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A STRATEGY FOR COVENANTAL SPIRITUAL FORMATION AT COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH FRANKFORD, ONTARIO
A MINISTRY FOCUS PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY
BY
MICHAEL BOOTSMA NOVEMBER 2008
ABSTRACT
A Strategy for Covenantal Spiritual Formation at Community Christian Reformed Church Frankford, Ontario Michael Bootsma Doctor of Ministry 2008 School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary
Some years ago Community Christian Reformed Church, Frankford (Community
Church) adopted the phrase: “Building a Community of Believers Called by God for
Works of Service” as its guiding principle. The church believes that a significant part of its purpose is to be an active provider of help and hope in its community. In order to accomplish this, the congregation must be formed as a conduit of God’s transformative grace. To assist the church to achieve this goal, this ministry focus paper will develop a strategy for spiritual formation for Community Church rooted in reformed covenantal theology by evaluating historic and emerging understandings and practices of spiritual formation.
This paper begins by exploring the context of Community Church. It gives a brief overview of the congregation’s history and how it dealt with issues of spiritual formation.
This section also gives a description of Frankford, its relevant history and some understanding of how Community Church has been perceived by non-members.
Next, this paper explores covenant theology, looking for insights for spiritual formation. It examines the theology and practices of the various Reformed traditions, which were merged into the CRC. This part of the paper also explores the impact World
War II and immigration had on the spiritual formation of Dutch immigrants to Canada.
This historical background provides insights for a current strategy for spiritual formation. Based on these explorations this paper offers a strategy for spiritual formation,
which is rooted in Dutch Reformed theology and practice. Both historic and emerging
spiritual practices and beliefs are explored. It argues that the historic practices should not be abandoned but should be properly understood and modified for the current context.
The strategy takes into account the short but volatile history of the CRC in Canada in the
hope that Community Church can move into a future more productive for the Kingdom of
God.
Theological Mentor: Kurt Fredrickson, DMin
Words: 333
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ……………………………………………………………… vi
INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………………… 1
Chapter
1. COMMUNITY CHURCH AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD …………………… 6
A Brief History of Community Church
Spiritual Formation at Community Church
The Frankford Community
The Village of Frankford and Community Church
Conclusion
2. COVENANT THEOLOGY AND SPIRITUAL FORMATION ……………………………………..…………….. 22
Introduction
God’s Covenant with Humanity
Implications for Spiritual Formation
3. ASSESSING SPIRITUAL FORMATION IN THE CANADIAN CRC …………………………………………………… 57
What Is Spiritual Formation
Spiritual Formation in the CRC
Family Visiting
A Church Born Out of Immigration
Conclusion
iii 4. RENEWING THE HISTORIC ELEMENTS OF CRC SPIRITUAL FORMATION …………………………………………………… 81
Introduction
The Bible
Prayer
Communal Worship
Sabbath Keeping
Conclusion
5. EMERGING ELEMENTS OF CRC SPIRITUALITY………………………... 108
Service
Sacrifice
Fasting
Submission
Study
Frugality
Fellowship
Conclusion to the Disciplines
6. THE CONTEXTS FOR SPIRITUAL FORMATION ………………………... 131
The Family as the Primary Formation Unit
The Church
The Workplace as the Test Place for Authenticity
Implementation
iv CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………………………. 153
BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………………….. 158
v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It is with deep gratitude that I acknowledge the many people who assisted with this project. First of all, I thank the council and members of the Blenheim Christian
Reformed Church who gave me time and money to begin the DMin program at Fuller eight years ago. I also thank the council and people of the Community Christian
Reformed Church in Frankford who were willing to extend a call to me even though they knew the cost this program would have on my time and their money. I thank them for standing by me to the end of this work. The council was gracious enough to grant me extra time, especially for the last plunge.
The circle of interest in this project has continued to grow over the past year. With thankfulness I acknowledge everyone close by and far away who took the time to read through the manuscript and offer constructive feedback. Your editorial and theological comments have great improved the value of this project.
I am deeply grateful to Joshua, Andrew, James, and Anna, our four children, who stayed with me through this long process. Their continued questioning, “How’s your paper going, Dad?” kept me motivated to get through. I am sorry that sometimes this work kept me from spending time with you.
vi Finally, to my dear wife, Helena, who many years ago foresaw that this would be
a valuable use of my time and energy, I express my heartfelt thanks for your continued love and encouragement.
May God, by his gracious love, draw us all deeper into covenant fellowship with himself.
vii
INTRODUCTION
The desire to write this paper has grown over fifteen years of pastoring in two
Christian Reformed congregations1 in Ontario, Canada. This desire stems from four
observations rooted in these congregations and confirmed by exposure to many others. In response to these observations, this paper is written as an act of love for this part of God’s church. This is an effort to encourage at least one congregation, Community CRC of
Frankford,2 to enter more deeply into the Kingdom of God.
The first observation comes from the results provided by Natural Church
Development3 surveys among CR congregations. Thirty-seven percent of the 117 churches who took the survey in the past decade found “passionate spirituality” to be
their lowest area. However, among healthy4 congregations, the percentage stands at 45.
At a minimum, these surveys suggest that significant work needs to be done in this area
of the church’s life.
1 The initials CR refer to Christian Reformed and CRC to the Christian Reformed Church as a denomination.
2 This congregation will be called Community Church.
3 For more information on Natural Church Development (NCD) see Christian Schwarz, Natural Church Development (British Columbia: The International Centre for Leadership Development and Evangelism, 1996). NCD analyses congregations in eight areas: empowering leadership, gift-oriented ministry, passionate spirituality, functiona