First PRC of Grand Rapids, MI and the Reformed Witness Hour Committee announce the messages scheduled for July 2017 on the RWH radio program.

Rev. Carl Haak, pastor of Georgetown PRC in Hudsonville, MI continues his four-month service for the RWH program, as he continues a series on marriage this month.

You are encouraged to listen to these important messages and to let others know about them too. Help spread the word about the Reformed Witness Hour, now in its 76th year of broadcasting the truths of God's sovereign, particular, efficacious grace!

Below are the messages scheduled for this month, also in flyer form (attached in pdf).

July 2, 2017 - Husband, Love Your Wives, Eph.5:25-27

July 9, 2017 - Husbands, Love with Purpose, Eph.5:27

July 16, 2017 - The Husband is the Head of His Wife, Eph.5:23

July 23, 2017 - To Provide and Protect, Eph.5:23

July 30, 2017 - A Wife's Submission to Her Husband, Eph.5:22-24

PRCA FOREIGN MISSIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES
JUNE 2017 NEWSLETTER

Rev. D. Holstege (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) Rev. D. Kleyn (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
PO Box 1173 ACPO, Antipolo City, Rizal 1870, Philippines

Dear Members of the Protestant Reformed Churches and our Sister Churches.

This newsletter will be a little different from the usual. Rather than writing a summary of the various areas of our work, I give you instead some snippets of news that my wife has recently written. Hope you enjoy these. Hope too that they give you a little window into our lives and into the work here.
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Sunday, March 12
Today we were in the PRC in Bulacan. I have to say, I really enjoyed being there again. It had been a long time. Rev. Kleyn preached the first service and Rev. Flores the second (in Tagalog). The singing was really enjoyable – they do a good job and already know the Psalter well. I enjoyed seeing how the little children had grown and it was great to catch up with everyone. We had to leave soon after the 2nd service as Rev. Kleyn needed to attend a Steering Committee meeting in Provident. We got to Provident before 2:00 and Rev. Holstege had just started the meeting with the other men. I drove Leah and the kids home. The guys came home later when their meeting was finished, and the Holsteges came over for supper.

Thursday, March 16
We had a young man drop by for books who had been here once before. He belongs to a Reformed Baptist church, is a student at a Bible College, and has bought the Confessions, Psalter, and some books on Calvinism. He read through all the Confessions and said he learned a lot about what Reformed is. This time he bought Reformed Worship, but wanted to talk about a-mil and pre-mil. He stayed for more than an hour and asked many questions.

Saturday, March 18
Rev. Kleyn had the twice-monthly 7M pastors’ classes this past Tuesday in Maranatha PRC in Valenzuela. On Wednesday evening we had supper at Holsteges. The Ibe family was also there, which was really nice. All the kids got on well together and had fun playing together. And of course, the adults enjoyed good fellowship, too.

Sunday, March 19
We were in Maranatha today. The group of 4 young adults from Victory Church (which is Pentecostal and Arminian) who now attend Maranatha has grown to 5. I think that makes a total of 7 (2 go to the Berean PRC). These people are all friends and were in what they call a cell group of about 12 of them in Victory Church. They still get together now and then as a group and have many discussions about what they are learning and what they believe. Who knows – there may be more in that group that come to our churches. The ones on Sunday asked Rev. Kleyn a lot of questions about sanctification. Some of them email questions to him every couple of days, too.

Tuesday, March 21
We were in Negros today (central Philippines) for the pastors’ classes in Sipalay. It was an interesting day again. The classes were well attended (15) and there were many questions and a lot of good discussion. It’s so rewarding to see some of the men (also some of the more recent ones) really starting to get it. Some of their comments were spot on. We had loads of luggage this time because we had two large book orders and a few smaller ones. We took along about 60 books. Now again I have orders for next time.

