Review 2, Anna Huizinga

[This review was first published in Beacon Lights (88:11 November 2022) and is reproduced here with the publisher’s permission]

This past July my family and I had the privilege and pleasure of attending the British Reformed Fellowship Conference in Northern Ireland. The conference brings together believers from throughout the British Isles and all around the world for fellowship in the glorious truths of the Reformed faith. It was a blessed experience that I will always look back on with fond memories, especially because of all the wonderful people I was able to meet.

This year there were 105 people attending from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Northern Ireland, Norway, Singapore, the United States, and Wales, with about one-half of the attendees coming from the PRCA. The conference has been meeting every two years since 1990, although the 2022 conference was the first since 2018 due to the COVID pandemic. We gathered this year in the Castlewellan Castle Christian Conference Center, an old, majestic castle located in the city of Castelwellan, Northern Ireland.

The conference began on Saturday, July 9, and concluded the following Saturday, July 16. My family and I departed the US on Friday, July 8, and arrived in Dublin, the capital city of the Republic of Ireland, early the next morning. We were some of the first to arrive at the castle. Throughout the day, more and more people gradually trickled in, and by evening the anticipated event officially began with a welcome speech by Rev. Angus Stewart, pastor of Covenant Protestant Reformed Church (CPRC) in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.

The conference consisted of meals together, morning and evening devotions, lectures on a specific theme, day trips exploring parts of Northern Ireland, and free time to rest and fellowship with other saints. The day trips included visits to historical sites, monuments, ruins, a luxurious estate, and local towns. Throughout the week there was plenty of free time at the castle to get to know people, take walks around the castle gardens or lake, play football (soccer), take pictures, head to town for shopping or treats, rent paddleboards and kayaks, or just enjoy leisure time together. All week long there was a contest for who could speed-walk around the lake the fastest. Throughout the conference we all enjoyed many conversations and lots of laughing, sometimes late into the night.

The heart of the conference consists of lectures delivered by speakers invited by the BRF. This year Prof. Engelsma, my dad (Prof. Huizinga), and Rev. Stewart spoke. Every conference has a theme for the speeches, and this time it was “Union with Christ.” On the opening evening, Rev. Stewart gave the introductory speech on Psalm 56 as the Psalm of Union. Dad preached twice in the castle on Sunday. Then throughout the week Prof. Engelsma spoke on our union with Christ in the covenant and our union with Christ in his death, while Dad spoke on our union with Christ in election and in his resurrection. All week long we were all uplifted to learn of all the wonderful benefits of our glorious union with Jesus Christ.

While all the speeches were extremely beneficial for us spiritually and doctrinally, the final two impacted everyone in a different way because of their specific application to the sin of abuse. Prof. Engelsma's final speech was on the topic of “Union and Marriage,” in which he focused on abuse in marriage because it is such a prevalent issue. He also made applications that were good for us to hear as young people when we consider dating and marriage. The final speech was by Dad, and it was titled “Union and the Antithesis.” He used the imagery of the great statue of man and the stone that was cut out of a mountain without hands in Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel 2. The spiritual truth is that Christ is represented by the stone and seeks to destroy the kingdoms of men. Since we are in union with Christ, we too must be opposed to all of the wickedness of the kingdoms of men. He made specific application to what he called the abomination of sexual abuse and explained how the church, if she will be faithful to Christ, must view and treat this great evil.

​We also grew spiritually during the morning and evening devotions. Devotions were held in the main assembly room, and various men attending the conference would take turns leading. They read a passage from Scripture, often added some comments and reflections, and then we sang. The Covenant Protestant Reformed Church does not use the same Psalter that we do in the PRCA. Instead they sing from a metrical book of Psalms with no musical accompaniment. Mr. Crossett, a member of the congregation, was usually the one to lead. He would start singing and we would all join in. Sometimes the tunes were unfamiliar and because the songbooks only had lyrics, it took us a few verses to get used to the tune. It was amazing how many unfamiliar tunes were well-known by the end of the week.

After the conference concluded on Saturday, most people traveled north to somewhere close to Ballymena so that we could worship in the CPRC on Sunday, July 17. Dad preached once, and Rev. Allen Brummel, who was attending the conference with his wife, preached the second service. Some of us split up and spent the afternoon at the homes of members of the CPRC, while others stayed at church and enjoyed lunch together. My family and I had lunch and enjoyed fellowship with many others at the Stewarts’ house.

​Several aspects of the conference made a lasting impact on me. The very best part of the whole trip was making new friends with people of various ages and from different countries who all share a spiritual bond in Christ. Being together was so delightful and it was difficult to say goodbye. I pray that someday many of us may be able to meet again. Worshiping in our sister church was definitely a highlight for my whole family. It is so easy to take church unity for granted, but after attending this conference, I now understand and better appreciate the blessing of having sister churches throughout the world. I am very thankful to God for the opportunity to attend the conference and meet the saints in Northern Ireland and many other believers from around the world. I will forever remember this conference as one of the best weeks of my life!Being united to Christ is the wonder of our salvation, and being united to him with so many others makes this truth even more special.

Anna is a senior at Covenant Christian High School in Walker, MI. She attends Grandville Protestant Reformed Church with her family.