Why I Am Christian Reformed
“Wait—you’re the pastor?” Aaron Solomon-Mills shares his story about why he pastors in the Christian Reformed Church
“Wait—you’re the pastor?”
I’ve heard that more times than I can count. I’m a Black man from Chicago, and I serve as pastor of a nearly century-old Christian Reformed congregation in southern California. The church has deep Dutch roots and a long history. At first glance, it doesn’t look like a place that someone like me would end up. What brought me here—and keeps me here—is a deep confidence in the theology, structure, and witness of this church.
I am Christian Reformed because the creeds and confessions give our faith clarity, depth, and shape.
Long before I knew anything about the Christian Reformed Church in North America, I was being mentored by people who taught me Reformed theology. They introduced me to the Heidelberg Catechism, and it changed the way I understood discipleship, suffering, and hope. I was a young husband and father, looking for something more than Christian clichés. I found doctrine that could hold a weary soul and still call it to worship.
The confessions in our tradition don’t sit on a shelf—they lead us back to Scripture and forward into discipleship and mission. At our church, we host a weekly class on the creeds and confessions. I’ve seen it reignite formation in people who’ve been CRC their whole lives and offer clarity and direction to those just beginning to explore Reformed theology. These documents help my family talk about faith in ways that are rich, honest, and grounded in the Word. They offer tools that hold up in real ministry, not just theory. In a city like mine, where spiritual confusion is everywhere, I need something rooted and trustworthy. The CRC gives me that. Our theology is sturdy enough for the real questions people are carrying.
I am Christian Reformed because our polity builds a culture of shared leadership, mutual care, and lasting trust.
I didn’t grow up with consistories, classes, or synods. But I’ve come to love what they make possible. I learned this polity by serving as a stated clerk and by walking alongside seasoned leaders who patiently shared their experiences. What once seemed foreign has become deeply familiar—rooted in grace and designed for wisdom.
The CRC doesn’t hand over unchecked power to a single person. Our assemblies—council, classis, and synod—create structures of accountability and encouragement that slow us down just enough to make better decisions. They help churches stay connected across distance and difference. And when they function well, they create space for honest listening, careful discernment, and decisions that are shaped by gathered wisdom and orthodoxy.
There’s nothing flashy about our polity, and that’s part of its strength. It helps me lead without isolation and stay rooted when ministry is hard.
I am Christian Reformed because we are called to the marks of the true church.
The Belgic Confession names them: the preaching of the gospel, the faithful administration of the sacraments, and the practice of discipline. These aren’t abstract ideals. They are the means by which Christ sustains His people. They shape a church that endures.
No CRC congregation lives this out perfectly. Every one of us falls short. But the standard is there. It’s clear. And when churches commit to these marks—when they preach the gospel without apology, when they administer the sacraments with joy and reverence, when they care enough to correct and restore with love—there is fruit.
In my own context, these ordinary means have become extraordinary gifts. The preached Word anchors us. Baptism declares God’s promises over our children and new believers. The Lord’s Supper binds us together in grace. Discipline, carried out with humility, safeguards the weak and calls the wanderer home.
We live in a moment where it’s easy for ministry to drift—becoming more about ideas or innovation than about embodied life with God’s people. But the marks of the church call us to something more rooted—something that reaches body and soul. They pull us back into Christ’s presence among a real people in a real place. This isn’t about preserving tradition for its own sake. It’s about holding fast to the means by which God brings life.
The CRC gives me a theological and ecclesial vision where the means of grace are not sidelined or optional. They’re central. And where they’ve been lost, they are worth recovering.
This is where I lead, and this is where I belong.
I’m not here by accident. I chose this path because the Christian Reformed Church gave me the theological tools I needed and the ecclesial structure I could lean into. I’m currently studying at Calvin Theological Seminary, where I continue to be challenged and shaped. The conversations, the community, and the depth of learning have strengthened my love for Scripture and sharpened my calling. It’s a place where pastoral formation is taken seriously, and where Reformed theology is taught not as a system to master but as a lens to love Christ and serve His church more faithfully.
But it’s more than that. This isn’t just where I work. This is home. The CRC is where my calling has been affirmed, where my kids are learning to confess that they belong to Jesus, and where the gospel is preached in the company of saints still learning how to love God and each other.
I pastor a multiethnic, cross-generational church in a city full of spiritual restlessness. Every week, I see the beauty of Reformed theology lived out in real people—people hungry for truth, aching for grace, discovering what it means to belong. This tradition has what they need. And it has what I need.
I don’t remain out of obligation or tradition. I lead here because the CRC equips me to preach Christ, shepherd God’s people, and pursue faithfulness with others who are committed to doing the same. And I belong here because the church isn’t just a place I serve—it’s the family that’s shaping me still. Reformed theology has never belonged to one people or place. It’s been shaped by voices from Geneva and the Netherlands, Scotland and England, Germany and elsewhere—and it continues to take root in new soil. My story is part of that ongoing growth. That’s why I’m CRC.
Aaron Solomon-Mills pastors First CRC in Bellflower, CA. He is currently completing his Master of Divinity degree at Calvin Seminary. Originally from Chicago, Pastor Aaron is a Christian husband and dad first. Aaron loves to preach and teach, make music, BBQ and meet people. He and his wife Michelle have 6 children, a fierce 5 lb Chihuahua named Jedi, and a 100 lb English Mastiff named Vada.