The Church

The Reformed Churches of New Zealand [RCNZ]

A personal reflection from a son of the denomination - Sjirk Bajema

Broadly speaking, the Reformed Churches of New Zealand (RCNZ) developed as a result of the Dutch migration into the countries with a strongly Anglo-Saxon heritage and ethnicity during the 1950’s. With the economic situation as it was following World War 2 in the Netherlands, many sought the opportunities provided by Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand.

Even more specifically, one may say that the RCNZ began as a result of those in this Dutch migration who were from the different Reformed Churches in the Netherlands. They were those amongst the migrants who found the mainline denomination in New Zealand with Calvinistic roots to have become somewhat less than Reformed in doctrine and practice and coming out of the context of the 19th century Dutch revival they sought to be faithful to the Lord.

The input of local conservative Presbyterians
This set apart New Zealand as a different situation than the other three countries mentioned above. For those countries had existing denominations which were still confessional, though perhaps from a more Presbyterian background. So in those countries there were soon sister church relationships with other denominations.
In New Zealand this was not so. Indeed, once the Reformed Churches were instituted in New Zealand, a number of individual families and, in one case, most of a Presbyterian congregation together with her minister, affiliated with the Reformed churches because they recognised in these fledgling churches a confessionally consistent denomination. Early members well recall the translation of the early worship services from Dutch into English for those ‘Kiwis’ who had joined the church.

This input into the life of the RCNZ by conservative New Zealand Presbyterians also showed itself in the contacts that developed with others overseas. As well as ministers coming from the Christian Reformed Churches of North America (which the Reformed Churches in Australia also experienced) there were ministers who came from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church of North America – a connection which remains strong to the present day.

Different sources for membership
The situation of no other definite reformed-confessional denominations also meant that those from other conservative denominations in the Netherlands generally joined the RCNZ. Those who had been Article 31 (Canadian Reformed and Free Reformed in Australia), and in the Christian Reformed Church in the Netherlands, joined the RCNZ. This particularly impacted on some congregations in New Zealand more than others but it did mean we were all in the same bond of churches.

Different entry requirements
A further characteristic in the migration process were the restrictions the New Zealand government placed upon those entering. Those acceptable were to be young, single and fit people, in the vast majority of cases. So many of the 1950’s Dutch migrants, which was the major Dutch migration to New Zealand, were, like my parents, single upon entry. This did not preclude many of these young men not having girl-friends before they came. And then once they were a little settled here their fiancés would come out as single young women to work here and marry their betrothed.

This is seen today in the distinct generations within our churches. So there are those in their 70’ and 80’s now, then their children in their 40’s and 50’s and their grandchildren in their 20’s. Sunday School class sizes are somewhat down because of this generational factor, yet there are lots of weddings, and an increasing number of baptisms. And yet, that is not necessarily so in all the churches. For there has come in the last fifteen years the Africaaner migration, as South African Reformed folk join a number of our churches, especially in the more middle class suburban areas. Add to this other recent migrant groups, such as the Koreans, and the RCNZ is acquiring quite a cosmopolitan face to it.

The sizes of congregations
Another factor in the development of our churches were the relative sizes of our congregations. There are few churches with memberships of over three hundred, while there are quite a number with membership around the one hundred mark and even less. That has often raised the question as to whether these congregations can be sustainable financially. Relatives in the Netherlands tell of needing at least so many hundreds of communicant members to be able to support a church and all its commitments. They have wondered how our churches do that when they might have only fifty communicant members or thereabouts. This is where the commitment level of our folk is very high. All our churches are self-supporting works, except for one that has been receiving a small proportion in assistance through a synodical committee. Tithing and generous giving are a hallmark of many of our members. Overall, there are some 20 congregations in our federation of churches, with one mission post close to institution (already self-supporting). There are 2060 communicant members with 1406 baptised members, thus making a total of 3466 souls.

Christian education
The small number within our churches and of our churches also meant that Christian schools did not develop at the same rate or same time as that of sister migrant Reformed Churches elsewhere. The schools that did arise weren’t always sustainable because of the difficulty in attracting and keeping teachers with a reformed confessional position. They have not been helped either by the increasing number of families choosing to home school their children. There has been growth in the number of those using this form of education for their children, as the national home schooling movement testifies to with regular publications and well-attended conferences with speakers from overseas.
Recently there has been a resurgence in support for private Christian schools. But this comes largely from outside the Reformed churches. Several reformed confessional schools, amongst private schools generally, have experienced sudden growth and of a quantity well above the maximum ten per cent student growth that integrated Christian schools are allowed under the present socialist government (Integrated schools were those that chose to enter into a contract with the previous conservative government of some seven and more years ago whereby they are obligated to maintain the unique character of the school while being a lot more closely tied to State curriculum and supervision).

