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The Messy Reformation

by Jason Ruis

We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations with pastors throughout the CRC about what reformation might look like.

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Episodes

  1. Episode 281: An Update—Where We've Been and Where We're Going

    Jason records solo with an update on why the show has been quiet and what comes next. The reruns earlier this summer were intentional. We wanted listeners to hear the conversations we were having three, four, and five years ago, before the fights, and to hear the contrast between that tone and…

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  2. Reminder Episode: Before We Knew — Reformation IS Messy — Jason's Thoughts Post-Synod 2023

    Recorded days after Synod 2023. Last of three reruns in the Before We Knew series. Jason says at the outset that he is not getting into the weeds of what happened at synod. He had been processing the week out loud with Rachel, including his own committee's material being tabled to the following...

  3. Reminder Episode: Before We Knew — Clarity Is Not an Idol— Jason & Willy's Thoughts Post-Synod 2022

    Recorded days after Synod 2022 adjourned. Second of three reruns in the Before We Knew series. Jason and Willy work through the six questions the podcast then put to every delegate it interviewed: your role at synod, what you learned about yourself and the CRC, what encouraged you, what…

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  4. Reminder Episode: Before We Knew — Fear God, Not Men — Jason Pre-Synod 2022

    Recorded in May 2022, weeks before Synod 2022. First of three reruns in the Before We Knew series, pulled from the years before the CRCNA's direction was settled. A solo episode. Jason works through the fear of the Pharisees — Matthew 21:45-46, Mark 11:18, Luke 22:1-2 — where the religious…

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  5. Episode 280: Synod 2026 — Speak Boldly, Raise Leaders, and Share the Gospel — Ralph Wigboldus (Part 2)

    If Synod's new ten-year church-planting vision is going to mean anything, it has to land somewhere ordinary: in one Christian noticing another. Part 2 of our conversation with Ralph Wigboldus starts exactly there. Asked how a small, tired congregation actually begins to raise up leaders, Ralph is...

  6. Episode 279: Synod 2026 — This Is What Reformation Is Really All About — Ralph Wigboldus (Part 1)

    Ralph Wigboldus has been in the boiling water longer than most of us. A senior pastor in Woodstock, Ontario, and a six-year veteran of the Council of Delegates, he came to Synod 2026 tired and half-hoping someone else would carry the load. He left overjoyed. In Part 1 of our conversation, Ralph...

  7. Episode 278: Synod 2026 — A Healthy Denomination Means Engaged Churches — Zack Flipse (Part 2)

    In the second half of our post-Synod conversation, Zack Flipse and Jason move from how Synod 2026 felt to what it means for the work ahead. There's encouragement, but there are also some concerns. The biggest thread here is a worry both share: the CRC has an exciting church planting vision, but...

  8. Episode 277: Synod 2026 — The Slow Work of Trusting Our Institutions Again — Zack Flipse (Part 1)

    Zack Flipse walked into Synod 2026 as a first-time delegate and came home energized. For anyone who remembers the synods of 2022 and 2023—the walkouts, the exhaustion, the open question of whether the CRCNA would survive—that's no small thing. In this first half of our post-Synod conversation…

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  9. Episode 276: Synod 2026 — Confessional Identity, the Sabbath, and the 150-Church Vision

    Part two of the recap opens with a quieter decision that says a lot: removing Our World Belongs to God from the Covenant for Office Bearers. As Willy explains, the real debate wasn't about the contemporary testimony's merits but about what an office bearer should be bound to — and Synod's answer...

  10. Episode 275: Synod 2026 — Virtual Church, a Failed Ecclesiology Overture, and Christian Nationalism

    Jason and Willy are back with their annual post-Synod recap, and the mood is different than it used to be. This isn't a denomination bracing for a fight; it's one taking stock of how far it has come. Willy is relatively satisfied with Synod 2026 — a give-and-take week with real wins and real…

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  11. Episode 274: Synod 2026 — What Is a Church? Forcing a Theological Conversation (Chris Ganski & Derek Buikema)

    Chris Ganski and Derek Buikema join Jason to talk about the overture out of Classis Wisconsin to Synod 2026 calling for a study committee on the nature of the church. It is not a flashy overture. It is not addressing a fight. But Chris and Derek argue it might be the most important overture on…

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  12. Episode 273: Synod 2026 — The New Leaders of the Denomination

