On Sunday, August 25, 2013, Candidate Erik Guichelaar announced that he was led to accept the call from Randolph (WI) PRC to enter the ministry of the Word and sacraments and become their next pastor. This also meant that he declined the call from Doon (IA) PRC. The plan is for him to be examined at the meeting of Classis West, now to be held Wednesday, October 9, in Loveland, CO, with his ordination and installation to follow shortly thereafter, D.V. We rejoice with Erik and Cherith, and pray that God continues to bless their preparations for the gospel ministry in our churches.

UPDATE from Randolph's Council: "Having accepted our call to serve as our next pastor, the council has requested of the classical committee that Pastor Elect Erik Guichelaar be examined at the meeting of Classis West on October 9 in Loveland, CO. The Lord willing, Pastor Elect Guichelaar will be ordained and installed as Pastor of Randolph PRC, in our sanctuary, during the morning service of October 13. Professor Ron Cammenga will lead us in worship that day and will officiate the installation. Pastor Elect Guichelaar and his wife plan to move to Randolph near the end of September."

On Sunday, Sept.15, 2013, Rev.C.Griess of Calvary PRC in Hull, IA announced that he had declined the call extended to him from Faith PRC (Jenison, MI) on August 26.

The combined consistories of the First Reformed Church, Bulacan and the Berean PRC will be meeting this Wednesday (August 21) at 9:00 a.m. at the Kleyn’s house in Antipolo in order to continue their work toward establishing a federation of Protestant Reformed Churches here in the Philippines.

Rev. Smit and Rev. Kleyn will be travelling to southern Negros Occidental this week in order to teach Reformed doctrine and Reformed church government to a group of 8 pastors there.

Also, have you been following Rev.Kleyn's reports on the visits of the young people from the CERC of Singapore? Several groups have been visiting the Berean PRC and FRCB this summer, so as to fellowship with her young people. While this friendship has started slowly, it is growing rapidly and has served to bring the three churches together. Read more starting with this post on the Kleyn's blog. And here is a picture of the group after their second visit. 

The 2013 PR Young People's Convention is now history! But the memories live on in the hearts and minds of the young people - and in photo albums. Visit the 2013 Convention website to view the wonderful collection of images capturing the people, places, and activities of our PR young people during this past week at the Lake Williamson Christian Center. Special thanks goes to Crete PRC for hosting such a great convention! May the blessings of this special event continue in the lives of our young people.

The Classical Committee of Classis, with the previous approval of Classis West, has rescheduled the regular meeting of Classis West from September 4 to October 9 in order to avoid having two Classis meetings this Fall. This will allow time for CandidateErik  Guichelaar to consider and answer his calls and then prepare to be examined by Classis West, Lord willing.

This PR Church chart gives the original data of each of the congregations throughout PRC history: original names, date of organization, and number of families at organization. A handy reference guide when researching PRC history. This document was prepared by Judi Doezema, secretary at our Seminary. You may also open this chart as a pdf (attached).

On Sunday, July 28, 2013 Doon (IA) PRC voted to call Candidate Erik Guichelaar to become their next pastor. Cand.Guichelaar will have six (6) weeks to consider this call.

RFPA Annual Meeting 

September 19, 2013  |  Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church  |  7:30 p.m.

Save the date for the RFPA Annual Meeting! This year's keynote address will be given by Rev. Brian Huizinga, pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Redlands, California. Rev. Huizinga will present

Encouraging the Next Generation to Read

"Reading has a significant place in the covenant of grace as an instrument of God for the fulfilling of His promises," said Rev. Huizinga. "We must share the conviction that reading sound, spiritually edifying literature cannot disappear among us, lest a generation arise which know not the Lord nor the works which He has done for us.What can we do to help promote such reading among the next generation?"

This topic of encouraging young people to read comes on the heels of a report from the RFPA that at present only 64% of Protestant Reformed households subscribe to the Standard Bearer.Additionally, at various Christian conferences throughout the year it is commonly and alarmingly reported by others that young people today do not read sound, spiritually edifying literature. 

Stick around after the speech to hear more about the work of the RFPA and enjoy refreshments and fellowship with our Association members, authors, and fellow readers!

P.S. The audio of the meeting and speech is now available at the RFPA's Sermonaudio page. Visit and listen to this outstanding speech! Be inspired to read well!

P.S.S. Video is also now available of the speech in three (3) parts on YouTube: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3