From: Darrell128@aol.com Date: Tue, 13 Jun 1995 04:49:30 -0400 Subject: NR 60: CRC Synod Begins with Packed Prayer Service To Reach United Reformed News Service Staff, Contact: Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer [For news tips or content-related inquiries] DURING SYNOD 1995 ONLY: (Monday, June 12 to Friday, June 23): Voice: (616) 451-4205 * FAX: (616) 698-9265 * E-Mail: Darrell128@AOL.com 1214 Fountain NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 PERMANENT ADDRESS: Voice: (616) 674-8446 * FAX: (616) 674-8454 * E-Mail: Darrell128@AOL.com PO Box 691, Lawrence, MI 49064-0691 Laurie Vanden Heuvel, Circulation Manager [For missing or back issues, subscription inquiries, or address changes] Voice: (616) 878-9278 * FAX: (616) 878-3256 * E-Mail: TomLaur@AOL.com 2475 - 85th St., Byron Center, MI 49315 June 12, 1995 * Contents: NR #1995-060: Christian Reformed Synod Begins with Packed Prayer Service Synod 1995 of the Christian Reformed denomination opened on the evening of Monday, June 12, with a packed prayer service at Twelfth Avenue CRC in the Grand Rapids suburb of Jenison. Rev. Cal Bolt, who as pastor of Twelfth Avenue will convene the synod tomorrow, preached from Ephesians 3:14-21 on the need for brotherhood and unity in Christ, urging delegates not to let the secular news media determine the agenda for Synod. Synod's hottest issue will almost certainly be the question of women in office, coupled with the question of whether to seat the delegates from classes which do not discipline churches which have ordained women elders despite the clear prohibition of synod against that practice. Synod will meet each day except Sunday from Tuesday, June 13, until the middle or end of next week. Other key issues will include the future of the denominational fund for smaller churches, children at communion, structure for ministry in Canada, and relations with the CRC's mother church in the Netherlands which permits the ordination of practicing homosexual ministers. NR #1995-060: For Immediate Release Christian Reformed Synod Begins with Packed Prayer Service by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service JENISON, Mich. (June 12, 1995) URNS -- Delegates to Synod 1995 of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC) assembled this evening at Twelfth Avenue CRC in the Grand Rapids suburb of Jenison, Michigan, for the opening prayer service of synod. Rev. Cal Bolt, pastor of Twelfth Avenue CRC, addressed a packed sanctuary filled with synodical delegates and visitors. Speaking on Ephesians 3:14-21, Bolt reminded the delegates that Scripture requires Christians to be rooted in love and that God alone has the power to bring about unity in the church. Bolt urged delegates to treat each other as brothers and not to permit the secular media to establish the agenda for synod. Synod will begin its business session tomorrow in the auditorium of the Fine Arts Center at the denominationally-owned Calvin College in Grand Rapids and is expected to run until the middle or end of next week. Synod will conduct business each day of the week except Sunday. Synod is the broadest legislative and judicial assembly in the 294,179-member Christian Refomed denomination, a 138-year-old evangelical denomination which traces its origins to the sixteenth-century Calvinistic Reformation in the Netherlands. Synod meets each year and is composed of 184 delegates, two ministers and two ruling elders from each of the CRC's 46 classes (singular: classis), which are regional groups of churches similar to presbyteries, dioceses, or districts in other denominations. As pastor of the convening church for Synod 1995, Bolt will serve as the president pro tem (temporary chairman) of synod until the delegates elect a president from among their number. While convening pastors are not automatically members of synod, Bolt was elected as a synodical delegate and is eligible to be elected as president of synod when the delegates convene tomorrow morning. The role of convening pastor is usually not controversial. This year, however, may be quite different. Six classes have asked Synod 1995 to take disciplinary action against Classis Grand Rapids East, which has voted not to discipline a number of large and prominent churches which have elected women to serve as elders despite the explicit prohibition of synod. As president pro tem, Bolt will have to rule on any challenges to the credentials of the delegates from Classis Grand Rapids East or Classis Muskegon, another classis which has sent a communication to synod that it "recognizes the right of two of its member churches to be conscientiously opposed to abiding by Synod 1994's decision to exclude women from the ecclesiastical offices of pastor or elder." While synod may not take up the matter until later, disenfranchisement of the delegates from either classis will almost certainly tip the scales in a matter on which neither side has been able to muster more than a slim majority in favor of its position. Synod 1995 will deal with a wide variety of committee reports and over eighty requests for action, technically known as "overtures," from regional classes and local churches. The hottest issue this year, as in most recent years, will almost certainly be the question of whether Christian Reformed women may become ministers, elders, or evangelists. Although Synod 1994 voted to declare that "the clear teaching of Scripture prohibits women from holding the offices of minister, elder, and evangelist," last year's decision was made by only a