    Jason and Dan DeGraff kick off the Messy Reformation's annual Synod coverage with a breakdown of the convening session of Synod 2026. The convening session is mostly a warm-up — an hour of tech troubleshooting and a chance for delegates to find their footing before the real work begins. But it…

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  13. Episode 272: The Banner's Future and the Confessional Renewal of the CRCNA — Lora Copley (Part 2)

    In part two of our conversation with Lora Copley, editor of The Banner, the question turns from where the Banner has been to where it could go. Lora doesn't dodge — she names specifics. A Banner podcast launching this year, fully funded through grassroots giving, hosted by Derek Buikema and Sarah...

  14. Episode 271: Breaking the Echo Chamber - Wider Voices in the Banner — Lora Copley (Part 1)

    Lora Copley never thought she'd be editor of The Banner. When her name first came up, she sent back a crying-laughing emoji. She was a campus minister in Iowa, not a journalist. But on a Saturday afternoon — the day before the application deadline, while her daughter was napping — the thought...

  15. Episode 270: Synod 2026 — Passionately Reformed Leaders for a Passionately Reformed Denomination

    Part two of our Synod 2026 preview goes after the bones: who has authority to discipline, what the church owes the state, what the church even is, and why confessional integrity at every level isn't a bonus — it's the basic ask. The technical density of these overtures hides deeply theological...

  16. Episode 269: Synod 2026 — The CRCNA Needs to Cast a Vision Worth Funding

    We're back from a short break with the first half of our annual Synod 2026 preview — and this is not a back-to-normal agenda. The Council of Delegates is bringing 27 recommendations forward, and Jason, Dan, and Willy walk through the bigger buckets the people in the pew should actually be paying...

  17. Episode Replay: Why Reformation Is Always a Return, Never an Evolution — Lee Christoffels

    Lee Christoffels was ordained in the Christian Reformed Church in 1970. He has been preaching ever since — in Worthington, Minnesota, where his congregation has held services in four languages and watched the community around it change week by week; in Edgerton, where he now serves part-time in...

  18. Episode 268: Classes Need a Plan for Dying and Planting Churches in the CRC — Denominational Structure Roundtable (Part 2)

    If episode 267 made the case that the CRC has a congregational health crisis, episode 268 asks why the structures meant to address it aren't functioning. The answer, according to Matt Haan, is simple: classes have never had a plan. Not a real one. They were formed by proximity, not strategy, and...

  19. Episode 267: The Numbers Nobody Wants to Talk About in the CRC — Denominational Structure Roundtable (Part 1)

    The CRC's vacancy crisis isn't evenly distributed. While Thrive reports 146 vacant pulpits, statistician Dan DeGraff's independent tracking puts the real number between 107 and 128 — and the worst of it is concentrated in Canada, where one in four churches currently has no pastor. Host Jason Ruis...

  20. Episode 266: If We Are Faithful Now, We Can Trust the Word — Harry Frielink (Part 2)

    Before Harry Frielink was a pastor, he was a camp counselor, shaped by a man named Matthew Kingswood who asked a deceptively simple question every summer before the kids arrived: are you in the word with people? Not are you ready with your theology. Are you in the word — actually, with actual...

  21. Episode 265: The Church Was the Training Ground — Harry Frielink (Part 1)

    Harry Frielink has served the same classis for thirteen years while the denomination around him transformed. He came up through RTS Charlotte and Calvin Seminary, took a call in southwestern Ontario, and eventually settled in Barrie — an hour north of Toronto — where he's now been pastor for over…

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  22. Episode 264: I've Never Fixed Anyone — Shaun Furniss (Part 2)

    If you walk into a pastoral care situation knowing exactly how to fix it, you will make it worse. That's where Part 2 begins—with Jason and Shaun naming the pride that destroys pastoral ministry the same way it destroyed King Saul. From there, the conversation turns to some of the most honest and...

  23. Episode 263: The Holy Spirit Is the True Counselor — Shaun Furniss (Part 1)

    Shaun Furniss didn't grow up in the church. A Roman Catholic mass enthralled him at age seven, a confirmation class confused him at twelve, and the Heidelberg Catechism converted him in college. Now he's co-pastor at Trinity CRC in Sparta, Michigan—holding a Master's in Marriage and Family…

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  24. Episode 262: The Communication Problem Every Church Has — Roger Sparks & Harv Roosma (Part 2)

    Churches say they want hard conversations. They say they're ready to change. And then the STM arrives. Part 2 of the STM roundtable with Roger Sparks and Harv Roosma moves from the structure of this ministry into the raw material they actually work with: human nature. Forgiven, being sanctified,...

