The Trump administration and its attitude towards Canada is reanimating a crucial question for the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA): Can a cross-border church hold together when its two branches are at odds politically?
On March 10, Canadian members of the CRCNA sent a letter with 733 signatures to denominational leaders, calling them to account for not taking U.S. threats to Canadian sovereignty seriously. The CRCNA is a small Reformed denomination with roots in the Netherlands and 183,000 members spread out across Canada and the U.S. The letter, which also said President Trump’s “evil” actions are undermining U.S. democracy and global stability, was addressed to three people in denominational leadership positions: the general secretary, the executive-director Canada, and the director of U.S. ministry operations.
While as of this writing the letter has not yet received a response, Canadian concerns over annexation are not matched — anecdotally at least — by most Americans. In a joint online forum called CRC-Voices, many U.S. pastors were dismissive of the protest letter, describing it as “silliness,” a “lame, predictable and irrelevant partisan voice” and a “preening, sanctimonious statement.” One commenter suggested that “these political activist Canadians” pay extra taxes to “replace the funds no longer provided by USAID.”
With 38,185 members, Canadians represent just 20 percent of the CRCNA — and its governance system is weighted accordingly. The Council of Delegates ratio – one-quarter Canadian and three-quarters American – matches membership numbers, but makes it difficult for issues of Canadian concern to take precedence.
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Over the past 30 years, this frustration has motivated many attempts, mostly fruitless, to establish greater independence for the Canadian CRC while remaining binational partners. Nothing in my memory, however, has felt as tense or tenuous as the current moment for the CRCNA’s Canadian side. Cracks that began a decade ago with human sexuality debates are now fracturing even faster than expected – often along national lines.
As editor of Christian Courier (CC), an independent Canadian publication in the same Reformed tradition, I’ve been following the tension closely. On Jan. 22, CC sent out a survey to every Canadian CRC member to measure support for a distinct Christian Reformed Church in Canada. Just over half of our 1,199 respondents – 56 percent – said ‘yes’ to independence in some form, compared to 24 percent in favour of remaining binational. One quarter of the ‘yes’ comments referenced Canadian identity and a “worry about U.S. influence in Canadian churches,” with a dozen specifically critical of the current U.S. president.
In addition to our data, 3,800 comments were added by respondents to optional fill-in-the-blank questions, a number that indicates “high levels of emotion,” according to a sociology professor I spoke with. Hundreds of Canadians described themselves as “anxious” and “concerned” about the future of the Christian Reformed Church in this country — a sentiment echoed by the March 10 protest letter. “I want to distance ourselves from the political environment in the United States,” one survey respondent said, “but I also fear being a weaker body if we separate.”
On the CRC-Voices forum, none of the U.S. commenters directly addressed the fact that the United States is solely instigating the current conflict. Even when a Canadian pastor pointed out how a healthy binational church could alleviate tension if churches south of the border “speak up against threats to a sovereign nation, stand up against violations of good-faith trade agreements and speak out against lies and deceit,” there was little follow up on CRC-Voices.
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Instead, the non-partisan card was played again: “The CRC has enough division [without] praising or condemning the differing positions taken by the many politicians and parties involved in governmental politics,” which, to be fair, relates to the concern about survival that came up many times among CC’ssurvey of Canadians. But it also reflects a deep-seated difference between a Reformed understanding of politics in Canada and in the United States, specifically whether calling governments to account is part of the church’s role or not. At least 733 Canadian signatories of the March 10 letter, along with many survey respondents, believe that it is.
“The CRC in Canada and in the United States have different histories, different contexts and face different cultural situations,” one Christian Courier survey respondent said. “This conversation is not a new one,” another person concluded. “Let’s focus on what a distinct Canadian CRC could do to build God’s kingdom here on Canadian soil.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story stated that the number of respondents to the Christian Courier survey in favour of staying binational was 34 percent, when it was 24 percent. This version has been corrected.
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Angela Reitsma Bick is editor of Christian Courier and co-author, with Peter Schuurman, of Blessed are the Undone: Testimonies of the Quiet Deconstruction of Faith in Canada (New Leaf, 2024).
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