Synod
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Posted on May 21, 2013, 1:34 pm | 2 comments
Topics: Synod
A key theme throughout the Agenda for Synod 2013 is the necessity to restructure the denomination. I’ll admit I feel anxious putting this out there but only because I’m going to be blamed for saying in public what any number of people have wondered about it private...
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Posted on May 21, 2013, 12:40 pm | 1 comment
Topics: Synod
Although I read through the Structure and Culture Report (page 348), although I looked at the budget numbers, I remain unconvinced that the tail isn’t trying to wag the dog.
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Posted on May 13, 2013, 10:30 am | 3 comments
Topics: Synod
By far, the issue with greatest coverage in the Agenda is that of a Study Report out of the Office of Deacon Task Force. I really recommend reading it for yourselves as I believe the report is a model of how these things ought to be laid out. It is confessional, conversant in the relevant threads of church polity and winsome to boot.
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Posted on May 7, 2013, 12:41 pm | 49 comments
Topics: Synod
I confess to having run stuck on Overtures 3 & 4. Perhaps you have too? No matter your opinion, most of us aren’t diffident in holding them or taciturn in voicing them. Let’s own that at the outset. These overtures seem likely to create a 2013 synod sensation.
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Posted on April 24, 2013, 6:57 pm | 3 comments
Topics: Synod
I mentioned in my last blog post that I have never been a delegate to Synod. Judging from that post, I’ll bet you can see why. But I do have an inkling of admiration for the Sheila Holmes and George Vander Weits and Thea Leunks of our denomination. God bless them, every one!
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Posted on April 23, 2013, 9:09 am | 4 comments
Topics: Synod
The Church Order can teach us a few things about Synod and all of these things outlined are laudable goals and important issues for the life of the denomination: ecumenical relationships, orthodoxy in belief and worship. But I still don’t see the why in Synod. Is it possible the day might come when we recognize a thriftier and swifty-er way of doing the work commissioned to us?
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Posted on April 16, 2013, 11:43 am | 15 comments
Topics: Synod
THIS YEAR-- dear brethren & sisteren, I have done it. In a feat of institutional fortitude, I have thoroughly skimmed the entire agenda, even marking pages for further consideration. So you might ask yourself (with apologies to the beautiful Hebrew Seder) “How is this year unlike every other year?” Well, dear reader, this year I am your official Synod blogger!
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Posted on March 6, 2013, 9:25 am | 1 comment
Topics: Synod
The Board of Trustees of the Christian Reformed Church in North America met on Feb. 21-22, 2013 in Burlington, Ontario. Here are some of the key items and decisions.
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Posted on October 15, 2012, 2:31 pm | 5 comments
Topics: Synod
Grand Rapids, Mich. – The Board of Trustees of the Christian Reformed Church in North America met on Sept. 27 to 29 at the Prince Conference Center of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.
During this meeting the Board:
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Posted on September 8, 2012, 4:21 pm
Topics: Synod
Synod and Summer 2012 have come and gone. Where I live the weather was hot and dry. Some synod discussions and debates surely may have been hot, in committee, over mealtimes and in plenary sessions. But from what I heard and gleaned, they were never dry. Nor was the Synod Network conversation.
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Posted on August 27, 2012, 9:40 am | 2 comments
Topics: Synod
As the church order implications of our recommendation were discussed in 2011, a motion was made from the floor to delete one sentence from article 59 of the church order: “This public profession of faith includes a commitment to the creeds and confessions of the Christian Reformed Church.” That motion was discussed and approved without comment from our committee, but the instant it was passed we realized that we had blundered in our silence.
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Posted on August 21, 2012, 8:45 am | 17 comments
Topics: Synod
This piece is neither a report nor an evaluation. It is an account of my own feelings and reactions to Synod 2012. Feelings, as we all know, are fickle. Some of mine are not as vibrant as they were that first week in June. But they continue, nonetheless, so I am taking the risk of sharing some of them with you who are reading this now.
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Posted on August 13, 2012, 3:37 pm | 3 comments
Topics: Synod
How about a comprehensive creation care audit of our denominational, congregational and personal practices and attitudes of entitlement or perceived necessity, not just to reuse and recycle, but to reduce environmental impact?
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Posted on August 3, 2012, 5:10 pm | 5 comments
Topics: Synod
Though largely respectful the debate and vote on creation care were not without their oddities. Four registered negative votes on three recommendations indicate that at least three decisions drew disapproval.
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Posted on July 25, 2012, 4:21 pm | 5 comments
Topics: Synod
This letter is written primarily in response to Overture 3, which requested that a study be conducted to determine “the difference between the mission of the church as institution and as organism” (Agenda for Synod 2012, p. 467), regarding whether the official church may take and proffer positions on certain matters or whether such matters should be left to individual members of the church.
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