The Christian Reformed churches in southern California gathered for a joint service of worship and thanksgiving Sunday, April 19, marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of the CRCNA’s oldest institution, Calvin Theological Seminary.
Inspired by plans to celebrate the sesquicentennial in western Michigan, not only of the seminary but also Calvin University, retired CRC pastor and former director of candidacy for the denomination David Koll reached out to Bob Knoor, the seminary’s director of development, to see about planning recognition in California.
Koll pastored Anaheim (Calif.) CRC from 1994 to 2008 and now lives in Huntington Beach, Calif. He teamed up with a few others to plan the special service of thanks and worship hosted at First CRC of Bellflower, Calif.
Writing about the service, Koll said, “A multi-ethnic crowd of over 200 people from numerous congregations were hosted by the oldest congregation in the region, the First CRC of Bellflower, affectionately referred to as ‘Bell One,’ or ‘Ma Bell.’ Over 40 congregations have sprouted from the ‘Bell One Seed,’ and the region is now known for its multi-ethnic character, with immigrant congregations from over a dozen nationalities now worshiping under the CRC umbrella.”
The gathering, Koll said, enabled people to offer thanks to God for the legacy of pastoral training, kicked off by Calvin, that led to “countless other parachurch ministries, institutions of mercy, local Christian Schools, and other regional universities that have been formed through the CRC since 1876.”
Koll said the worship service included Scripture litanies led by a variety of pastors and church members, a Korean community choir, and a vocal ensemble from the Little Saigon CRC, whose pastor, Rev Matthew Le, was trained in part through Calvin Seminary and served the Little Saigon congregation for over 30 years. Le died in January of last year.
Also in the service was an eight-minute video using various historical photos and photos of current ministry put together by Anaheim CRC members Sandi Ornee and Mike Van Dyk.