Expanded Mission Labor in Pittsburgh
This article by Wilbur Bruinsma examines the 1965 Protestant Reformed Church synod's domestic missions policy and its relevance nearly fifty years later. The author argues that the policy's directive—that missionaries must actively create their own fields of labor rather than wait for opportunities to present themselves—remains profoundly applicable to the modern ecclesiastical context. The piece reflects on institutional mission strategy within the PRC and the evolving challenges of church extension work in American society.
It was the year 1965. The synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches met in session on June 2 at the First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids. Was this a monumental meeting of synod? Probably not. But at this synod an eleven-page "new policy" for domestic missions and church extension work was adopted (see Acts of Synod, 1965, pp. 105-115). In years following, this policy faded away into oblivion for one reason or another. But it was a good policy. This now forty-eight-year-old policy...
Full article available on sb.rfpa.org