W. Vanderkolk. Trowel and Sword, December 1964 Preamble: “Ghetto • a part of a city …… occupied by a minority group or groups. • an isolated or segregated group or area.” In this hard hitting article, written a mere 3 years before his tragic death while on a holiday with his family, Rev. William Vanderkolk wrote passionately about what he saw as a Reformed Church inContinue reading “Reformed Church or Reformed Ghetto?”
Tag Archives: Christian Reformed Church of Australia
The Place of Preaching in the Church Part 2
Rev. Martin Geluk. Trowel and Sword, June 1995. Preamble: As the title suggests this is the second of four articles written by Martin Geluk on preaching. We need say no more as Martin himself has written an introduction. The Place Of Preaching In The Church (Part 2) In our previous article we began to considerContinue reading “The Place of Preaching in the Church Part 2”
How Are Things With Your Sunday School?
Rev. K. Warren, Trowel & Sword, September 1968 Preamble: In this article Rev. Warren took some time to outline what other churches were doing with their Sunday Schools, with a particular focus on what was then the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches before they amalgamated to form the Uniting Church. One can confidently say thatContinue reading “How Are Things With Your Sunday School?”
Australia, A Vast Mission Field
G. van Groningen, Trowel and Sword. November 1962 Preamble: The following article, written over 60 years ago, paints a picture of Australia as a country urgently in need of missionary endeavours to bring the gospel to its increasingly secular populace. How have we fared since that time? Sadly it would appear, not too well. HaveContinue reading “Australia, A Vast Mission Field”
Film Review – The Passion of the Christ
David Groenenboom. Trowel and Sword, March 2004. Preamble: Many movies have been made based on the Bible, a large number of them about the life (and death), of Jesus. Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” is one that has stirred up much debate, and often criticism in many quarters so we considered it appropriateContinue reading “Film Review – The Passion of the Christ”
Life Wasn’t Meant To Be Easy.
John Westerdorp, Trowel and Sword, March 1999. Preamble: In his article “Annus Liturgicus” (TSR Jan. 1 ’24) Bill Deenick wrote about the church calendar as not being big in Reformed circles but nevertheless being useful in planning his preaching. Lent is that period before Easter which lends itself to this. As we are now inContinue reading “Life Wasn’t Meant To Be Easy.”
THE MAKING OF A MINISTER
T.L. Wilkinson, Trowel and Sword, October 1968 Preamble: Last week or focus was directed towards the shortage of ministers in the churches which was already an issue back in 1976 and how Sessions looked for creative short term solutions to a long term problem. Ultimately, as has been said many times, the answer is toContinue reading “THE MAKING OF A MINISTER”
Australian Gleanings/Letter From New Zealand On Vacant Churches
Preamble: This week we look at two items from December 1976: Australian Gleanings and its New Zealand equivalent under the heading “A Letter From New Zealand”. Although they mainly deal with general news items, it is of particular interest that they both mention a problem that is still very much with us today: Ministerial vacancies.Continue reading “Australian Gleanings/Letter From New Zealand On Vacant Churches”
The Crisis and Challenge of a New Era
DIRK VAN GARDEREN, T&S, December 1976 Preamble: In this essay Dirk looks at various aspects of church growth from the early days of the Reformed Churches and the need to reassess methods of evangelism 25 years later as the demographic of the church has changed. It is now almost another 50 years since his articleContinue reading “The Crisis and Challenge of a New Era”
Building a New Nation
Preamble: Welcome readers to our first offering from the wonderful trove of Trowel and Sword articles. This week we present the very first Editorial from the first issue back in October 1954. It is worth reading for a number of reasons. There is a reminder of the sense of calling that many early Dutch immigrantsContinue reading “Building a New Nation”
T&S Revisited 