Reformed Seminary, College, Free Sermons, Scholarly Resources, and Overseas Missions Opportunities

[~][`]

Rev. Barry Beukema &

Mrs. Valerie Beukema

Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada 

Rev. Barry Beukema joined RCM as a board member in 1999.  This came about due to his long term contact with both Rev. Rudy Poettcker (who joined RCM in 1994) and later with Rev. Geoffrey Donnan.

Rev. Beukema became acquainted with Rev. Rudy Poettcker while he was serving as a pastoral intern in the Christian Reformed Church of Medicine Hat, Alberta during 1985.  Pastor Beukema served the neighboring Christian Reformed Church in Burdett, Alberta where he served from 1984 till 1988.  

In 1988, Pastor Beukema accepted a call to the Christian Reformed Church of Smithers, BC.  In 1992 he and two elders called this congregation to leave the Christian Reformed denomination.  As a result 20 families left and founded Bethel Reformed Church of Smithers which immediately began sending delegates to the Alliance of Reformed Churches where he and Rev. Donnan met annually from 1992 to 1995.   This church became one of the charter members of the federation called the United Reformed Churches of North America (URCNA).

In 1999, Pastor Beukema's son Michael volunteered to spend a year in Suriname as a teacher.  It was during this same year that it was decided by the Canadian Board of RCM to invite him to become a board member.   In 2008, he has been invited to join the International Board of RCM.

In 2002 he accepted the call to become the pastor of the newly founded United Reformed Church of Thunder Bay, Ontario which church has taken an active role in RCM's support team since then.  Several students from this church have volunteered their services as teachers in RCM's school in Suriname, South America. 

Click here to view Rev. Beukema's downloadable sermons. 

Rev. Beukema is a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan (U.S.A.) and was born into a Christian Reformed home. 

From 1975-80 he attended Calvin College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology.  He went on to attend Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he received his Master of Divinity degree in 1983.  In 1978 Rev. Beukema married his wife Valerie, who was born and raised in Alberta, Canada.  They have been blessed with 7 sons and 2 daughters, in that order.

Mrs. Valerie Beukema

Office Manager and Bookkeeper
for Reformation Christian Ministries Association
 

Mrs. Valerie Beukema is the Office Manager and bookkeeper for Reformation Christian Ministries Association (RCMA), which is the Canadian counterpart of Reformation Christian Ministries (RCM) in the United States.  Her husband is Rev. Barry Beukema, a board member of both RCMA and RCM.   He also is the pastor of the United Reformed Church of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Valerie has taken a serious interest in the work of RCMA's ministry since the Rev. & Mrs. Rudy Poettcker began working in Suriname, and later, when her son served for one year as a teacher in the Christian Liberty Academy of Paramarbo, Suriname.   After moving to Thunder Bay, Ontario, RCMA found themselves in need of someone to take over the volunteer position of Office Manager and bookkeeper of the RCMA office.  She has faithfully fulfilled these functions and even increased the effectiveness of the office since she began the work in 2003. 

Valerie was born and raised in Alberta, Canada in a Christian Reformed Church family.  She married Rev. Beukema in 1978.  They have been blessed with 7 sons and 2 daughters, in that order.