Reformed denominations join to plant churches

After splitting more than 150 years ago, the Reformed Church in
America and the Christian Reformed Church are joining together to launch
a church planting project in four "test areas" across the United
States.

The project, dubbed Kingdom Enter­prise Zones, aims to
plant ten to 20 congregations in western Michigan, Florida, Arizona and
California. Both denominations are funding the plan with help from a
"significant" grant from the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation.

The
only real difference between the two churches is the CRC's greater
emphasis on Christian schools, said Wes­ley Granberg-Michaelson, the
outgoing general secretary for the RCA.

"This is not related to
church buildings but a gathering of a community of faith," said Julius
Medenblik, the president elect of the CRC's Calvin Theo­logical
Sem­inary. "The implication would be that this pilot program would
affect many more churches than the ones started."

Granberg-Michaelson
said traditional church steeples and wooden pews are not part of the
new church planting movement. "They're going to take on a variety of
forms because we're discovering the subcultures that are represented in
our society require a diversity of styles," he said. "The message of the
good news of the gospel is consistent, but the way in which it's
expressed in different subcultures will and should vary a great deal." 
—RNS