Loyalty and Loss: The Reformed Church in America, 1945-1994 (Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America)
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 &mdash; and what they mean &mdash; 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 Lossis 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 &mdash; and unsettled &mdash; 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'sLoyalty and Lossstands 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 &mdash; Lynn Japinga has given a gift to the Reformed Church and to anyone interested in recent church history."