Episode 257: From Passive Participant To Active Leadership — Cameron Oegema (Part 1)
"I've just been in the CRC my whole life, but this is what it means to be a member of a Christian reformed church... Am I just going to church? Am I just hoping to lead a congregation somewhere, or do I want to take on that name with all that that means?... Going from that place of, okay, this was what I grew up into, to this is my denomination now for sure... When you go from a place where it's okay, I'm just in something, to now I'm really a part of something... the passion really comes out." —Cameron Oegema
Summary of This Episode
On this episode of The Messy Reformation, Willy and Dan are joined by Cam Oegema, co-pastor at Bethel CRC in Listowel, ON, where he’s been serving since 2023. Cam shares that he is a lifer in the Christian Reformed Church and mainly in southern Ontario. He grew up in London, ON, attended Redeemer University, split his MDiv. between Heritage Seminary (a Baptist school in Cambridge, ON) and Calvin Theological Seminary. He pursued ministry having some external call prompts from a pastor during his teenage years as well as his dad but wasn’t necessarily a committed or great student. Seminary put him to work.
Willy asks where his love for CRC polity came from, which Cam points back to the last decade. As the HSR (Human Sexuality Report) discussions were ramping up, preparing to enter ministry pushed him to examine that. He found himself looking at what it means to be CRC, to live out this Christian Reformed accent as a Christian and pastor. Going to Classis meetings as well as Synods helped solidify some of his desire to work with and be more involved in these conversations.
One of the places you may know or remember Cam from is the Abide Project reports from Synod 2025 when it was hosted at Redeemer in Ancaster, ON. Dan asks how he got connected and what it’s meant for his ministry. Cam mentions his affiliation with Abide isn’t super tight, but it’s been a helpful network and resourcing body. He was connected through Simon Veenstra, a long-time friend, for the videos with Synod 2025. He’s really appreciated what Abide was putting out in terms of writings and recordings to help grow in how we minister to those who are struggling with same-sex attraction.
After talking about his guest attendance at Synod, Willy asks him how Classis Huron, where Cam serves, has handled things and navigated the difficulties of these last few years. He is gracious and pastoral in his approach, while admitting there have been some struggles. He notes that Classis Huron has a church on limited suspension, a church has split, and there is some distrust among the delegates who come to their meetings. While he would like things to just be done and move on, he acknowledges, “[These churches] have their own things to sort out, their own issues to work through. So we’ll see how that goes.” More next time on his thoughts on the U.S.-Canadian differences and the challenges facing us in the years ahead.