Merge!

From Jeff Munroe

I believe the Christian Reformed Church in North America and the Reformed Church in America should merge.  Please tell me why they shouldn’t.  I mean that literally.  Please respond to this blog and tell me why they shouldn’t.

This is not a new conviction of mine.  I remember sitting in a seminary class almost thirty years ago discussing Paul’s great calls for unity in I Corinthians and the professor passionately lamenting the sinful nature of the fractures in the body of Christ.  Naïve kid that I was, I raised my hand and asked, “Why don’t the RCA and CRC merge?”  I remember his answer clearly.  The first reason was women’s ordination.  In the intervening years, that’s been solved.  The second was that a lot of denominational employees would lose their jobs.   That reason causes two distinct thoughts to come into my mind.

1.  I don’t believe the purpose of a denomination is to employ people. 
2. Haven’t the cutbacks caused by the poor economy in recent years already left each denomination’s staff so thin a merger would actually help?

Whatever differences remain don't seem significant.  What are the differences?  Sunday evening worship?

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