Friday, April 14
This past Wednesday through Friday was the youth camp for the three churches here. Rev. Holstege and Rev. Kleyn went, but Leah and I and the kids stayed home. There were three speeches at the camp by the local pastors. Rev. Holstege and Rev. Kleyn led devotions and helped with the games and transportation. The theme of the camp was “Love not the World” with speeches on Youth & Money, Youth & Technology, Youth & Society. They had discussion groups after each speech and Rev. Kleyn said he was impressed with the young people – some of them talked for 5 to 10 minutes about the speech and what was relevant to them. It was so nice that the youth from the different churches could interact with each other, get to know each other and grow together. They also had teams and many organized games. One of the games was that one of the members of your group had to recite Psalm 23 and
another member, Lord’s Day 1. The game Rev. Kleyn was in charge of was that they had to find peso coins in a bowl of flour. BUT, they had to find the coins with their mouths, and that after FIRST sticking their face in a bowl of water. Wow. A little gross, but pretty funny how they looked afterwards. The staff said they put Rev. Kleyn in charge of that one because then the kids wouldn’t dare argue or put up a fuss about it. Haha.

Sunday, April 30
Rev. Kleyn preached in Provident so Rev. Holstege could preach in the PRC in Bulacan. Rev. Holstege had not preached there before, so I went with them to show the way. Traffic was heavier than normal and we were running late by a good half hour. And to top it off, the road in front of Bulacan church was being torn up, so we couldn’t park there. Instead I dropped everyone off at the church and then took the car back about a kilometer to a member’s house for parking. We had to block traffic for a while by the church (almost caused gridlock I think) trying to turn the car around to go back. A member of the PRCB came along with me and we eventually got it parked, but then had to wait for a tricycle to take us back to church. Finally, at that point, my sense of humor took over, and I could get a little bit into the local mind-set of not worrying so much about time. ☺ We had lunch at church. The Holsteges and the visitors who were with us (from both Singapore and Northern Ireland) really enjoyed meeting all the people there. We left church about 2:00 and traffic was actually better on the way home, so we were home before 4:00. From the point of view of the catholic church, we had a beautiful Sunday. We had God’s people together from 4 closely related denominations and from at least 6 different nationalities. A pretty good representation of the universal church.

Saturday, May 20
Rev. Kleyn started teaching catechism in Provident again, after a summer break (he is still helping out a little in Provident so Rev. Holstege can have time for his Tagalog learning). Leah and I went and met the ladies and children once catechism was finished and we all headed to a pool near the church. The children had fun swimming and we ordered in Jollibee chicken meals for lunch. We stayed until about 2:00.

Sunday, May 21
Rev. Kleyn preached in Maranatha PRC today. We were supposed to have a Church Order class too (Rev. Kleyn is giving a brief overview of the Church Order for the congregation), but it was cancelled because of the heat. The men had a Consistory meeting after lunch, so I sat and chatted with three of the ladies. We had a nice visit. We talked about movies (started by the recent article in the Standard Bearer about the new Disney movie promoting the homosexual agenda). We talked about witnessing at work – how terrible the talk is at their work places and how many homosexuals they work with. And we talked a bit about Rev. Kleyn’s sermon on The Communion of Saints. The Consistory meeting didn’t last too long and we got home about 4:30.

Thursday, May 25
There is a neat story about the book, Saved By Grace. A man who attends Provident has had business meetings with a man from the Netherlands and gave him two copies of the book – one for him and one for his boss. The boss back in the Netherlands wrote back and said, “I am excited to receive such a book from a business friend, which is really uncommon! The title Saved by Grace is very close to my heart, and the faith in God through Jesus Christ, grounded on the Bible, is my daily source of life. Also, I fully underwrite the Calvinist doctrine, which is the closest to the Bible.” He attends a Reformed church in the Netherlands.

Saturday, May 27
Today we had a Reformed Discussion Table meeting in our home. There is a group of young adults (headed by some of the young adults who are members of the Berean PRC) who get together twice a month for doctrinal discussions. They asked Rev. Kleyn to speak on Common Grace today. So we had about a dozen young adults here. Rev. Kleyn taught catechism in Provident in the morning and then picked up a few of the young adults at the train station on the way home. The rest arrived over the next hour or so. Holsteges were here as well. They were all bombarding the men with questions about all kinds of things. Then at 3:00, Rev. Kleyn spoke for about an hour and that was followed by an hour of questions about the topic. I said to Rev. Kleyn, “I wonder how many questions you and Rev. Holstege were asked today?” Dozens probably. Leah helped with the food for supper. They all left at about 7:00.

