You are welcome to post comments here concerning what The Abide Project has done well in the last year or so. As good communication is important for any relationship such as marriages, hopefully this will provide a good forum we can learn from.
You are welcome to post comments here concerning what The Abide Project has done well in the last year or so. As good communication is important for any relationship such as marriages, hopefully this will provide a good forum we can learn from.
2 replies on “The Abide Project – things it has done well.”
The thing that I appreciate the most about The Abide Project is simply that they have created a way for like-minded pastors, lay leaders, and members of the CRC to connect, encourage, and support one another. For many years, those who held to a traditional view of marriage and sexuality and who believed that this is a confessional matter (and always has been) were made to feel that we were a very small minority in the denomination – a fringe group. And many of us felt that we were being told that we no longer belonged to the denomination that we love. The Abide Project has helped pastors and members connect with each other to see that we are not alone in our beliefs. In fact, not only were we not alone or a fringe minority, we were actually the majority of the CRC. The Abide Project has helped many churches come to understand that the CRC is not what the denominational agencies and publications had been saying it is.
In addition, through some of its publications and through its convention, The Abide Project has also helped churches to think through what it means for us to love people who struggle with sexual sins. We admittedly have a long way to go on this, but The Abide Project has helped to keep the conversation and dialogue going in terms of our pastoral care.
It has irenically promoted the denomination’s position and reminded us that nothing has changed in the CRCNA – the traditional, orthodox position has always been the CRC’s position and it has been reiterated repeatedly over our half-century of discussions. Abide has provided a place for many in the denomination to hear that position supported, promoted, and discussed when even denominational resources have been silent or even undermining to how we have covenanted together to know and understand how to live our life as faithful followers of Jesus Christ. The fellowship of Abide has been life-giving to many and will set the CRC on a trajectory to truly care for those struggling with sin related to sexuality and identity.