The first edition of Trowel and Sword was published by and for the Reformed Churches of Australia and New Zealand in October 1954, with the final printed edition being distributed in December 2010.
The denomination itself had only been established three years earlier and consisted mainly of Dutch immigrants who had been part of the post-war exodus from Europe looking for a new life and a new beginning. They came with a pioneering spirit, full of hope and fervour, beginning their new lives in a strange environment and often in what would today be considered substandard housing.
Their lives revolved around work and their churches; often tiny congregations spread across the length and breadth of Australia and New Zealand.
What they achieved in those early years was truly remarkable and included permanent places of worship, Sunday schools, Youth Groups including Cadets and Calvinettes, Holiday Clubs, Beach Missions and other outreach activities which often led to the planting of new churches, the establishment of the Reformed Theological College for the training of ministers as well as being instrumental in the starting of many Christian schools.
They dreamed dreams, worked hard and prayed ceaselessly, and God blessed their efforts.
A detailed account of the development of the Reformed Churches is contained in “A CHURCH EN ROUTE” – 40 Years Of Reformed Churches Of Australia.
The Present
Today we must ask ourselves whether much of that effort and momentum has slowed to a walk, or even a crawl. We seem to be just as busy but our efforts are focussed in a different direction. Instead of forging ahead in working for the kingdom of God, we have become sidetracked and even bogged down by the issues thrown at us by an increasingly secular and antagonistic world such as divorce, promiscuity, abortion, homosexuality, same sex marriage, cancel culture and gender fluidity. To the world, the Christian teachings as espoused in the Bible are now considered to be “controversial”.
So instead of lighting fires for Christ we have become preoccupied with fighting the fires lit by Satan and his followers.
Like the church in Ephesus, have we lost the love we had at first? The solution for the Ephesians was to: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first.” (ESV. Rev. 2:5)
Moving Forward By Looking Back
The pioneers who began the journey have all moved on to glory. They are gone… but not forgotten. Their thoughts, their writings and their dreams remain although perhaps relegated to a different time. I often hear it said that the world has changed. “Things are different now”. “We live in a different time”.
So did Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Samuel and David. So also did the judges and the prophets. And so also did Jesus Himself.
Yet we still look to them and learn from them. So also we can look to the early leaders of the Reformed Churches in Australia and New Zealand. We can still learn from them and follow their examples.
This then is our purpose. To resurrect the writings of the greats of the CRCA. See what they had to say and adjust our thinking and our actions to carry forward their dreams and aspirations for this, our adopted nation. We will do this by publishing a weekly blog using articles taken from the pages of Trowel and Sword – the CRCA newsletter which may be gone but not forgotten.
We invite you to join us on this journey of moving forward by looking back. Look for the masthead: Trowel and Sword Revisited.
T&S Revisited 
Wonderful to hear of your endeavours for the Kingdom…! I always regretted that some of the excellent material from T&S was mouldering away somewhere in the CRCA’s dusty archives. I recall excellent articles by the likes of people like Dr Klass Runia and Prof George Van Groningen that would be so beneficial for people today to read. I applaud your efforts and trust it will bear fruit. Will there be a link to it on the CRCA webpage?
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As an Aussie with no Dutch heritage in our churches, I really appreciate this and look forward to encouragements and challenges from the generations gone by – on whom shoulders we stand! It’s a good to be provoked into thinking: what are we doing with what we’ve inherited? And how can we build further based on what we’ve learned? SDG.
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Edited: As an Aussie with no Dutch heritage in our churches, I really appreciate this and look forward to encouragements and challenges from the generations gone by – on whose shoulders we stand! It’s a good to be provoked into thinking: what are we doing with what we’ve inherited? And how can we build further based on what we’ve learned? SDG.
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Love this idea, my father was an elder in Holland and then in the Sydney/Sutherland churches.
My husband also was an elder in the Sutherland church but sadly now in an aged care facility.
I well remember Trowel and Sword magazines and still have some we kept.
Will be lovely to see them again. They were very helpful to the new migrants.
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Thanks Joanne. I am really encouraged by all the positive comments that have been coming in. It’s been on my mind for quite some time. The idea of resurrecting the magazine was taken to synod last year but got no further. Still, the idea stayed in my head and finally it said, “It’s now or never! It’s time!” Two ageing friends putting an idea out there to see what the response would be, and so far the response has been fantastic so we thank the Lord that He has pushed us into this undertaking. We pray that many will benefit from the words of the pioneers of the Reformed Churches in Australia and New Zealand.
Bert
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Many will commend and thank you, Bert and Pieter, for thinking of publishing relevant and interesting material from Trowel & Sword – and making it happen.
Even though the 20th century has passed into history, it is well worthwhile digging out and republishing some of the chronicles and encouragements of our pioneering foreparents.
I recently read the Collin Hasson’s biography of the late preacher, pastor, and leader Dr Timothy Keller, and was heartened by the way he rediscovered and kept the various elements of our Christian faith together: head, heart and hands. Or if you prefer, orthodox doctrine, a living faith on fire for our Triune God, and the attractive effects of these becoming evident to everyone in our orbit. Keller also valued as teachers and examples Reformed Presbyterians, Anglicans – and the Dutchmen who advocated for our Christian thinking and living to colour “every square inch” of our personal world and Christian endeavours.
It was in part because our parents held these convictions but could not find Christian churches holding these truths and values together that they started their own denominations in Oz and NZ. They gave expression to these convictions by laying the groundwork for Christian schools and a Christian university as well as several aged care bodies. And advocating for these via Trowel & Sword.
I’d like to be around long enough to see republished T&S articles rekindling a fire here and there!
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Thanks Fred. The response has been encouraging. It’s been on my mind for a long time and now, finally, it has come to fruition. Stick around for two more weeks (and a couple of days) and, Lord willing, you will be able to read the first of many weekly articles, which just happens to be the first editorial published in T&S. I probably don’t have to tell you it was written by a chap called John Vanderbom. Talk about a positive outlook on the future. A brilliant piece of writing. Blessings to you both. Bert
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As you’d know, there were 2 first articles, Bert. The very first was from the Rev. J W Deenick (then in Auckland). He was the editor in chief.
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You’re quite right Fred. It was a shortish piece which appeared on the inside of the front cover.
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Thanks Bert and co.
Three great memories of T&S: my dad was the printer for the first 20 years or so, starting at home on a Gestetner he’d brought with him from Holland, typing it on our kitchen table in Kingston, then getting my brothers and me to collate and staple them, before bundling them up for distribution. This continued in Geelong for some time.
And locally in Kingston, there were no “pigeon holes” in the church building, and distributing T & S in the foyer on a Sunday was considered Sunday work, so my brother George and I were assigned each month to walk all over Kingston, Kingston Beach, Blackmans Bay and “Little Groningen” to hand deliver on a Saturday afternoon. Up to ten miles each. Good exercise!
And Dad confessed that occasionally Aunt Harriet or Aunt Tilly (van Groningen and Piening) were a bit late with their contributions to the children’s or women’s pages, and he wrote them! I suppose his journalism and printing and accountancy training in Holland stood him, and T&S, in good stead!
Peter van der Schoor
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