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In conclusion, I’m thankful to report that both our families are doing well. The Holsteges are settling well into their life and work here and both we and the saints are very glad to have them here. We thank God for His daily care and blessings. We also thank you all for your continued support and prayers.

Until next time, in Christian love,
Rev. Daniel Kleyn

On this final Lord's Day of June 2017 (June 25) we give the following updates on news and information from PRC congregations and mission fields, as well as denominational activities:

CONGREGATIONAL NEWS:

• On June 18 the congregation of First PRC (Holland, MI) voted to call Rev. R. Kleyn (Spokane, WA).
  
• On June 18 Rev. C. Griess (Calvary PRC, Hull IA) DECLINED the call from Immanuel PRC in Lacombe, AB.
  
• This morning Rev. N. Decker (Trinity PRC) announced that he had DECLINED the call from Southwest PRC.
  
• This morning Rev. N. Decker also anounced that he has DECLINED the call from Zion PRC (Hudsonville/Jenison, MI).
• The consistory of Immanuel PRC (Lacombe, AB) has formed a new trio consisting of Revs. Allen Brummel (Heritage, Sioux Falls), Eric Guichelaar (Randolph), and Nathan Langerak (Crete, Illinois).
  The congregation plans to vote next Sunday after the afternoon service.

DENOMINATIONAL NEWS:

• The PRC Synod of 2017 concluded its sessions this past Wednesday evening, June 21, at Hudsonville PRC. Summary reports on each day may be found under the synod section of this website.
• Synod called Rev. D. Kuiper to serve our churches as professor of church history and NT studies, in replacement of Prof. R. Dykstra.  He plans to announce his answer by July 16.

MISSION NEWS:

• Byron Center PRC Council has made a new trio for home missionary. The trio consists of Revs. S. Key (Loveland, CO), R. Kleyn (Spokane, WA) and A. Spriensma (Byron Center).  The congregation plans to vote from this trio on July 2nd, after the evening service.
  
• On May 14 the congregation of Doon PRC voted to extend a call to Rev. H. Bleyenberg to serve as a third missionary to the Philippines. In order to properly consider this call, Rev. Bleyenberg and his wife visited the field for two weeks (June 9-22). This morning he announced he had been led to DECLINE this call.
  
• From the Maranatha PRC and Provident Christian Church bulletins for today we find the following notes concerning our missionaries and their labors today and in this coming week:
  
  • Rev. Holstege will preach for us twice today. Rev. Kleyn will be in Maranatha.
  • The Wednesday night Bible study will meet this week, June 28, at 7:30. Rev. Holstege will teach Heads III/IV, Articles 6ff of the Canons.
  • This coming Wednesday, June 28, one of the seminary students of the PRCA will be arriving in the Philippines, namely Seminarian Matt Kortus and his wife Sarah. Seminarian Kortus has just completed his 2nd year of seminary and will be doing a brief summer internship with Rev. Kleyn and Rev. Holstege. They plan to be here for approximately 8 weeks. We look forward to their arrival and to their time among us.

 Mrs. Stephanie Lanning (wife of Rev. A. Lanning, pastor of Covenant ERC in Singapore - blog is "Stories from Singapore") posted some recent pictures of the church camp there, and the seven American visitors they enjoyed.  We include one of those pictures here.

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A large crowd gathered for the discussion of several protests and appeals relating to the doctrine of salvation by grace alone in Christ alone.

The following report from day six of the PRC Synod 2017 (Wednesday, June 21, 2017) is furnished by Rev. C. Spronk, second clerk. We take this opportunity to thank him for the daily reports.

Early in today’s session Rev. Doug Kuiper read a letter acknowledging the call to serve as professor of Church History and New Testament Theology and expressed his intention to answer the call no later than July 16, 2017.

