https://youtu.be/UIPqXIFVX2w?si=b5M0O8KMs3fpFCqa
.png)
.png)
Here's a clip of popular southern California TV personality Ed Arnold (rest-in-peace, just died in April 2025) interviewing a pastor named Jim Kok for Hour Of Power at the Crystal Cathedral (which subsequently closed as Robert Schuller's protestant (Reformed) church, but re-opened as a Catholic Church).
Who is Jim Kok? (he is/was a CRC pastor, now retired, & yes still alive at age 90 as of 4.18.25) And what was he doing at the Crystal Cathedral and on the Hour of Power ?
Well some of you may know the name from the CRC community either as a pastoral care minister for many years as the Director of Pastoral Care at Pine Rest Christian hospital, (as well as CPE supervisor) and prior to that he was a pastor at a Christian Reformed Church in Iowa City; and also did stints in CPE (clinical pastoral education) in upstate New York & Ann Arbor , among other things.
Other of you old-timers may remember the name of Jim Kok from his basketball prowess (he mentions it in this video clip) at Holland Christian High as well as Calvin College in the 50's alongside Tony Diekema & Don Vroon (RIP) , among others.
To make a long story short, after working at Pine Rest Hospital Jim Kok took the job of Director of Pastoral Care at the Crystal Cathedral. This was actually a return "home" for Jim because he grew up here, partially, as a child in Bellflower CA (about 16 miles from the Crystal Cathedral in adjacent Los Angeles County) where his father (Rev. Gareth Kok) was a CRC pastor who founded the Valley Christian Schools and was a pastor at First Bellflower CRC in the 30's & 40's.
(Later, Gareth moved the family back to Holland Michigan where he was a pastor at Maple CRC, which is why Jim attended Holland Christian High) (still later, Gareth returned to southern Cal where he eventually retired in Bellflower, now deceased).
So when Jim Kok took the Crystal Cathedral job and moved his family to Bellflower, he was a few blocks away from his retired father. Jim maintained his affiliation with the CRC- never changed to the RCA- but his primary job was at the Crystal Cathedral until his retirement several decades later.
For many years Jim hosted an annual International Kindness Conference which filled the arboretum for several days, and numerous well-known speakers talked about various medical, psychological, & spiritual issues integrated with the topic of kindness.
Jim also continued to serve as a Clinal Pastoral Education (CPE) supervisor for many years at the Crystal Cathedral until his retirement. Over the years, numerous seminary students did their CPE requirements on the 10th floor of the New Hope tower at the Crystal Cathedral.
So having become a familiar face at the Crystal Cathedral he eventually was invited to be on the Hour of Power, more than once, but this was one of the times where he talked about his book "The Miracle of Kindness"
A friend of Jim also continues to maintain a kindness blog referencing past writings and articles by Jim Kok, albeit Jim himself in 2025 is no longer active as a pastor (please pray for him as he has some health issues). This blog / website can be viewed at https://www.peoplekindness.com/blogbyjimkok (I think the website administrator should make that clear on the web, but for some reason he has not yet done so)
