Classis Structure
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Posted on May 16, 2012, 4:15 pm
Topics: Classis Structure
We need to talk! Talk as never before, talk as family, bound together across our differences by His blood and Spirit and love. We need to relearn to speak the truth in love, to engage each other with patience, with good listening, with thoughtful discernment, with humor, with...
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Posted on April 13, 2012, 6:39 pm | 80 comments
Topics: Classis Structure
If the CRC is going to continue to allow both the egalitarian position and the complementarian positions on women in office, how should the complementarian position be expressed in classis?
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Posted on April 2, 2012, 7:17 am | 2 comments
One of the best kept secrets about the CRC’s life as a denomination is that exciting changes are percolating at the classical level. We take it for granted that agencies are thriving and doing effective work. But exciting change at the classical level? Have you heard any recent buzz about that?
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Posted on March 13, 2012, 10:13 am | 1 comment
When you step off the plane in Missoula, MT, you feel embraced by the surrounding hills. I felt that way at the meeting of Classis Yellowstone too.
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Posted on January 9, 2012, 12:06 pm | 2 comments
Topics: Classis Structure
We have no titles, hats or golden staffs in the CRC, but don't be fooled, the CRC has bishops and I praise God for them. I think we might benefit from chilling a bit on our egalitarian and libertarian culture and find ways to recognize how to employ this natural dynamic of leadership for the benefit of the church.
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Posted on September 14, 2011, 1:41 pm | 1 comment
Topics: Classis Structure, Prayer
I was told that the synod and the classis don’t really exist. These are not organizations that exist over time; they were not intended to become pieces of bureaucracy. They only exist when they are in session. They are decision making bodies that are convened to do specific business, and then they go out of existence until the next one happens.
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Posted on August 10, 2011, 2:23 pm | 11 comments
Topics: Classis Structure
The denominational structure is a drama queen that too often distracts Synod from where its focus should be. Let's trying thinking outside the box. What if we got Synod out of the agency management business? Could shifting resources from the denominational to the classical level better serve the church by reinvesting in local ministry? Would local ministry flourish if your classical budget were two to three times its current size?
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Posted on August 1, 2011, 12:37 pm | 2 comments
Topics: Classis Structure
Classis is sometimes viewed as a sort of forgotten middle child, but it is really a foundational structure the value of which I don't think we have fully explored. When denomination is "too big", and one classis is "too small", can inter-classical partnerships fit "just right"?
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Posted on June 29, 2011, 5:16 pm
Until spring of 2010 Classis Hamilton had been following a 1950’s model of church governance which was heavy on administration and maintenance leaving churches feeling isolated from each other. Through the re-visioning process Classis Hamilton wanted new values of ministry, mission, and community to emerge with less administration, less maintenance, and less isolation between churches.
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Posted on June 27, 2011, 10:21 am | 1 comment
Topics: Classis Structure
At most classis meetings, CRC agencies and other ministries and organizations that are affiliated with the classis report in. Classis meetings are often seen as a good way of getting their information out to the churches. But is this type of reporting really the best way to get the information out?
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Posted on June 20, 2011, 2:24 pm | 7 comments
Topics: Classis Structure, Mission and Vision
No more "exceptional gift" entry for Ministers of the Word (Article 7) by Classis. In 2010 Synod discouraged affinity classes. In 2011 Synod didn't like ratifying confessional changes at Classis. It's not difficult to see within these debates the tension between uniformity and diversity, between trust and control.
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