Synod then turned to the advice of Committee II regarding the report of the Psalter Revision Committee. Synod instructed the Contact Committee (which is overseeing the work of the Psalter Revision Committee on behalf of synod) to poll the consistories in order to gauge denominational support for the project of Psalter revision and report back to Synod 2018.

Synod treated an appeal that contended that a consistory violated a members right to protest and appeal according to Article 31 of the Church Order when it placed that member under discipline after he filed a protest. Synod rejected this appeal and ruled that Article 31 of the church order was not violated.

Synod voted for synodical committee members with the following results (3 year terms unless otherwise stipulated):

A. Catechism Book Committee: Rev. R. Barnhill, Bob Vermeer.
B. Contact Committee Prof. R. Dykstra, Rev. Eriks, Sid Miedema.
C. Domestic Mission Committee: Revs. A. Spriensma, R. Van Overloop, Doug Dykstra (Faith), Doug Pastoor.
D. Emeritus Committee: Chester Hunter (primus), Gaylen Te Slaa (secundus).
E. Foreign Mission Committee: Revs. C.Griess and D.Kuiper, Leon Uitenbogaard, Perry Van Egdom.
F. Student Aid Committee: Jeremy Meulenberg, Steve Bylsma.
G. Theological School Committee: Revs. R. Van Overloop and W. Langerak and Cal Kalsbeek, Greg Van Overloop.
H. Finance Committee: Revs. G. Eriks and C. Haak.
I. Board of Trustees: Rev. G. Eriks (3 year term), Nick Kleyn (3 year term), Rev. R. Smit (2 year term), Sid Miedema (2 year term).

Synod treated the advice of Committee IV regarding five protests. This committee started last week by bringing recommendations regarding the legality of six protests. One protest was declared illegal on the ground that the protestant is not a member of the PRCA. So today Committee IV brought advice about the substance of the other five protests.

All of the protests had to do with decisions of synod 2016 regarding a sermon on John 14:6. Synod 2016 decided not to sustain an appeal that contended that the sermon in question teaches a conditional covenant. Synod 2017 sustained three protests against that decision declaring that the sermon did make “our good works part of the “way” of the text.” Synod also declared that another protest did not need to be treated since it asked for a clarification of a decision that synod has now overturned. Synod also rejected the protest of the consistory (of the pastor who preached the sermon) that defended the sermon on John 14:6. Synod made some decisions to try to help the consistory and the pastor work through and implement these decisions, and appointed a committee to help them in all matters pertaining to this case.

Synod 2016 also took a decision not to sustain the decisions of a consistory and Classis East to charge a man with antinomianism. Synod 2017 decided not to sustain a protest against that decision today. However, it did note that some of the statements made by the individual in question “taken at face value, are contrary to Scripture and the Reformed Confessions.”

Sometime around 8:00 p.m. the minutes of the day were read and approved. The Vice-President, Rev. Bruinsma thanked Rev. Key for his capable leadership as chairman of Synod 2017. Rev. Key thanked the delegates for their cooperation. Prof. Russell Dykstra Closed with prayer.

Synod 2017 is adjourned.

The following report from day five of the PRC Synod 2017 (Monday, June 19, 2017) is furnished by Rev. C. Spronk, second clerk.

Synod began the day by treating the recommendations of Committee II regarding an appeal against the decision of Classis East to uphold a consistory’s decision to grant permission to members of the BERG (Confessing Protestant-Reformed Congregation of Giessen, Germany) to partake of the Lord’s Supper. Synod rejected this appeal.

The Catechism Book Committee (CBC) reported that it polled the consistories of our churches with regard to suggested improvements in the catechism books and workbooks used for the Bible History and Heidelberg Catechism classes. The CBC plans to evaluate the results of the poll and bring appropriate recommendations to Synod 2018. Synod approved the actions of the CBC.

The Contact Committee reported good news today about a potential seminary student, Dr. Ronald Carey. Dr. Carey is a physician in Vellore, India. Georgetown PRC is working with the group to which Dr. Carey belongs and recommends him for seminary. He, his wife, and their one child plan to move to the US in the fall of 2017. The Theological School Committee is in the process of admitting Dr. Carey as a special student. Because of Dr. Carey’s need for support synod decided to ask the congregations to take three collections in 2018 for the Foreign Student Assistance Fund.