Rest homes
The same theme is noticeable with senior citizen’s retirement complexes. While Canada and Australia have confessionally-based senior citizen’s home organisations for predominantly church members in the major urban areas, the same has not occurred here. Indeed, there is only one such association and that at this stage is of the one level independent unit structure.

The Youth movements
The situation youth-wise in our churches is very positive, however. There is a healthy Cadet & Calvinette movement which publishes its own quarterly magazine, ‘In Touch’. In all the churches bar one or two you will find these clubs. There is a strong interaction between the clubs. There are combined camps on the local presbyterial (classis) level, with an annual executive meeting of counsellors from all the Clubs and a tri-annual National Camp - which may have up to four hundred boys and girls and Counsellors together for a week. This National gathering is shared between the three Presbyteries, as is also the governing board for the movement. This is also
reflected in the youth clubs with presbyterial camps held usually one long weekend annually and then the week-long annual National Camp which is also shared between the three Presbyteries. Some youth are also involved in publishing their own magazine and we have regular input into our denominational magazine from those in their 20’s.

The situation ecumenically in New Zealand today
The situation in terms of reformed-presbyterian denominations in New Zealand has changed little in the last fifty years. There has been the recent formation of the Grace Presbyterian (GPC) denomination, a group of those who have withdrawn over the years from the very liberal Presbyterian Church of New Zealand. The GPC have ties with the Presbyterian Church in America, particularly through the Briarwood church in Alabama, U.S.A.. There is a warm fellowship with those folk on several local levels but a wider connection has yet to bear fruit. Given the individualistic nature of those congregations and the more generally evangelistic rather than confessional basis they have, this may take some time. There are also other smaller groups tied to overseas conservative denominations or of an independent basis.
The ties over the Tasman
The closest sister church relationship has historically been with the Reformed Churches of Australia, recently renamed Christian Reformed Churches of Australia (CRCA). There has been quite a traffic across the Tasman Sea in terms of ministers and members over more than fifty years. But as time has gone on the two federations have developed differently, leading to a situation now where the CRCA have remained within the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) while the RCNZ left some years ago, because of the continued membership of a liberal denomination, and have joined the International Council of Reformed Churches (ICRC), a much more overtly conservative body. The CRCA have also confirmed their decision to admit women into the office of deacon, and thus has adopted a distinctly different hermeneutic. A number of their congregations also espouse a seeker-sensitive worship, even being openly charismatic in several cases. Their most recent National Youth Convention had as the key-note speaker the Senior Pastor of one of Australia’s leading Pentecostal churches, a man who concluded his talks with a time of prophesying and casting out demons. Such occurrences and such a direction are not endorsed by all within the CRCA. As a result of that particular event, for example, an overture subsequently went to the Synod seeking a tighter supervision over future Conventions.

The Reformed Theological College
The tie that really binds the RCNZ with Australia is the Reformed Theological College (RTC). While the College itself is an independent institution, it is largely dependent on quotas raised by the CRCA and the RCNZ. It is an institution which has richly blessed our churches with the training of ministry students and lay people. Two of the present full-time faculty of five were called from the RCNZ.

The RCNZ Synod in 2005 took the step of entering into a new arrangement with the RTC, however, because of the view two of the professors had in relation to the ‘Word & Spirit’ issue (The Word & Spirit issue arose because of a decision made by the CRCA in 1991 that there was a continuing revelatory gifting, albeit of a limited and lesser nature than the apostles had). This new contract is a watered down version in terms of the accountability of the College to the RCNZ and so the RTC is now not the strongly recommended option for ministry study but a preferred option. Thus it is that presently there is a New Zealand student studying at the Middle America Reformed Seminary (MARS), and students who have largely done their theological studies by correspondence before a year or two at the RTC.

What next?
The future is always a variable matter. It really is in the hands of the Lord. While on the one hand our churches are conservative and continuing to become more aligned that way, there are tensions and resulting membership transfers. These difficulties can result from the ongoing struggles you know as well among your churches and in other denominations in Australia. But we have been able to talk together over these things. You will find a distinct similarity whichever of our churches you worship with. We pray that the new hymnbook being worked on will help in this. We are still a federation of churches that are yet this side of heaven. Please pray that together we may continue to seek faithfulness to the Lord’s Word, guided by His Spirit.

[The Rev. Sjirk Bajema was born in Nelson, New Zealand, and was a member of the RCNZ until he left for the RTC at the age of 22. Following study at the RTC and a postgraduate degree, he served in the CRCA for 13 years before accepting a call to the Reformed Church of Mangere, Auckland, New Zealand, where he has been for over 8 years. In Australia he served for six years as the General Editor for THE CALL, a conservative reformed-presbyterian magazine, and presently he serves as the editor of ‘Faith in Focus,’ the denominational magazine of the RCNZ, a position he has filled for over 6 years.]