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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 , 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

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