Report of Classis Hamilton meeting: January 20, 2009 

Rev. Paul VandenBrink, the pastor of Calvin CRC, led us in devotions with a helpful reflection on John 3:22-30.  He then shared with us the joys and struggles of his congregation: Calvin CRC enjoys coming together for worship and they have a solid core of committed volunteers, but they struggle to find a meaningful way to impact their community and to enfold their young adults into the life of the congregation. 

The majority of the day was spent connecting with the ministries and organizations of Classis.  Here are some of the main highlights:

This year we celebrate 10 years of Mike Fallon acting as CRC Chaplain at MacMaster University.  The MacMaster Chaplaincy Committee is planning a special event, which will be held as part of the annual Graduation Banquet; it will be held at McMaster’s Phoenix Lounge on Saturday, April 4 at 6:00 pm.  Tickets are $25 each.

Tim Sheridan reported for the Classical Home Missions Committee.  The process is currently well underway to hire a Classical Prayer Coordinator, with more information to come to Classis at our meeting in May.  As a Classis we are looking into possible locations for future church plants. 

Leo Gatotos reported on the ministry of Living Mosaic Church, and testified to God’s renewing grace and leading in his life and ministry.  Leo invited the churches of Classis Hamilton to “Make us an option for short-term missions” and to see Living Mosaic as one of the missionaries that we support through prayer and encouragement.  Anyone interested in learning more about Living Mosaic’s ministry is welcome to contact Leo Gatotos.

The Classis Finance Committee has been urging the churches to send in their ministry shares on a quarterly basis so that the ministries of classis can receive their money on a more regular schedule throughout the year.  At this meeting, Ruth Visser gave a positive report that 60% of the churches are now doing so.  All classical ministries will be receiving 100% of their requested funding.  The Finance Committee is looking for a second person to take part in the annual review of Classis’ financial records.  The review will take place at a short evening meeting before the beginning of April.  The volunteer is asked to commit to reviewing the books this year as well as next year. 

Redeemer University College has recently received positive national publicity in the media as a response to its very high scores in the national surveys of student satisfaction.  Justin Cooper remarked that these surveys show that “We’re not just as good as Mac or U of T, but we’re better.” 

During the lunch hour we watched the historic swearing-in of American President Barrack Obama.

Synod meets this year in Chicago, from June 13 through June 20.  The following are Classis Hamilton’s delegates to Synod 2009: Pastors: Martin Dam and Bill Veenstra (alternates:  Vandenbrink and DeRaaf).  Elders:  Neil Paul and Adrian VanderVaart (alternates: Mark VanderVliet and David Rumph).

Shalom Manor Chaplaincy Committee: the worship services have been changed to English-only.

In response to an overture brought by First Hamilton CRC, Classis decided that we will expect two representatives from each emerging congregation to come to each classis meeting, with ordained persons being delegates and non-ordained having the right to speak. 

Hans Kater gave an encouraging report on behalf of Diaconal Ministries Canada that more churches are looking to DMC as a resource.  This year the Day of Encouragement will celebrate its 50^th anniversary.

Submitted by Pastor Trevor Payton