Rev. Peter H. Holtvlüwer (Photo by Sophia Dam)
About me (in brief)
Hi there. My name is Peter Holtvlüwer – welcome to my website! If you ask me who I am I might say that I’m a middle-aged man, a husband, father, son, uncle, pastor and writer. Each of these is true and yet underneath all of that I’m just Pete, one of God’s children saved by grace. I’m an average guy trying to serve the Lord in these capacities. I make mistakes (aplenty!) and mess up in all kinds of ways, all of which makes me so very grateful to be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ and renewed daily by His Spirit.
You might also like to know that I presently serve as a full time minister of the Word in a Bible-believing, confessional Reformed congregation in Canada. I am committed to the infallible Word of God and uphold in every respect the Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, and Canons of Dort as accurate, faithful summaries of Scripture.
I write non-fiction stuff – mostly articles and editorials for Clarion, our unofficial church magazine – and many sermons, of course. Currently, alongside my regular ministry duties, I am working hard to finish editing (and contributing to) a multi-volume work on the Psalms.
Things I Write About
Since 2010 I have served as co-editor of and contributor to Clarion. My articles come mostly from my perspective as a pastor and my aim is to help Christians walk more closely with the Lord, for his glory. We believers all struggle in so many areas of life and our culture in twenty-first century Canada presents some particular challenges. If one of my pieces can provide some guidance and encouragement for God’s people then I am thankful.
In my editorials I try to pick up “where the rub is” currently for believers – whether in morality, doctrine, life-style, education, church government issues or elsewhere. I like the variety of writing on a range of topics but try to stick to subjects I know reasonably well. If there is a debate, I will attempt to take a reasoned side; if no one is debating an issue that ought to be, I don’t mind to get the ball rolling. With different tacks, I aim to stimulate edifying discussion and improved Christian living among God’s people.
In 2010 (with a reprint in 2011) I published a series of sermons on Genesis 1-3 called Foundations. These 13 messages set out to explain these key but often misinterpreted chapters in accordance with the plain sense of the passage. For more on Foundations click here or to download a free e-copy, simply join our mailing list (see option in the side bar to the left). You’ll receive any new posts directly to your inbox (one or two per week; don’t worry, I won’t flood your email:)) and keep up to date on Christ’s Psalms, Our Psalms.
Résumé Particulars
Growing up in Ottawa, I was given the opportunity to study history at Carleton University and completed a four-year Honours BA. Being interested in theology and drawn to pastoral ministry, I undertook language studies at McMaster University in Hamilton and went on to finish a four year Masters of Divinity degree at the Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary in the same city.
The Lord called me to the ministry of the Word in 1999 via the Aldergrove Canadian Reformed Church in British Columbia. My wife Erica and I moved from our home province of Ontario with one son. Before six years was up we moved to Carman, Manitoba with four sons so I could become the next pastor in the Carman East Canadian Reformed Church. After the Lord added to our family two daughters while on the prairies, in 2010 he led the eight of us to southern Ontario where I currently serve as pastor in Ancaster Canadian Reformed Church.
In 2007, General Synod Smithers of the federation of Canadian Reformed Churches appointed me to serve on the Committee for Contact with Churches in North America (CCCNA). During my nine-year term on this committee, I was delegated several times to attend the annual meeting of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC). NAPARC is a discussion forum for confessional Reformed churches in North America, a venue to meet like-minded believers and develop ties. In 2013 I had the privilege to serve as chairman of NAPARC.
Psalms, Psalms and More Psalms!
Aside from regular ministry work and the writing of articles, what’s keeping me extra busy these days is work on Christ’s Psalms, Our Psalms. My church council at Spring Creek kindly offered me a sabbatical provided I would undertake a project that would in some way benefit my ministry and be refreshing at the same time. This was a golden opportunity. For a long time I had noticed that commentaries and study guides on the Psalms lacked a consistent, in-depth fleshing out of the connections and lines of revelation pointing to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. I heard the same from pastoral colleagues and also Christian school teachers. I was convinced that churches, schools and individual believers could benefit from a work dedicated to showing Christ in every Psalm and so I accepted my council’s generous offer.
Yet I knew it was too big for me to handle alone. So I reached out to a number of fellow ministers and in the end 15 graciously agreed to join me in this venture. Since the spring of 2014 I have been heading up this project and all of us have been working steadily toward the finish line. Most of the writing is now complete and what remains is to edit, polish and publish. This I hope to during my fall sabbatical in 2017, the Lord willing.