Did you actually try to understand what is being asked. The denomination, through it's executives and agencies, could address racism and apartheid and everything else on your list. What they could not do is lobby for or against particular laws. Doing so involves analysis of all the detail that goes into crafting what are inevitably compromise bills, often running hundreds of pages long. This exceeds their competence. It also leads the denomination into the swamp of partisanship and thereby damages the unity of the church.
By all means, decry racism and injustice and sin in its many forms. But don't have the denomination or one of its agencies tell the world that Christians support the Senate farm bill and oppose the House farm bill, which actually happened about two years ago.
As the current pastor at this church I agree with everything in this article. It is worth noting that the first two are entirely the councils responsibility. The stable s I agree with everything in this article. It is worth noting that the first two are entirely the councils responsibility. Establishing clear direction on the nature of an acceptable candidate and appointing a truly representative committee are vital. Regarding the fourth item, each search committee should work with the system to be able to filter through applications and profiles in a way that honors the council's direction.
Adam, this is a great question. I suggest you copy it to the Facebook CRC Pastors group as well, of which you are a member.
I'd accept them as members on an appropriate reaffirmation of faith, and baptize their child. I would not make a point of communicating to their Catholic parish that we have done this. Assuming they are faithfully present in your church the communion issue is no big deal, and if they go back to Poland every few years and partake in the mass, that's no big deal either.
Some good points. Especially the one about breaking the flow of worship. Thank you.
But in fairness I think that we can note when a song is new to most people, such as knowing we've not sung it before in this congregation's worship, and help the people sing it well. The following will only apply to churches that use a hymnal.
We introduced Lift Up Your Hearts about a year ago. When we are singing what I am quite certain is a song unknown by most I will generally do two things. I will mention that it may be unfamiliar to many and invite those who read music to open their hymnal rather than just using the projected lyrics. And I will ask the accompanist to play through the whole song one time. It creates a minimal break in the flow while acknowledging that we may need to work a little harder to sing this song well.
Classis Pacific Northwest broke into advisory committees at its meeting two weeks ago. It is arguably the best classis experience I have had in 35 years in ministry. The elders actively participated in great number, as did the minority delegates. One elder said in open session it was the first time he had truly felt a part of a classis meeting. The material was reviewed in depth at the advisory level and the proposals had a measure of care and thoughtfulness uncommon for classis level discussions.
The two major negative considerations are that it is hard for me to see how this can be done well without a two day process, which will be difficult for many elders and deacons. And as at synod, not every advisory committee ends up with similarly weighty material. Those with less difficult matters to consider experienced the first day, in advisory, as time poorly spent.
Phillip, I'd still structure it as a gift. If along with the gift is a semi-formal understanding that they will do their best to give $50 to the benevolence fund to bring it level, that's fine. Two advantages. Because the $50/month is not required it become a tax-deductible gift. And if they run tight in month seven they can use their money to put food on the table that month and drop $50 into benevolence in month 13. The idea of a member being a formal debtor to the church sets my teeth on edge. There is at least as much dignity in freely and joyfully giving to the benevolence fund throughout the year as there is in making mandatory payments.
Thanks for the thoughtful question, Phillip. My personal perspective is that the church is not a bank and does not make loans. In the situation you mention, give the family $600 and help them get on their feet now, not a year from now. Making someone a creditor of the church will inevitably color the spiritual relationship, in a negative way.
In 2010 synod told these churches that they could not transfer to a classis that shared their convictions because the distance was too great. Synod told them to seek a classis closer to home. Since then they have contacted every classis in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Either those classes do not share their complementarian conviction or they are not open to receiving new churches via transfer. Having exhausted every conceivable option offered by Synod 2010, they now return asking conceptual approval for a classis that is reasonably geographically contiguous and that is also complementarian. And there are now fierce arguments to close that door as well.
Second CRC in Kalamazoo has not attended a classis meeting for several years. Does that irreparably damage their local ministry? At a minimum, it cuts them off from any collegial contact. Trinity has missed fewer meetings, but only because the congregations in Grand Rapids North that have women elders have deliberately not delegated those women except when there was no other option. I know that to be fact because I have been stated clerk here for several years. This creates an additional burden on those churches. Approving these overtures would create a process where not only these two churches but others of the same conviction could operate at the classical level while being true to their convictions. It would also free the egalitarian churches in Grand Rapids North the freedom to operate at the classical level in conformity with their convictions without the concern about offending another church.
Synod has established the basic principle that there can be classes that operate with complementarian convictions, and there are several, primarily in the upper Midwest. Synod has said that churches in Michigan may not transfer to these classes because of the distance. So these overtures ask that synod allow the only option left open to them, and set in motion a process that will create a classis that is not geographically distant that operates with complementarian conviction. If synod now says no, is it leaving any options for these congregations other than to either operate in violation of their deeply held convictions or to leave the denomination or to remain within the denomination but live in isolation?
Posted in: Overtures, Politics, & Justice
Did you actually try to understand what is being asked. The denomination, through it's executives and agencies, could address racism and apartheid and everything else on your list. What they could not do is lobby for or against particular laws. Doing so involves analysis of all the detail that goes into crafting what are inevitably compromise bills, often running hundreds of pages long. This exceeds their competence. It also leads the denomination into the swamp of partisanship and thereby damages the unity of the church.
By all means, decry racism and injustice and sin in its many forms. But don't have the denomination or one of its agencies tell the world that Christians support the Senate farm bill and oppose the House farm bill, which actually happened about two years ago.
