he council and congregation of Grace URC have a strong heart for Christian missions. Given our belief in the supremacy of the Word preached and the sacraments administered, and the great need of our day for that very thing, our primary focus in missions and evangelism has been on the planting of solid, confessional churches, and the training up of men for the ministry in those churches. We have been delighted over the years to partner with sister churches in the efforts of church planting all around the globe, and we have been no less excited to be able to assist a number of young seminarians as they prepare for their calling, both financially with tuition help, and vocationally with preaching and teaching opportunities.
As we have focused more and more on these efforts in recent years we have taken great satisfaction in seeing such wonderful fruit come to bear. But we have also been struck by the benefits and transformations that have been seen within our own body. It has been truly wonderful to see our congregation rise to the challenge and embrace these efforts, and to see the love, generosity and goodwill that has come about in our families toward these fledgling churches and these young students and their families. As we have we have tried to encourage and expand the preaching of Christ Jesus to our neighbors, we have had no shortage of Christ's blessings ourselves.
Kauai Reformation Church
In 2007 Grace United Reformed Church partnered with Oceanside URC to help establish Kauai Reformation Church, a new church plant in Hawaii on the island of Kauai. A number of families in the area had sought a Reformed church for many years, but no such church existed on the island. After a number of trips to the island by Rev. Bero and Rev. Danny Hyde from Oceanside URC, our two churches agreed to pursue the ministry; on September 2, 2007 formal worship services were inaugurated. The church grew steadily, strengthening the key families with regular visitors. Ministers and licentiates from throughout the URC traveled weekly to the island to lead worship services and catechism classes. In March of 2009 after a lengthy and extensive search process, Reverend Derrick Vander Meulen received and accepted the call to pastor the Kauai Reformation Church plant under the aegis of Oceanside URC. In July 2, 2009 he and his family arrived on Kauai and began settling into the ministry.
Click here to see the Kauai Reformation Church's webpage. Please continue to pray for the Lord's strengthening and establishing of this new church and our efforts to minister to it!
Chiesa Riformata Filadelfia
In 2010 we included in our missions budget support for the Chiesa Riformata Filadelfia, a URC church plant in Milan, Italy. (See also Reformation Italy.) Chiesa Riformata Filadelfia is an extremely rare Reformed presence in a country thoroughly dominated by Roman Catholicism. It is the only confessionally Reformed church in Milan, and the only known church in Italy that confesses the Three Forms of Unity. The church, pastored by Rev. Andrea Ferrari, was originally Baptistic and slowly came to embrace Reformed doctrine over a period of time; early in 2010 Rev. Ferrari was ordained as a URC minister and the chruch was brought into the URC federation under the oversight of Christ United Reformed Church in Santee, California. It is a tremendous opportunity to establish solid doctrine and practice in this otherwise barren landscape. Grace URC is extremely excited about the prospects and hopes to be able to continue to support this missionary church as it grows and takes root.