Synod approved of the work of the synodical deputies from Classis West in their concurring with the decision of Classis East to approve of the organization of Zion PRC.

The following motions where moved, supported, and carried regarding our mission work in the Philippines:

1. That synod approve the work performed by Doon PRC’s Council and the FMC in the Philippines on behalf of the churches.
2. That synod express its appreciation to Doon PRC for their faithful oversight of the mission work in the Philippines.
3. That synod express its gratitude to Rev. and Mrs. Holstege and to Rev. and Mrs. Kleyn for their faithful service in the cause of the mission work in the Philippines.
4. That synod adopt a 2018 budget of $457,000 for the mission work in the Philippines (note: This amount is for three missionaries).
5. That synod grant financial assistance to the PRCP Classis in the amount of P671,952.44 (about $13,439) for 2018 to be taken from the FMC Special Mission Fund.

The FMC reported that it is working closely with Georgetown PRC in evaluating the work in India. The India Committee of the FMC is growing in its conviction that the time to call missionaries to India might be sooner rather than later. Another reason to pray that God will
provide us with more ministers!

Synod took a decision to request that our congregations designate four offerings for foreign missions and one offering for the Philippine book fund in 2018.

This afternoon synod began by treating the recommendations of Committee II regarding the Psalter Revision Committee. Synod declared that the proposed revisions of Psalms 73- 89 are in harmony with the principles of the text, music, and format approved in 2016. This decision is not a final approval of the section but is simply a statement that synod judges that the committee has faithfully followed the adopted principles. Synod also approved the distribution of Psalms 73-79 to the congregations for usage and feedback. Hopefully these booklets will be available in your church soon. Until then you can find the revisions at psalter.net. Committee Two made one more motion regarding Psalter revision that was recommitted for reformulation. More on that another day.

Synod welcomed Revs. Carl Haak and Andy Lanning to its session today. Rev. Haak did not attend the sessions of synod last week to attend to a pastoral need in the congregation he serves. Rev. Bill Langerak filled in for him, and we are thankful for his willing service to synod last week. Rev. Lanning, pastor of the Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church of Singapore, was not able to attend last week’s sessions because he was a speaker at the CERC’s church camp. He arrived today in time for the afternoon session of Synod.

Finally, synod took a decision to recess until Wednesday in order to give Committee IV more time to formulate its advice regarding six protests.

On this Lord's Day dated June 18, 2017 we may report on the following news and information from PRC congregations and mission fields:

CONGREGATIONAL NEWS:

• First PRC (Holland, MI) will call today from a trio of Rev. R. Kleyn (Spokane, WA), Rev. J. Mahtani (Cornerstone PRC), and Rev. J. Marcus (First PRC, Edmonton). *UPDATE: The congregation voted to call Rev. R. Kleyn.
  
• Rev. N. Decker (Trinity PRC) is considering the call from Southwest PRC (received May 21). He plans to answer it by June 25.
  
• Rev. C. Griess (Calvary PRC, Hull IA) is considering the call from Immanuel PRC in Lacombe, AB (received May 28). *UPDATE: Rev. C. Griess informed Immanuel PRC on June 18 that he declined her call.
  
• On June 11 the congregation of Zion PRC (Hudsonville/Jenison, MI) voted to extend a call to Rev. N. Decker to serve as her first pastor.
  

DENOMINATIONAL NEWS

• The PRC Synod of 2017 continues its sessions this week, beginning tomorrow (June 19) at 8 am in Hudsonville PRC. You may find the daily reports in this section of the news or here.
• Continue to remember the synodical delegates in your prayers as they deal with all the other matters brought before them. May God grant insight and wisdom in the deliberations so that the decisions  edify the church and glorify God.

MISSION NEWS:

• On May 28 Rev. C. Haak declined the call from Byron Center PRC to serve as a home missionary. As yet, Byron Center has not formed a new trio.
  