Posted in: Five Things We Learned in Our Pastor Search Process
As the current pastor at this church I agree with everything in this article. It is worth noting that the first two are entirely the councils responsibility. The stable s I agree with everything in this article. It is worth noting that the first two are entirely the councils responsibility. Establishing clear direction on the nature of an acceptable candidate and appointing a truly representative committee are vital. Regarding the fourth item, each search committee should work with the system to be able to filter through applications and profiles in a way that honors the council's direction.
Posted in: Lent Series Preaching and Worship Ideas
This year I am going through the "I am" statements in John.
https://billygraham.org/decision-magazine/february-2008/the-i-ams-of-jesus/
Posted in: Transferring From Catholic Church to the CRC?
Adam, this is a great question. I suggest you copy it to the Facebook CRC Pastors group as well, of which you are a member.
I'd accept them as members on an appropriate reaffirmation of faith, and baptize their child. I would not make a point of communicating to their Catholic parish that we have done this. Assuming they are faithfully present in your church the communion issue is no big deal, and if they go back to Poland every few years and partake in the mass, that's no big deal either.
Posted in: 4 Reasons Not to Teach a New Song During the Service
Some good points. Especially the one about breaking the flow of worship. Thank you.
But in fairness I think that we can note when a song is new to most people, such as knowing we've not sung it before in this congregation's worship, and help the people sing it well. The following will only apply to churches that use a hymnal.
We introduced Lift Up Your Hearts about a year ago. When we are singing what I am quite certain is a song unknown by most I will generally do two things. I will mention that it may be unfamiliar to many and invite those who read music to open their hymnal rather than just using the projected lyrics. And I will ask the accompanist to play through the whole song one time. It creates a minimal break in the flow while acknowledging that we may need to work a little harder to sing this song well.
Posted in: How Does Your Church Celebrate Mother's and Fathers' Day?
We will be printing and reading "The Wide Spectrum of Mothering" this year. Pdf download can be found at this link:
http://www.messymiddle.com/.../an-open-letter-to-pastors.../
Posted in: How Does Your Church Celebrate Mother's and Fathers' Day?
Here is the full link: http://www.messymiddle.com/2012/05/10/an-open-letter-to-pastors-a-non-mom-speaks-about-mothers-day/
Posted in: Break It Up
Classis Pacific Northwest broke into advisory committees at its meeting two weeks ago. It is arguably the best classis experience I have had in 35 years in ministry. The elders actively participated in great number, as did the minority delegates. One elder said in open session it was the first time he had truly felt a part of a classis meeting. The material was reviewed in depth at the advisory level and the proposals had a measure of care and thoughtfulness uncommon for classis level discussions.
The two major negative considerations are that it is hard for me to see how this can be done well without a two day process, which will be difficult for many elders and deacons. And as at synod, not every advisory committee ends up with similarly weighty material. Those with less difficult matters to consider experienced the first day, in advisory, as time poorly spent.
Posted in: Interest Free Loans From the Benevolence Fund?
Phillip, I'd still structure it as a gift. If along with the gift is a semi-formal understanding that they will do their best to give $50 to the benevolence fund to bring it level, that's fine. Two advantages. Because the $50/month is not required it become a tax-deductible gift. And if they run tight in month seven they can use their money to put food on the table that month and drop $50 into benevolence in month 13. The idea of a member being a formal debtor to the church sets my teeth on edge. There is at least as much dignity in freely and joyfully giving to the benevolence fund throughout the year as there is in making mandatory payments.
Posted in: Interest Free Loans From the Benevolence Fund?
Thanks for the thoughtful question, Phillip. My personal perspective is that the church is not a bank and does not make loans. In the situation you mention, give the family $600 and help them get on their feet now, not a year from now. Making someone a creditor of the church will inevitably color the spiritual relationship, in a negative way.
Posted in: The Loophole: Losing Your Ordination Without Cause
I am stated clerk in the classis involved. It should be noted that Coleman offered his resignation from ordained ministry, which classis accepted.
Posted in: Overtures 3 & 4: Laying Out the Debate
In 2010 synod told these churches that they could not transfer to a classis that shared their convictions because the distance was too great. Synod told them to seek a classis closer to home. Since then they have contacted every classis in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Either those classes do not share their complementarian conviction or they are not open to receiving new churches via transfer. Having exhausted every conceivable option offered by Synod 2010, they now return asking conceptual approval for a classis that is reasonably geographically contiguous and that is also complementarian. And there are now fierce arguments to close that door as well.
Second CRC in Kalamazoo has not attended a classis meeting for several years. Does that irreparably damage their local ministry? At a minimum, it cuts them off from any collegial contact. Trinity has missed fewer meetings, but only because the congregations in Grand Rapids North that have women elders have deliberately not delegated those women except when there was no other option. I know that to be fact because I have been stated clerk here for several years. This creates an additional burden on those churches. Approving these overtures would create a process where not only these two churches but others of the same conviction could operate at the classical level while being true to their convictions. It would also free the egalitarian churches in Grand Rapids North the freedom to operate at the classical level in conformity with their convictions without the concern about offending another church.
Synod has established the basic principle that there can be classes that operate with complementarian convictions, and there are several, primarily in the upper Midwest. Synod has said that churches in Michigan may not transfer to these classes because of the distance. So these overtures ask that synod allow the only option left open to them, and set in motion a process that will create a classis that is not geographically distant that operates with complementarian conviction. If synod now says no, is it leaving any options for these congregations other than to either operate in violation of their deeply held convictions or to leave the denomination or to remain within the denomination but live in isolation?