RP’s board in December 2025, from left to right: Marty VanDriel, David Visser, Aubrey Vandergaag, Lucas Holtvlüwer, Bruce DeBoer, Mark Penninga, Sharon de Boer, and Rebecca Poppe.

About Us

Reformed Perspective exists to “help you think, speak, and act in Christ.” Flowing from this, our core values permeate our magazine, podcast, and all our work:

• Biblical: faithful to God’s Word and the Reformed confessions
• Real: applying God’s Word to the nitty gritty of life
• Inspiring: a catalyst for action by connecting to hearts
• Celebratory: Christ is LORD and has already won!

Reformed Perspective began in January of 1982 as a 32-page monthly “Magazine for the Christian Family.” We are based on God’s Holy Word and always held to the Three Forms of Unity (the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, and Canons of Dort). Now more than forty years and 400 issues later, the magazine remains, as does our mission:

“To promote a Biblically Reformed perspective in all spheres of life by equipping and encouraging Christians to think, speak, and act in a manner consistent with their confession.”

Even as the mission remains the same, there have been some big growth in recent years. Now, in addition to a bi-monthly 84-page print publication that goes out primarily to a Canadian audience of about 11,000+ homes and 240+ churches, we’re able to reach the four corners of the Earth via our website and social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. The RP Roundup email newsletter reaches thousands each Saturday, sharing the 5-6 articles we’ve posted online that week. The RP App makes not only these articles, but our Real Talk podcast readily available on everyone’s smartphones. And all of these mediums have a combined reach of millions each year.

And it is all done for free, thanks to the generosity of our donors. Reformed Perspective is a registered Canadian charity, and you can make donations, and become a monthly supporter by clicking here. If you have questions, you can contact us here.

Reformed Perspective Team

Editorial Team

Jon Dykstra, Editor: Jon is the father of three, husband of one, and uncle to numbers that go far beyond the additive capacity of his fingers and toes. In the 25+ years he’s been writing for Reformed Perspective, it’s been Jon’s delight to investigate God’s thoughts on anything and everything, including the worldview of dogs, dystopian fiction, pronouns, the biblical case for global warming skepticism, spanking, 300 movies King David might watch, and the theology of dirty jokes. When he became editor in 1999, submissions sometimes came in hand-written or through the fax machine, and the magazine’s unofficial assistant editor was his dear ol’ dad (and his brother James was the webmaster). The magazine has grown some since then, and Jon’s delight now is to work with a whole RP team to continue investigating what God has done and is doing in the wide wide world out there.

Marty Vandriel, Assistant Editor: Marty and his wife Faith have four children, and three grand children. Marty’s writing roots go way back to the newspaper The Windmill Herald!  He also contributes to WORLD Magazine, and is the CEO at a manufacturing company.

Mark Penninga, Executive Director: Since 2022 Mark has been responsible for the leadership of the Reformed Perspective Foundation and also enjoys assisting with the production of RP magazine. He previously served as the founder and Executive Director of ARPA Canada from 2007-2022. Mark has a BA in Philosophy and an MA in Political Science and is also a Fellow of the Colson Center. He has authored two books and his articles have been published in a variety of Canadian papers including the Toronto Star, National Post, and Vancouver Sun. Mark and his family live in BC. He loves to explore God’s creation with his family, with a special fondness for being on a lake with a fishing pole in his hand.

Support Team

Jan Broersma, Copy Editor: Jan has worked as a writer and editor for several organizations, including School Specialty and Historica Canada. She loves good writing and making good writing better. Jan lives on the beautiful West Coast of BC with her husband and their three children.

Caitlin Hamoen, Digital Editor: Caitlin is responsible for bringing RP’s content to a broader digital audience, through our e-newsletter, website, and and social media. In 2026 her role has expanded to full-time when she moved to BC to also serve as an administrator in our new office in Smithers. She also oversees incoming donations and the many contest submissions we receive.

Stephanie Vanderpol, Art Director: Stephanie has been authoring RP’s well-loved Come & Explore feature for kids since 2022. Her role has now expanded to find and create art for our magazine and website more broadly. Stephanie is an accomplished artist and painter (check out her work at https://www.stephanielorinda.com/gallery) and lives with her family in Smithers, BC.

Joanne DeRuiter, Administrator and Controller: Joanne grew up in Alberta and in 2017 she moved with her husband and children to Smithers, BC.  She worked for ARPA for four years and then took over the administration for Reformed Perspective. She keeps RP’s expenses and finances in great order.

Rachel VanDam, Daily Devotional: Rachel’s hometown is in Manitoba, but she is currently studying in Ontario. She is responsible for publishing the Nearer to God daily devotional on our website. This is the most popular resource we offer online.

Annelies Veurink, Graphic Designer: Annelies and her husband live in sunny Southern Alberta and are members of the Coaldale Canadian Reformed Church. They have been blessed with 3 children and enjoy life in the country on a chicken farm. Annelies graduated with a certificate in Graphic Communications in 2013 and has been designing the Reformed Perspective magazine since 2015. Her favourite part of being on the RP team is the process of taking an article submitted as a plain document and using her creativity to make it look fresh and interesting on the pages of the magazine. When she’s not behind the computer, Annelies enjoys spending time with her family, gardening, baking & thrift shopping.

Vanessa Appleyard, Graphic Designer: Vanessa graduated from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in 2020 with a certificate in Graphic Communications. In 2025, Vanessa began working with RP, initially designing shirts for their new online store. What started as a single project quickly grew into a broader creative collaboration, and she soon began contributing to the RP magazine and a variety of other RP-related projects. Born and raised in Southern Alberta, Vanessa enjoys life with her husband and their two beautiful children. She loves using her creativity to bring ideas to life and is grateful for the opportunity to combine her passion for design with meaningful projects that connect with and encourage others in Christ.

Emma de Boer, Merch Store Manager: Emma and her family also live in Southern Alberta. Emma built and launched a merchandise store for Reformed Perspective, which features hundreds of designs that enable our readers and listeners to live out our mission in their own homes and communities. Check it out at https://store.reformedperspective.ca/.

Evolve Digital, Tech Masters: RP’s websites and tech needs are overseen by the superb team at Evolve Digital: Daniel, Josiah, Jacob, and Christiaan.

Real Talk Podcast Team

Lucas Holtvluwer, Co-Host: One of the younger faces at RP, Lucas co-hosts the Real Talk podcast alongside of Tyler Vanderwoude and also sits on the RP board of directors. He and his wife Elle, along with their daughters live in southern Ontario and are members at Living Water Reformed Church. Lucas’s day job is managing the operations of Tykel Commercial Door Supply (which he co-owns with Tyler). On the side, he loves to research new podcast topics, strum the guitar, and play hockey.

Tyler Vanderwoude, Co-Host: Tyler has been co-hosting Real Talk with Lucas since it began in 2020, and has been partnering with him even longer in the business world. Tyler & his wife Keleigh have been blessed with 3 amazing kids and made a big move from Hamilton, Ontario to Calgary, Alberta and are now a part of the Canadian Reformed Church of Calgary. Tyler spends his free time outdoors, hunting, fishing, golfing & playing hockey.

Mariah Oosterhof, Podcast Manager: Mariah has been part of Real Talk since 2021, helping bring each episode to life from scheduling and recording to editing and promotions. A graduate of Reformation Bible College and with experience in organizational ministry, Mariah has a passion for God’s Word and for seeing people grow in their love for Christ. She and her husband, Darren, live in the Niagara Region and are members of Pelham United Reformed Church.