• On May 14 the congregation of Doon PRC voted to extend a call to Rev. H. Bleyenberg to serve as a third missionary to the Philippines. In order to properly consider this call, Rev. Bleyenberg and his wife are currently visiting the field for two weeks (June 9-22). We pray God's blessing on them as they consider this special call (for more on this, see below).
  
• From the Provident Christian Church for today we find the following notes concerning our missionaries and their labors today and in this coming week:
  • Rev. Holstege will preach for us twice today and next Sunday, June 25, Lord willing. Revs. Kleyn and Bleyenberg will be in Bulacan today.
  • The Wednesday night Bible study will meet this week, June 21, at 7:30. Rev. Holstege will begin teaching at Heads III/IV, Article 4 of the Canons.
  • Rev. Heath Bleyenberg (pastor of Providence PRC) and his wife Deb will accompany Revs. Kleyn and Holstege to Negros Occidental this Monday-Tuesday. Then the Bleyenbergs will fly home on Thursday. Let us pray that the Lord Jesus will make known His will to them regarding the call to be a third missionary here in the Philippines.

With the Kleyns' and Bleyenbergs in Bulacan today, we include below a picture of the Bulacan congregation taken last year at the time of the Doon PRC/FMC delegation visit.

And recently Mrs. Stephanie Lanning (wife of Rev. A. Lanning, pastor of Covenant ERC in Singapore - blog is "Stories from Singapore") posted some recent pictures of a wedding there, as well as of the last delegation to Kolkata, India (April 2017). We include one of the latter pictures here - from the church camp that was held.

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Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
Ballymena, NI
13 June, 2017

Dear saints in the Protestant Reformed Churches,

Two Lectures

“Are Unbelievers in God’s Image?” was the title of a speech in the CPRC (12 May). This is a crucial subject, especially in our day, for the false view is being pedaled to support homosexuality, women in church office, universal grace, etc.

What is the nature of the imago dei? How does Scripture define it (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10)? What is the relation between the image, the likeness and the glory of God? What do Martin Luther and the Reformed confessions teach? Did you realize that the claim that unbelievers share the divine image means that believers have two images of God and already had one before their conversion?

A good number were in attendance, with others watching live online. Both the speech (with slides) and the question session afterwards are online in video (www. youtube.com/watch?v=t73YQhEzKt0). A write-up of the lecture is being published in several articles in Salt Shakers, the magazine of the young people in the Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church (CERC) in Singapore (www.cprf.co.uk/articles/ unbelieversinimage.html).

Last week, Mary and I were in South Wales for a lecture on “N. T. Wright, Justification and the Reformation” (8 June). Wright is a former Anglican Bishop of Durham (#4 in the Church of England) and the most influential spokesman for the New Perspective(s) on Paul (NPP) with its radical redefinition of justification, the key doctrine which launched the Reformation half a millennium ago.

It was good for me to have an occasion to read more about Wright and the NPP, for they are influencing evangelicals in the UK and around the world, as well as the Federal Vision, especially in North America. As one considers these heretical movements, the truth of the biblical and Reformed faith stands out more sharply and strongly than ever before. Prof. Engelsma’s latest RFPA book, The Gospel Truth of Justification, is a superb contemporary work on this glorious doctrine. It is also refreshing because so many of the critiques of Wright and the NPP are weak and half-hearted.

This speech was our first meeting at our new venue in South Wales. Some days after we booked the hall, the British Prime Minis-ter arranged the General Election for the same date. On the day itself, we discovered that Margam Community Centre was also a polling station!

However, our room was in a different part of the building, so that was not a problem. Whereas the turnout of the UK electorate was high (68.7%), sadly the date clash did not help the turnout at our Reformed lecture. A lot more will be reached by the audio (www.cprc.co.uk/ntwrightjustification. mp3) and video (www.youtube.com/user/ CPRCNI) though.

Church Activities

With the end of the Monday night catechism and Wednesday night Belgic Confession classes for the season, our annual family visitation began. This year our text was Galatians 6. All but 3 of the 25 visits have been completed. It has been an encouraging and edifying time.

