Did Synod 2024 Ignore or Violate Church Order?

Canard: a false or unfounded report or story; a groundless rumor or belief

There is a damaging canard floating around certain places within the CRC.  It goes something like this: Synod 2024 showed a disregard for Church Order by making up an entirely new category called “limited suspension,” which is foreign to our polity.  I won’t cite sources here, as my focus is not on the people or groups saying this but rather on what is being said.

What are we to make of this claim?  Is it true that Synod was just making things up to suit their fancy?  It is not difficult to grant that the phrase “limited suspension” is not in our Church Order. One will search in vain to find the phrase.  But does that make it accurate to say that Synod “ran roughshod” (as is said in one place) over the Church Order by assigning limited suspension?  Only if one makes the mistake of misunderstanding the role of nouns and adjectives.

In the phrase “limited suspension,” “suspension” is a noun and “limited” is an adjective.  The adjective does not change the reality of the noun, it simply modifies or describes the noun.  Take, for example, a “big truck” or a “white duck”.  The words “big” and “white” in these examples do not change the presence of the truck or duck, they just tell us what kind of truck or duck we are dealing with.

The same is true for “limited suspension”.  What Synod was enacting was a suspension, and the word “limited” only serves to modify or describe the type of suspension that was enacted.  The fact that the suspension is described does not make it any less a suspension – it’s just a suspension of a certain type and extent.   I'll use another example to demonstrate what I mean. In high school, I was suspended for two days as a disciplinary measure.  My suspension was a “2-day suspension.”  It certainly was a suspension, which was within the authority of the superintendent to assign to me.  But it could have been a month-long suspension as well.  The superintendent had to use his judgment about the nature and severity of the suspension. 

Likewise with Synod.  Under Articles 82 and 83 the Church Order stipulates suspension for officebearers who violate the Covenant for Officebearers or seriously deviate from sound doctrine or godly conduct.

Article 82 All officebearers, in addition to being subject to general discipline, are subject to special discipline, which consists of suspension and deposition from office. 

Article 83 Special discipline shall be applied to officebearers if they violate the Covenant for Officebearers, are guilty of neglect or abuse of office, or in any way seriously deviate from sound doctrine and godly conduct.

What the Church Order does not attempt to stipulate is the nature or extent of this suspension. Do we suppose that all suspensions are or should be identical?  If so, we do not demonstrate pastoral wisdom.  In the wisdom and grace of Synod, the decision was made to apply a suspension that was not complete or full, but rather was modified as limited. This is not a violation of or disregard for Church Order, but a measured application of the language of church order. 

What is particularly ironic is that typically I’ve seen the “Synod violated Church Order” canard mixed with sentiment that Synod was heavy-handed.  In fact, the opposite is true.  Synod could have applied the plain terms of the Church Order to the maximum extent of their potential effect, namely, immediate full suspension followed by deposition from office.  Instead, Synod demonstrated pastoral wisdom, showed restraint and grace, and enacted a limited form of suspension while calling for restoration of those very same officebearers.  It is not true that to limit or modify a suspension makes it an illegitimate suspension. This was not Synod making things up, but rather taking the language of the Church Order seriously while applying it carefully. 

We are living through a time of some disturbance in our life together in the CRC.  We ought to move through this time while speaking truthfully about what is happening and what has been enacted.