seen to be not so much. It turns out the lack of grits didn’t mean the world ended. We can survive when the things we take for The two prominent examples of the comity available this year have been the an- nual meeting of NAPARC (North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council)
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and the quadrennial ICRC (Internation- al Conference of Reformed Churches) session which met October 12-18 in Windhoek, Namibia. As noted, I was blessed to be present for both. While there is some overlap in what takes place, each meeting is different in scope and intention. NAPARC is primarily to see how we can organically work to- - ence to promote both the church and the work of local ministry. For instance, the ARP Inter-Church committee met with the RPCNA, URC, and Canadian Reformed Churches in “breakouts” where we saw places where we could grow closer together. Again it cannot be said too much. While our ways of doing things may be different and sometimes seem strange; the warmth of brothers in Christ seeking the same goal gives joy to the heart. An example of this happening in NAPARC is with the CanRC, a joint church plant that is ongoing in Windsor, Ontario, on the Canadian side of De- troit. We all know about the publishing work the RPCNA have done for us in the production of the blue ARP Psalter. I know I can speak for Rev. Seth Yi and Rev. Dr. William Vandoodewaard when I say this meeting was a blessing for the ARP and each one of us individually. When it comes to the time, former moderator Rev. Patrick Malphrus, World Witness Director Alex Pettett, and I spent in Namibia for ICRC all the volumes of the world would not be enough to contain the descriptions of the experiences we were blessed to have in that country. I want to thank the ARP Synod for providing us with the means and opportunity to make that trip. The nation and her people are wonderful and charming. The local folks we met who were not a part of the conference in many ways showed us even more than the ministers and elders we spent two weeks with. Not only seeing the crushing poverty but also the struggles of the Reformed Churches of Namibia in person were sobering. Again, broad- ening one’s horizons makes the party spirit that can be a part of the American church even more embarrassing than it in the small pond of the ARP worth the trouble they cause? When you hear the suffering of brothers in South Sudan when it comes to open warfare (both spiritual and militarily), it makes it seem silly, at best. Yet, as I said above, it was heartening to ironically have the same conversations I have about cattle
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
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