Sonlight Christian Reformed Church (‘Sonlight’) is located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada and is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America.
The Christian Reformed Church holds to the following confessions:
Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of Dort
and the following creeds:
the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed
Our local church in Regina also has the following vision:
Reaching UP to God
As a Reformed church, one of the main points of the reformation is “Soli Deo Gloria” which means: to God alone be the glory. This is why we exist, this is why we worship and why we believe we are sent.
We believe theology must be God-dominated, and Christ-centred. Reaching up to God would only be possible if God first reached down to us and, as a response, we can reach up to Him.
We gather on Sunday mornings for worship using a blended format of traditional and contemporary music, with many involved each week in planning and conducting the services. We also offer Sunday School for children from preschool to Grade 6 during the latter part of the worship service.
Reaching ACROSS to each other
We enjoy gathering together for weekly coffee fellowship after the morning services and a monthly potluck lunch. Adults and youth also gather in smaller groups for studies and more fellowship. There are a number of additional events we typically hold throughout the year (again involving food and fellowship!) such as an Agape Feast in February, WE events (all- ages, themed events), and a Sinterklaas Feast in December (a nod to our Dutch heritage and enjoyed by all).
Reaching OUT to others
Our programming includes GEMS and Cadets programs (for girls and boys Grade2 and a weekly Mom’s group that meets for coffee and visiting while children enjoy playtime.
We are also a ‘hands-on’ congregation that likes to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Some of our current and past service opportunities have been in partnership with World Renew, Indigenous Christian Fellowship, SERVE, Refugee Sponsorship, Love Week Regina, and more.
Our History
The first services were held in a home on May 27, 1951 with a group consisting of Dutch immigrants new to Canada. The service was led by a Christian Reformed Church Home Missionary, Rev. Dornbush. Twelve people attended the English morning service, and 16 people attended a Dutch afternoon service. On September 6, 1953 the group started meeting at the YWCA in Regina and later that month Home Missionary Rev. VanderZiel began officiating services and events.
On Nov 21, 1954 we organized as a Christian Reformed Congregation with 54 members, and on January 3, 1955 became formally incorporated in Saskatchewan as First Christian Reformed Church (Regina).
On March 31, 1959 we purchased a building at 1279 Retallack St. from the Salvation Army. This was a small two-story building with a sanctuary, council room with small kitchen area, and two small rooms used for a nursery and children’s Sunday School classes. GEMS and Cadets programs were offered as well as Vacation Bible School in the summer with lots of neighbourhood children attending. ‘Open House Coffee’ followed the church service and was hosted by families in their homes on a rotational basis while the children attended Sunday School. Catechism classes for teens were held on Tuesday nights. The Ladies’ Service Club was active holding Bible Studies and doing service projects. A Youth Group was also started.
Needing more space, in 1976 we purchased a new church building at 3717 Hill Avenue from Parliament Community Mennonite Brethren. This building had a larger sanctuary, a full usable basement with partitioned rooms for nursery and Sunday School, a larger kitchen and an open fellowship area. Above the foyer area was an office for the Pastor. During warm weather coffee following the morning service was enjoyed outside in the back yard; during cold weather the ‘Open House Coffee’ program continued. GEMS, Cadets, Vacation Bible School, Catechism, Ladies’ Service Club and Youth Group all continued. The congregation sponsored our first Refugee family and had an active Coffee Break fellowship for a few years.
Needing still more space, on November 3, 1995 we purchased our current building at 139 Cannon St. from Glencairn Alliance Church. This 3-story building provides ample space for all our groups and programs with room to grow. Most of the programs continued with the Ladies Service Club being replaced by adult study groups. We committed to hosting a SERVE team every other year from 2005 to 2017 which worked on service/learning projects in partnership with ICF. During those years we also sent two teams to Haiti on work/learning projects. We are also involved in sponsoring refugees through World Renew and with other partner organizations.
In 1996 we changed our name and began worshipping under the name of Sonlight Community Church, a Christian Reformed Congregation, which was eventually shortened to Sonlight Christian Reformed Church.