Our Tuesday morning class continues through the summer. We are presently studying the division of the promised land in the second half of Joshua, material not often covered but instructive chapters of God's Word!

After 9 sermons on “The Conclusion to Christ’s Farewell Discourse” (John 16), we have now begun a series on “The Healing of the Lame Beggar” (Acts 3-4). There is a lot to be learned here regarding miraculous healings (as opposed to those of Charismaticism and Romanism), evangelism, how the apostles interpreted Old Testament predictive prophecy and the periods in which it is (and is not!) fulfilled, defending the faith, persecution, etc.

Others

Besides the generous giving of our members, we have had sizable donations from Scotland, USA, England, and Australia. The CPRC has been able to increase its giving to the 2018 budget of the Limerick Reformed Fellowship (LRF). Our thanks to you in the PRC for helping us financially with this mission work.

The CPRC Bookstore had a lot of sales in May. However, our translation work seems to be slowing down of late (sadly!). The last two months saw the addition of 7 Hungarian, 1 Czech, and 1 Portuguese (www.cprf.co.uk/languages.htm).

A previous bimonthly letter mentioned that Hungarian subtitles were added to a CPRC sermon on “The Sovereignty of God.” Tibor, the translator, reports that this was watched by three classes of students in a Roman Catholic school in Hungary: “There was a girl in the first group who stated that the Bible does not teach predestination but it is a human invention. The second group was silent because the students were astonished. The third group said that it was a good sermon.... [Since even] the 'Reformed' pastors in this city are Arminians, it is possible that these students heard/read their first real Reformed sermon in their life.”

Elder Brian Crossett is the CPRC delegate to the PRC Synod in Hudsonville. Possibly this year will see more of our members in the US than ever before. Marco Barone has already been; Jennifer Hanko is presently there; later Philip and Susan Hall and family, Rev. McGeown (as well as his sister, Shelley, and her family), David, Kristin, and Sophie Crossett, and Mary and I will all cross the Atlantic, D.V. Some of these saints will make the trip more than once. All enjoy worshiping with and visiting fellow saints and family in the PRC.

In our trip (17 July – 14 August), I am to preach in 2 churches in Washington (Spokane and Lynden), 2 churches in Alberta (Edmonton and Lacombe), and 2 churches in Michigan (Providence and Hudsonville). It will be good to be back with members of our sister churches in North America.

May the Lord be with you all!

In Christ,
Rev. & Mary Stewart

The following report from day four of the PRC Synod 2017 is furnished by Rev. C. Spronk, second clerk.

SISTER-CHURCH RELATIONSHIP APPROVED!
The highlight of today’s work was the approval of a sister-church relationship between the Protestant Reformed Churches in America and the Protestant Reformed Churches in the Philippines! We give thanks to God for the mutual love that our denominations have for the
truth of God as confessed in our churches. We look forward to the rich blessings we will enjoy in a our mutual encouragement and oversight of each other.

Synod began the day considering the report of the Student Aid Committee. The committee reports that the student assistance fund has a balance of $163,649.29. Synod approved the recommendation to request each congregation take one collection for this fund.

Synod then turned to the report of the Contact Committee (CC). We give thanks to God for all the opportunities that He has given our denomination to interact with other churches through the CC. Synod approved the CC’s work with the following congregations and denominations:

• The Covenant Evangelical Church in Singapore
• The Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Australia
• The Covenant Protestant Reformed Church in Northern Ireland
• The Bekennende Evangelisch-Reformierte Gemeinde of Giessen, Germany
• The Protestant Reformed Churches in the Philippines
• The Korean Presbyterian Church (Koshin)
• Gereformeerde Kerke in Nord Afrika (a newly formed denomination consisting of five
congregations that left the GKSA).
• There are also some individuals with whom the CC has contact in South Africa.