  25. Episode 261: The Bittersweet Work of Transitional Ministry — Roger Sparks & Harv Roosma (Part 1)

    The CRCNA is navigating a pastoral shortage, smaller candidate pools, and congregations that have been through enough upheaval that calling a new pastor straight away isn't always the right first move. This episode introduces the STM — the Specialized Transitional Minister — through two men who...

  26. Episode 260: Is the CRC Cutting the Wrong Things?

    This is part two of our team update — and we're getting into some specifics. The big topic: the COD's recommendation for biennial synods, which will come before Synod 2026. Willy serves on the Council of Delegates and voted against the recommendation, and he explains why. The proposal came from a...

  27. Episode 259: Why the CRC Needs Vision More Than Another Fight

    It's January, which means it's time for our annual team conversation — just Jason, Willy, and Dan talking about where we are, where the CRC is, and where we think things need to go. After life updates (Dan's upcoming sabbatical, Willy's new pastor in Pease, Jason's transition into school…

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  28. Episode 258: From Reformation to Rebuilding — Cameron Oegema (Part 2)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  29. Episode 257: From Passive Participant To Active Leadership — Cameron Oegema (Part 1)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  30. Episode 256: More Than Sunday Christians — Kurtis Ritsema (Part 2)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  31. Episode 255: What Seminary Cannot Teach You — Kurt Ritsema (Part 1)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  32. Episode 254: Standing Firm When Truth Costs Something — Richard Britton III (Part 2)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  33. Episode 253: The Value of Confessional Accountability — Richard Britton III (Part 1)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  34. Episode 252: Faithfulness Over Institutional Preservation — Jim Hollendoner (Part 2)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  35. Episode 251: Learning to Be Visitors Not Hosts — Jim Hollendoner (Part 1)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  36. Episode 250: Church Roundtable—Training Office Bearers Who Love Ministry—Jeff Weima & Chad Workhoven (Part 2)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  37. Episode 249: Church Roundtable—Biblical Models for Church Leadership—Jeff Weima & Chad Workhoven (Part1)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  38. Episode 248: Throwback Episode—Unity Through Truth Rather Than Compromise

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  39. Episode 247: Reformation Through Ordinary Means — Shelby Gemmen (Part 2)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  40. Episode 246: Reformation Requires Clarity and Wisdom — Shelby Gemmen (Part 1)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  41. Episode 245: The Spirit's Means of Grace — Dan De Graff

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  42. Episode 244: The Church's Spiritual Power—Jason Ruis

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  43. Episode 243: Church Roundtable — An Outpost of the Kingdom — Jared Michelson, Chris Ganski (Part 2)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  44. Episode 242: Church Roundtable — Beyond Methods to True Ecclesiology — Jared Michelson, Chris Ganski (Part 1)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  45. Episode 241: Grassroots Theological Training — Brandon Seaver (Part 2)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  46. Episode 240: Rootedness in an Unmoored Culture — Brandon Seaver (Part 1)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  47. Episode 239: The Physical Church Matters — Brittany Clark (Part 2)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  48. Episode 238: On the Cusp of Something Really Special — Brittany Clark (Part 1)

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  49. Episode 237: The Strategic Importance of High School Ministry

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

  50. Episode 236: Called to Raise Up Future Church Leaders

    Join and Support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Check out the Abide Project: https://www.abideproject.org We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations...

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations with pastors throughout the CRC about what reformation might look like.

HOSTED BY

Jason Ruis

CATEGORIES

religion spirituality

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does The Messy Reformation have?

The Messy Reformation currently has 298 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is The Messy Reformation about?

We love the Christian Reformed Church; we want to see reformation in our denomination; and we recognize that reformation is typically messy. So, we’re having conversations with pastors throughout the CRC about what reformation might look like.

How often does The Messy Reformation release new episodes?

The Messy Reformation publishes regularly with 298 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.

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Who hosts The Messy Reformation?

The Messy Reformation is created and hosted by Jason Ruis.
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