slim margin and came on the heels of a 1990 decision to allow women in office subject to ratification in 1992, a 1992 decision to allow women to "teach, expound the Word of God, and provide pastoral care" without being ordained, and a 1993 decision to allow women in office subject to ratification in 1994. Despite Synod 1994's declaration that Scripture is "clear" on the subject, almost thirty of the overtures before synod this year address the topic urging either approval or disapproval of women in office. Synod has been debating the issue of women in office for 25 years, although the debate has become much more heated since 1990. Over 16,000 members -- including what was until 1993 the CRC's second-largest congregation -- have walked out of the CRC to form three groups of churches opposed to women in office and other issues which they cite as evidence of growing liberalism in the denomination. While the current debate is almost always identified as the "women in office question," Christian Reformed congregations have had the option since 1984 of ordaining women to serve as deacons, an office primarily concerned with financial matters and assistance to the needy. Synod 1995 is unlikely to consider prohibiting women from holding this office. Although women in office is likely to dominate the synodical discussion, it is by no means the only controversial issue before Synod 1995. One issue, the future of the Fund for Smaller Churches, may actually create more strident opposition from churches which fear that adoption of a committee proposal on the matter would result in the closure of many of the CRC's smaller congregations which currently receive significant denominational subsidies. Other key items on the synodical agenda include whether and on what basis young children may partake of communion, the structure for ministry to the CRC's Canadian congregations, and the thorny question of ecclesiastical relations with the CRC's mother church in the Netherlands, the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, which for over a decade has permitted practicing homosexuals to be ministers and members in good standing. Some of the issues on the agenda which may or may not result in significant debate include: * An overture asking synod to relax the requirement for churches to worship twice on the Lord's Day by adding the qualifier "ordinarily" to the relevant church order article. * An overture which would permit ministers to preach regularly not only on the Heidelberg Catechism, but also the Belgic Confession, Canons of Dort, and Contemporary Testimony. * Several overtures asking synod to examine the matter of ratification of church order changes by subsequent synods. * Approval of a proposed ethnic classis consisting of Korean-speaking churches in southern California, Nevada, and Hawaii. The classis would have a term limit of 15 years. If approved, the CRC would have 47 classes. * Establishment of a standing Issue-Awareness Committee. * An overture asking Synod to designate a Sanctity of Human Life Sunday to be observed annually in the churches of the denomination. * Approval of Dr. Gaylen Byker, nominated as the next president of Calvin College Cross-References to Related Articles: #1994-035: Christian Reformed Synod Rejects Women in Office on Biblical Grounds #1994-036: Two Hundred Women Take Over Synod Floor in Protest Against Christian Reformed Denial of Women's Ordination; Synod Votes to "Urge" Churches Not to Ordain Women Elders, Pastors #1994-037: Of Garages, Houses, and Women: Synod Keeps "Expounders" and Appoints Committee to Decide What "Expounding" Means; Synod Cites Legal Concerns in Modifying Abuse Committee Report; "Reaffirmation" of Past Decisions on Inerrancy, Creation, Homosexuality Declared Unnecessary by Synod #1994-038: Classis Grand Rapids East Votes "In Principle" to Permit Churches to Disobey CRC Synod's Ban on Women Elders #1994-049: Top Denominational Officials Issue Advisory on "Ecclesiastical Disobedience" by Christian Reformed Employees #1994-050: Classis Grand Rapids East "Refines" July Decision to Disobey Christian Reformed Synodical Ban on Women Elders #1994-064: Number of Christian Reformed Churches Allowing Women Elders Reaches Seventeen #1995-012: Classis Illiana Overtures CRC Synod to Disenfranchise Classis Grand Rapids East for Ecclesiastical Disobedience #1995-016 Continuing Christian Reformed Hemorrhage Costs CRC 22,000 Members in Three Years; Unprecedented Loss Tops Seven Percent of Pre-1993 Membership, Knocks Denomination Back Fifteen Years to 1980 Membership Levels #1995-017 Alliance of Reformed Churches Continues Dramatic Growth #1995-018 Grand Rapids East Tries New Approach to Women in Office; Classis Asks Synod to Allow Women Elders, Ministers in Local Churches but Permit Classes to Ban Women Delegates #1995-020: Minnesota South Asks Synod to Disenfranchise Churches with Women Elders and Terminate Members from CRC Committees #1995-021: Classis Hudson: Remove Churches with Women Elders from Christian Reformed Denomination, Effective Immediately #1995-028: Classis Wisconsin Overtures Board of Trustees to Unseat Classis Grand Rapids East for Ecclesiastical Disobedience #1995-051: ANALYSIS: What's Coming to the Christian Reformed Synod? Contact List: Mr. Tim Penning, Christian Reformed Synodical News Office Calvin College, 3201 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 * O: (616) 957-8650 * FAX: (616) 957-8551 To Reach Delegates During Synod: (616) 957-6000 ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr95-060.txt .