Episode 208: The Messy Reformation Conference — Equipping Leaders for Reformation
“We truly believe that a Reformed hermeneutic, the Reformed faith, Reformed theology…speaks to the heart of how we view the world and that affects things [in the church]...We have noticed these things tend to [not be] very well researched or practiced as much in the modern Reformed churches (or at least the denomination that we're in). So I think the purpose of this is…to create awareness…and so that we can be reforming, even in a messy manner…to better the [CRCNA].” — Willy Krahnke
“We don’t just start coming up with random ideas on how this works. It all has to build upon the foundational, fundamental understanding of what is the church in the first place…Part of our goal is to lay some of those foundations, and then slowly work our way into some of these broader conversations about what [it looks] like in our churches, and then…in our classes…[and] in our denomination as a whole, so that we can be faithful to what God has called us to do.” — Jason Ruis
Summary of This Episode
Happy New Year from The Messy Reformation team! For our first two episodes of 2025, Jason, Willy, and Dan are looking ahead to our conference that is coming up on April 28-30 at Green Lake Conference Center in Green Lake, WI. We would love to have you join us there! More details and registration information are available on this post (https://themessyreformation.com/p/2025-messy-reformation-conference) as well as our Eventbrite page. Early bird registration ends on February 15, so be sure to get registered before then!
Jason kicks things off by asking why we’re doing a conference. Willy shares, “We truly believe that a Reformed hermeneutic, the Reformed faith, Reformed theology…speaks to the heart of how we view the world and that affects things [in the church]...We have noticed these things tend to [not be] very well researched or practiced as much in the modern Reformed churches (or at least the denomination that we're in). So I think the purpose of this is…to create awareness…and so that we can be reforming, even in a messy manner…to better the [CRCNA].” Jason highlights The Messy Reformation’s mission has been to lead reformation in the CRC “...by encouraging and strengthening church leaders to be engaged and bold in the fight for biblical and confessional fidelity.” We do that “...by networking like-minded church leaders, giving them tools for the battle, and painting a vision for what Reformation looks like.” A conference helps us to share and equip attendees with practical resources, but also help encourage congregations.
We believe our conference is unique. Probably the most significant and visible way is that while we want to provide “bang for your buck” in content, we truly want this to be an interactive gathering. We want more dialogue than monologue. The bulk of the time is not in plenary, but in interactive workshops. We want participants to talk and share in those times and more informal networking. Dan points out that it isn’t just skill sets that can be shared and learned from, but also interests and education. Those who didn’t attend seminaries with a strong Reformed emphasis or entered the CRC without a CRC background can learn why we do what we do or should do. Following up, Willy mentions we also want to live out the call to train and correct;we want to sharpen each other.
The other major piece that makes this unique is that it is to be a time of retreat. There’s quite a bit of free time, which attendees can use to rest, to walk in nature, to spend time in solitude, to continue conversations that started in a session or about life and ministry. There’s lots of space at Green Lake Conference Center, but you don’t have to go far in the building for what’s being offered. Also, we encourage couples to come together. Even if one of you doesn’t want to sit in all the sessions and participate in certain conversations, there may be other spouses who you can fellowship with!
The topic of our 2025 conference is “The Spiritual Heart of a Reformed Church.” We chose that topic because, as Willy shares, God has given the church specific leaders who have parameters in which we do our work. Dan points out there is a question in the CRC right now of what it means to be “distinctively Reformed.” We’ve experienced people coming to our churches who like the people and enjoy biblical and confessional preaching, but that word “Reformed” isn’t always understood. Jason identifies this as the CRC’s identity crisis. We want to help clear up confusion in this one area. Willy acknowledges that sometimes you go to a conference and hear the “ideal standard” but then leave pessimistic because you know your setting falls short. So, we want to continue being reformational–helping each other implement these things at thome.
Jason pushes a bit further. The identity crisis is not just in the CRC, but around denominations. He reminds us, “We don’t just start coming up with random ideas on how this works. It all has to build upon the foundational, fundamental understanding of what is the church in the first place…Part of our goal is to lay some of those foundations, and then slowly work our way into some of these broader conversations about what [it looks] like in our churches, and then…in our classes…[and] in our denomination as a whole, so that we can be faithful to what God has called us to do.” Dan and Willy touch on the necessity of stewarding this information well so that it can be passed down. One of the reasons why we may be where we are is that the traditions, understandings, and practices were not communicated well enough from the past generations. There’s been a disconnect. We hope a conference like this, going back to some historical basics, will better us for the future!
The episode ends as we begin to tease out some of what we’ve been learning and plan to share from Bavinck. More on that next time!