What is "CUSP"?
Christians Uniting
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Why Was CUSP Formed?
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CUSP Mission Statement |
In the crucified and risen Christ, we are reconciled to God and to one another. This is at the heart of the Christian message to which the Church is called to give witness in the world. Deep and painful divisions among its members today, however, obscure this message and therefore compromise its witness.
Out of a shared commitment to overcome these divisions, Christians Uniting in Song and Prayer (CUSP) was formed. Located in the Holland community, we are a fellowship of Protestants and Catholics convinced that Christians joining in public assembly to sing and pray together can help to restore and promote our unity. Our conviction is rooted in the acknowledgment that Christian unity is both gift and task. In celebrating together our common faith, we recover a vision of the inestimable gift that God has granted to us in Christ. Renewed thereby in our appreciation of this gift, we go out energized to take up the difficult task of reconciling with fellow Christians whose differences keep us separated. For more information about the theological basis for our efforts, see this report of a recent ecumenical conference that reflects and reaffirms the desire among the Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, Reformed, and Catholic churches to work together to promote the gospel and move towards deeper unity on the basis of the shared agreement on the doctrine of justification as embodied in the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by Faith (JDDJ). |
CUSP Membership
CUSP board meets regularly to organize and carry out our events. For 2022 the board members are:
- Mr. Robert Batastini, St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church (CUSP music director)
- Rev. Dr. Christopher Dorn, First Presbyterian Church, Ionia (CUSP chairperson)
- Rev. Jonathan Gabhart, Pillar Church
- Rev. Dr. Gerrit Haagsma, retired CRCNA pastor
- Rev. Marvin Hofman, retired CRCNA pastor
- Mr. Calvin Hoogstra, Graafschap CRC (CUSP treasurer)
- Dr. Mary Johnson, St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church (CUSP secretary)
- Mrs. Angela Wagenveld, Pillar Church