Last year’s synod adopted a policy for the CC to use in evaluating the possibility of participating in or joining ecumenical councils. The CC applied this policy to the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC) and recommended that our denomination not apply for membership in this council. Synod approved this recommendation and mandated that the CC send observers to the November 2017 meeting of NAPARC with the following mandate:

• Express thanks for the invitation and greetings from the PRCA.
• Give a brief introduction of the PRCA.
• Convey synod’s decision that we will not be applying for membership in NAPARC at this time. The grounds for not applying for membership are:

a. Although NAPARC shows a level of commitment to the confessions, which is evident from their actions of removing the Christian Reformed Church, yet the council does not manifest a sufficient commitment to the confessions. This is evident from their allowance of member denominations who have exonerated those who embrace the teaching of the Federal Vision and their allowance as member denominations those who teach a doctrine of creation that does not interpret literally the Genesis creation account.
b.Although NAPARC does address some of the matters that divide its member denominations, according to our observers, there has been little to no discussion during plenary sessions of the threat of the teachings of Federal Vision, especially in the denominations in which officebearers have been accused of teaching this heresy.

We are thankful to God for all of the people who serve our denomination. Today Synod expressed its appreciation for the work of:

•The Stated Clerk, Rev. Ron Van Overloop
• The Assistant Stated Clerk, Don Doezema
• The Denominational Treasurer, Don Offringa
• The Denominational Bookkeeper, Pamela Bos
• The Board of Trustees

Synod took a decision to reject a protest against the decision of Synod 2016 to “Instruct the [Contact Committee] and its Psalter Revision Committee to continue their participation in the interdenominational project of Psalter revision” (Acts of Synod 2016, Article 49, B, 3, p. 61-62). This does not conclude synod’s treatment of Psalter Revision. Sometime next week synod will treat the report of the Psalter Revision Committee which is working under the auspices of our Contact Committee.

Synod approved the emeritation request of Rev. Tom Miersma. The chairman noted that Rev. Miersma spent many years serving as a missionary for our denomination as well as a pastor in our churches in Classis West.

Subsidy requests were approved in the amount of $350,055. The Denominational Budget for 2018 was approved in the amount of $2,112,432. Due to the wise management of funds over the past several years the per-family synodical assessment was able to be reduced by $40 so that the assessment of each family will be $775 in 2018.

During the Contact Committee Report regarding the Covenant Protestant Reformed Church of Northern Ireland (CPRCNI) synod received a report from the CPRCNI’s Elder Brian Crossett. Brother Crosset reported on the spiritual health of the congregation in Ballymena and of the mission group in Limerick, Ireland. At the end of our session today synod bid farewell to brother Crossett, wishing him safe travels home and God’s blessings on the saints in Northern Ireland and Ireland. Brother Crossett also told the joke of the day: “There are three kinds of people: people who can count, and people who can’t.” This helped get the otherwise sober delegates to smile during the synodical photo session.

Synod accepted the invitation of Byron Center PRC to host Synod 2018 that is to convene on June 12 at 8:00 AM.

Synod 2017 will not meet in session tomorrow [Saturday]. But you can be sure that some of the committees of pre-advice will be working away to finish their advice. Synod will reconvene as a body Monday morning at 8:00 AM.

Have a blessed weekend and a blessed Lord’s Day!

Below are pictures of this year's synodical officers and committees:

Officers: Rev. C. Spronk, 1st clerk; Rev. D. Kuiper, 1st clerk; Rev. S. Key, President; Rev. W. Bruinsma, Vice-president

 
Committee 1 - Rev. R. Van Overloop, Elder Bob Brands, Elder Sid Miedema, Rev. J. Laning, Prof. B. Gritters

 
Committee 2 - Rev. W. Bruinsma, Rev. R. Kleyn, Elder Al Muerer, Elder Pete Adams, Prof. R. Cammenga

 
Committee 3 - Elder John Van Baren, Rev. C. Spronk, Rev. B. Huizinga, Elder Henry Ferguson

Committee 4 - Elder Skip Hunter, Rev. Doug Kuiper, Rev. Gary Erils, Elder James Lanting, Prof. R. Dykstra

Committee 5 - Rev. S. Key, Elder Gary Boverhof, Rev. W. Langerak, Elder K. Bruinsma