Welcome to the Web home of the Fox Valley Christian Reformed Church! We may be strangers to each other, but not to God. We hope this website can answer some questions about who we are, what we believe and what our mission is in Crystal Lake. We also hope you can visit and worship with us in realtime! if you don't find the answers you are looking for in these pages, please call or e-mail us. We'd love to hear from you!

We are a small but growing fellowship, with many families worshiping on a regular basis. Many of us enjoy the opportunity to participate in the life of the church in a way not possible in a "mega" church. We are diverse in many ways, coming together from many different cultural, national, economic and racial backgrounds. Whether you are a mature Christian or a seeker, we think you'll find a place here and people you can identify with!

It's tough to sum up our beliefs in a few paragraphs, but we'll try to make it simple:

1. As people who have come to an understanding that we are a mere shadow of what our loving God created us to be because of our willful sin and rebellion, we have turned our backs on self-centered living and accept the free gift of salvation offered to us by the work of Jesus--who was fully God and fully man.

2. In response to this tremendous gift, we seek to learn more about God's plans for our lives, how we should live in this world, and how a grateful body of believers should respond to God's calling.

3. We cling to the Bible as the authoritative word of God, and although we have confessions, canons and other documents detailing our attitudes and beliefs, we always rely ultimately on the Word as the source of our belief and information about how to live our everyday lives.

4. Our beliefs are not just "personal feelings" or "weekend activities". We believe God calls us and the Church to be busy in every aspect of human life, transforming the world in every detail back to the blueprint its Creator intended. Part of the reason we worship together is to learn from each other how to live out our faith in our everyday lives. How to "make a difference" in our families, neighborhoods and jobs.

 

Our "Vision Statement" reads like this:

"The purpose of Fox Valley Christian Reformed Church is to honor, worship and praise Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Using Bible-based, Reformed preaching and teaching, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we will enrich, nurture and support the lives of our members. Thus equipped, we will gather and enfold all people into God's family"

 

More information on our denomination and background is available here.

 

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More to come . . .

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We are a church of the Christian Reformed denomination. There is a lot more information about what that means at our denominational website, but for those in a hurry, here are some highlights:

•A mainstream, Protestant church similar in many ways to Presbyterians.

•Over 300,000 members in North America.

•Over 800 churches in North America.

•Several nationally recognized liberal arts colleges, such as Calvin College, in Michigan, Trinity, here in Chicagoland, and Dordt, in Iowa.

•A large international aid and world relief agency, operating in some of the poorest areas of the world.

•A nationally known radio and television ministry, "The Back to God Hour".

•An award-winning publishing house, including a magazine called "The Banner".

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Here are some answers to common questions we get:

Q ) What is the "Reformed" thing all about? It sound like "reform school" or something!

A ) It's not so bad. All it means is that our church has its roots in the great Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. We believe that we cannot earn our salvation through good works (it's a free gift) and that the Scriptures are the only true guide by which we evaluate our practices as Christians.

 

Q ) What makes the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) different from other churches?

A ) In general:

•The Word of God is central to our worship services.

For this reason the focal point in our churches is the open Bible on the pulpit and the focal point in our worship together is the sermon. The songs and hymns we sing in our churches are based on the Scriptures. We believe that all of life is governed by our faith.

Our faith helps us to make the important decisions in life, not only on Sunday but every day of the week (Philippians 4:8-9).

•We believe in the priesthood of all believers.

By that we mean that all Christians are God's servants, wherever God has placed them.

•We have a strong commitment to Christian education.

Because of our concern for family and our belief that our faith is important in all areas of our lives, we offer many programs to help families grow spiritually. We want all members to be informed Christians.

•We are a family-centered church.

We believe in the importance of the family unit and we believe that the church is the family of God, a spiritual family. In that family there are roles for single people, young and old people.

 

Q ) If I come to visit - just curious, mind you - will someone pester me about "signing up"?

A ) Nope. We would like to meet you and get to know you, but nobody will "pounce" on you and start invading your space. The webmaster excluded, we're a pretty normal bunch of people who care about you, but respect you as a fellow traveler, not a "conquest".

 

Q ) What are your services like?

A ) Hop over here for more information on that subject.

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