Overview

Offering a meticulously researched yet also deeply personal history of the Reformed Church in America throughout much of the twentieth century, Lynn Japinga's Loyalty and Loss will be of intense interest to the members of the RCA, reminding them of where they have come from, of the bonds that have held them together, and of the many conflicts and challenges that they have together faced and ultimately surmounted. For those outside the RCA the questions of identity raised by this book will often sound very familiar, especially, perhaps, in its account of the church's struggle throughout recent decades to reconcile the persistently ecumenical spirit of many of its members with the desire of others within the denomination to preserve a real or imagined conservative exclusivity. Others may find the conflicts within the RCA reflective of their own experiences, especially as they relate to such issues as denominational mergers, abortion, the Viet Nam war, and women's ordination.

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9780802870681

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Reviews

Edwin Mulder-- emeritus general secretary, Reformed Church in America If you love the Reformed Church in America, or just want to understand it, read this book! The denomination's major events, issues, and conflicts and what they mean will come to life in Lynn Japinga's narrative, her questions, even the footnotes (don't gloss over them!). Donald Luidens-- Hope College Loyalty and Loss is a thoroughly scholarly and yet touchingly personal account of the twentieth-century history of the Reformed Church in America. At times it reads like a bittersweet love letter from a daughter of the church who has been sorely aggrieved by its internecine bickering. Using the themes of identity, family, and conflict as overarching motifs, she shows how this ethnic denomination has lurched into the American mainstream, losing much while gaining much at the same time. At its core has been a strong thread of loyalty among its members, a profound commitment to heritage and tradition that has often overridden other differences and provided the foundation for reconciliation and for progress into the future. In the end, though, the author asks the unsettling and unsettled question: will the waning glue of loyalty be sufficient to carry the Reformed Church into the future? Gregg Mast-- New Brunswick Theological Seminary Listen to the voices of pastors, professors, synodical presidents, and just plain folk inspire and critique the Reformed Church in America in the latter half of the twentieth century. This unique book, exhaustively researched through dozens of personal interviews and thousands of hours of time with primary sources, provides a perspective that is both historically and ecclesiastically insightful. It will teach students of the church and lovers of the Reformed Church important lessons that can guide us into our future. John Coakley-- New Brunswick Theological Seminary Quite apart from the many insights here that will be of value to people inside the Reformed Church, Lynn Japinga's Loyalty and Loss stands as a model for the writing of any denomination's history. Relying heavily on interviews and other first-person sources and focusing on points of tension, she develops an organic and nuanced picture of this denomination that does not ignore its place within the broader currents of late twentieth-century American religion. Louis Lotz-- Central Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan An utterly satisfying read. Solid research, lively prose, trenchant analysis, and an eye for what matters Lynn Japinga has given a gift to the Reformed Church and to anyone interested in recent church history.

Edwin Mulder-- emeritus general secretary, Reformed Church in America If you love the Reformed Church in America, or just want to understand it, read this book! The denomination's major events, issues, and conflicts -- and what they mean -- will come to life in Lynn Japinga's narrative, her questions, even the footnotes (don't gloss over them!). Donald Luidens-- Hope College Loyalty and Loss is a thoroughly scholarly and yet touchingly personal account of the twentieth-century history of the Reformed Church in America. At times it reads like a bittersweet love letter from a daughter of the church who has been sorely aggrieved by its internecine bickering. Using the themes of identity, family, and conflict as overarching motifs, she shows how this ethnic denomination has lurched into the American mainstream, losing much while gaining much at the same time. At its core has been a strong thread of loyalty among its members, a profound commitment to heritage and tradition that has often overridden other differences and provided the foundation for reconciliation and for progress into the future. In the end, though, the author asks the unsettling -- and unsettled -- question: will the waning glue of loyalty be sufficient to carry the Reformed Church into the future? Gregg Mast-- New Brunswick Theological Seminary Listen to the voices of pastors, professors, synodical presidents, and just plain folk inspire and critique the Reformed Church in America in the latter half of the twentieth century. This unique book, exhaustively researched through dozens of personal interviews and thousands of hours of time with primary sources, provides a perspective that is both historically and ecclesiastically insightful. It will teach students of the church and lovers of the Reformed Church important lessons that can guide us into our future. John Coakley-- New Brunswick Theological Seminary Quite apart from the many insights here that will be of value to people inside the Reformed Church, Lynn Japinga's Loyalty and Loss stands as a model for the writing of any denomination's history. Relying heavily on interviews and other first-person sources and focusing on points of tension, she develops an organic and nuanced picture of this denomination that does not ignore its place within the broader currents of late twentieth-century American religion. Louis Lotz-- Central Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan An utterly satisfying read. Solid research, lively prose, trenchant analysis, and an eye for what matters -- Lynn Japinga has given a gift to the Reformed Church and to anyone interested in recent church history.

Edwin Mulder-- emeritus general secretary, Reformed Church in America If you love the Reformed Church in America, or just want to understand it, read this book! The denomination's major events, issues, and conflicts -- and what they mean -- will come to life in Lynn Japinga's narrative, her questions, even the footnotes (don't gloss over them!). Donald Luidens-- Hope College Loyalty and Loss is a thoroughly scholarly and yet touchingly personal account of the twentieth-century history of the Reformed Church in America. At times it reads like a bittersweet love letter from a daughter of the church who has been sorely aggrieved by its internecine bickering. Using the themes of identity, family, and conflict as overarching motifs, she shows how this ethnic denomination has lurched into the American mainstream, losing much while gaining much at the same time. At its core has been a strong thread of loyalty among its members, a profound commitment to heritage and tradition that has often overridden other differences and provided the foundation for reconciliation and for progress into the future. In the end, though, the author asks the unsettling -- and unsettled -- question: will the waning glue of loyalty be sufficient to carry the Reformed Church into the future? Gregg Mast-- New Brunswick Theological Seminary Listen to the voices of pastors, professors, synodical presidents, and just plain folk inspire and critique the Reformed Church in America in the latter half of the twentieth century. This unique book, exhaustively researched through dozens of personal interviews and thousands of hours of time with primary sources, provides a perspective that is both historically and ecclesiastically insightful. It will teach students of the church and lovers of the Reformed Church important lessons that can guide us into our future. John Coakley-- New Brunswick Theological Seminary Quite apart from the many insights here that will be of value to people inside the Reformed Chur

Author Information

Lynn Japinga is Professor of Religion at Hope College inHolland, Michigan, and a Minister of Word and Sacrament inthe Reformed Church in America.,

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