NR #1995-099: Classis Wisconsin Rejects Overture to Sever Calvin College from Christian Reformed Denomination Conservative members of the Christian Reformed denomination have objected for years to teaching at the CRC's official undergraduate institution, Calvin College in Grand Rapids. First CRC in Oostburg came to Classis Wisconsin with a unique solution to the problem. Quoting Acts of Synod dating back to 1898, the congregation pointed out that the synod has always acknowledged "that it is not properly the business of the church to conduct a school for general education" and maintained official ties to Calvin College "under the pressure of practical circumstances and considerations." Noting that Calvin College is now on firm financial footing, allows non-CRC members to serve on its board, and has a 47% non-CRC student body, First Oostburg argued that "the time is ripe to practice our principles" and overtured classis to overture Synod 1996 to "instruct the Calvin College Board of Trustees to develop plans to create a society which will eventually own and operate Calvin College, and to be prepared to begin implementing this plan by 1998." The effort was unsuccessful, however; Classis Wisconsin voted the proposal down by a 26 to 12 margin. NR #1995-099: For Immediate Release Classis Wisconsin Rejects Overture to Sever Calvin College from Christian Reformed Denomination by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service MADISON, Wis. (October 9, 1995) URNS - Conservative members of the Christian Reformed denomination have objected for years to teaching at the CRC's official undergraduate institution, Calvin College in Grand Rapids. First CRC in Oostburg came to Classis Wisconsin with a unique solution to the problem. Quoting Acts of Synod dating back to 1898, the congregation pointed out that the synod has always acknowledged "that it is not properly the business of the church to conduct a school for general education" and maintained official ties to Calvin College "under the pressure of practical circumstances and considerations." Noting that Calvin College is now on firm financial footing, allows non-CRC members to serve on its board, and has a 47% non-CRC student body, First Oostburg argued that "the time is ripe to practice our principles" and overtured classis to overture Synod 1996 to "instruct the Calvin College Board of Trustees to develop plans to create a society which will eventually own and operate Calvin College, and to be prepared to begin implementing this plan by 1998." In defending his church's overture, First Oostburg pastor Rev. Les Kuiper focussed on the positive features for Calvin. "I served on the Board of Trustees of Calvin College and have a great deal of support for Calvin College," said Kuiper. "Rather than bringing in negative overtones we said let's just stick with the positive principles even though there may be other reasons for doing so." Kuiper noted that many students from Classis Wisconsin attend schools other than Calvin and that the president of CRC-related Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, had made a report to classis earlier in the day, but that Calvin College is the only one of five CRC-related undergraduate liberal arts colleges to receive financial support from the denomination. "I think that there would be some very distinct advantages for Oostburg Christian School to be the official school of Classis Wisconsin," said Kuiper. "I'm not sure what Sheboygan Christian School would think of that." Not everyone at Classis agreed with First Oostburg's proposal. Much of the opposition focussed on concerns about what would happen to Calvin College's doctrinal integrity if it were no longer controlled by the denomination, following upon a speech earlier by Calvin College board representative Ron Buikema noting Notre Dame professor George Marsden on the liberalization of American religious colleges. "Did you catch our Calvin representative quoting George Marsden's book?" asked Rev. Wendell Gebben of First CRC in Sheboygan. "He has traced what happens when colleges cut their ties to the church. It's uniform, it's universal, and it's not good. Perhaps we should take a much stronger look at a church relationship for our other colleges." Kuiper protested that his proposal to sever official relations between the denomination and college did not mean he wanted to sever all relations. "We have a strong relationship between our church and Oostburg Christian School; the question is what kind of relationship," said Kuiper. "We're not talking about severing the relationship, we're talking about redefining it." First Oostburg's overture didn't persuade most delegates to either change or sever the relationship. Classis voted the overture down by a 26 to 12 margin. Cross-References to Related Articles: [No related articles on file] Contact List: Rev. Wendell Gebben, Pastor, First Christian Reformed Church 527 North Ave., Sheboygan, WI 53083 * O: (414) 458-3112 * H: (414) 457-5955 Rev. Les Kuiper, Pastor, First Christian Reformed Church 215 S. 8th St., Oostburg, WI 53070-0305 * O: (414) 564-3238 * H: (414) 564-2725 Elder George Marsden, Clerk, South Bend Christian Reformed Church 1855 N. Hickory Rd., South Bend, IN 46635 * H: (219) 277-8531 ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr95-099.txt .