Episode 152: Resilient Faith, Facing Challenges, Upholding Conviction - Aaron Greydanus (Part1)

“It’s a pretty significant accusation to bring against a body of believers that we were devoid of the Spirit…or at least in rebellion against the Spirit in that moment…I don’t have any ill will, but that was hard….You said, ‘We’re devoid of the Spirit, and not seeking the best for Christ’s church, [or] best for…following the Word of God.’” -Aaron Greydanus

Summary of this Episode

This week on the Messy Reformation podcast, Jason and Willy are joined by Rev. Aaron Greydanus. Aaron was recently installed at First CRC in Hull, IA, and previously pastored at Raymond CRC (MN) and Drenthe CRC (MI). He grew up in Montana and found his call to ministry after initially working in the ag industry by becoming increasingly involved in church life and a small group. He attended Reformed Bible College (RBC, now Kuyper College) and Calvin Theological Seminary (CTS).

After some conversation between Jason and Aaron on Montana and the positive impact of CRCs there, Aaron shares a bit about his time at CTS. While he enjoyed certain professors and areas of study, it was a struggle for him. He found himself feeling the need to keep some of his understandings of Scripture tucked away. “Growing up in…a ‘conservative’ [or] ‘traditional church and community, I came to seminary really well-grounded in some of the doctrines, but found myself being challenged by professors…” There were certainly parts of the process he felt more enduring than enjoying, but his convictions were strengthened. Jason notes one of the benefits to being in settings like that is a sharpening because hearing counterarguments, “does help…ground you and drive you deeper as long as you’re coming back to God’s word over and over again.”

That emphasis on God’s Word is one of the top strengths that Aaron sees in the Christian Reformed Church. He’s also grown to appreciate the education in the creeds and confessions—grown because he recognizes as a young person, he didn’t necessarily show much care for them. Yet the seed that was planted in his youth, has kept growing, and provides a richness that isn’t necessarily found in other traditions. He also loves the emphasis on covenant theology, which he beautifully states, “It’s not, you do these things, and we hope that God responds. It’s, God does these things, and we hope in his covenant promises.”

After sharing some of the ways he has enjoyed being involved in classical work throughout his ministry, the conversation turns to Synod where he served as a delegate from Classis Lake Superior in 2023. Overall, it was a good experience, except for the way time was managed. Aaron shares part of why he didn’t go to a mic to talk on any issues is because he didn’t need to because someone had already shared what he would have said, and he didn’t want to add to taking up any more of the limited time.

There was one point of Synod 2023 that especially stands out in a negative way. That was to hear a delegate say to the body, “‘The Holy Spirit is not working here.’” Aaron’s reaction to that was, “Who are you to interpret the Holy Spirit’s leading?…I didn’t understand…It’s a pretty significant accusation to bring against a body of believers that we were devoid of the Spirit…or at least in rebellion against the Spirit in that moment…I don’t have any ill will, but that was hard….You said, ‘We’re devoid of the Spirit, and not seeking the best for Christ’s church, [or] best for…following the Word of God.’” Willy wonders if that judgment and the circumstances surrounding it show the lack of unity and the departures as a microcosm of what’s happening in the CRC. While Jason won’t argue against current divides or fractures in the CRC, he’s quick to remind us, “The majority of the denomination is unified in a direction. We’re actually unified in our understanding of gravamen…There’s still a lot of unity around [Advisory Committee 8’s] recommendations…I want to make sure we recognize there’s a division in the CRC, but it’s not…50/50 split. We’re not even close to that. We have a lot of unity, actually.”