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?
One of our members told me yesterday that her non-Christian husband asked her to watch it with him. I am praying that God will use this series as the open door through which this man will step asking more questions and perhaps finding the answers in Christ.
Thought provoking piece, Sam. Thank you. We are both Calvin Seminary class of 1979 and the same age.
Until this past fall I had planned to retire early from my current charge in Howard City, but God gave me a distinct nudge to accept a new challenge. I thought at age 60 no church would be interested and was surprised to receive two calls a week apart. In three months I head to Anchorage, Alaska to serve Trintiy CRC until retirement. I am hoping for and expecting good things to happen.
There is a lot to be said for the wisdom and skill that comes from experience. I encourage pastors not to stop using those gifts too quickly, and churches not to reject them too quickly, either.
Bert, I will be two months short of ten year here when I leave. I went exactly ten years at my last church. Nothing to brag about, just how God prompted. That said, I remember sitting with a pastor going through a nasty separation after about 13 or 14 years in his church. As part of the process he needed to be evaluated by the occupational psychologist used by the denomination. One thing that psychologist said has stuck with me ever since. Very few people have the ability to effectively serve as the key leader of any American institution for more than ten years. He pointed to Lee Iacocca at Chysler and others. I think he was probably right.
We are looking forward to our first moose sighting. Just hoping it is not on the Alaska Highway as we drive up.
From the report: "Instructed the Executive Director, in consultation with staff, to review and propose a revision to the Public Declaration of Agreement with the Forms of Unity, in light of the newly adopted Covenant for Officebearers and the new status of the Belhar Confession." After Synod 2012 carefully reached a compromise so that no one would have to subscribe to the Belhar Confession, is BOT now instructing that the Public Declaration of Agreement that is read at synod is to include the Belhar? That is what it sounds like.
Thanks, Henry. My flag went up with the explicit reference to "the new status of the Belhar Confession" in the BOT instruction. Synod made clear that it did not want the Belhar to be a document that people would have to subscribe to, and referencing it in the Public Declaration of Agreement would suggest at least some level of subscription.
ARTICLE 76 (The report of Advisory Committee 9 is continued from Article 74.) Advisory Committee 9, Creation Stewardship, Mr. Lawrence Hoogerhyde, Sr., reporting, presents the following: Creation Stewardship Task Force B. Recommendations (continued) Call to Action In response to section XI, 1 of the task force’s report regarding the “Doctrine of Discovery” (p. 348), the Advisory Committee recommends: That synod affirm the necessity for the CRC to examine, better understand, and respond to the “Doctrine of Discovery” and related legal instruments—particularly in their origins, their historical effects, and their continuing effects on indigenous peoples in Canada and the United States. To that end synod instructs the Board of Trustees to form a small task force with a clear mandate, process, and time frame composed of knowledgeable CRC staff, board members, and appropriate resource persons. The task force will be expected to keep the church informed throughout its work and to conclude its work with a summary report of its findings and, if appropriate, recommendations to the Board of Trustees and synod for further action. Ground: This responds appropriately to the Creation Stewardship Task Force report’s conclusions that, although a deeper understanding of the “Doctrine of Discovery” and related legal instruments could be very helpful in clarifying our cultural attitudes toward caring for creation, the issues raised by the “Doctrine of Discovery” and related instruments cut deeply across the entire spectrum of the church’s life and ministry in Canadian and U.S. society and, therefore, merit a separate effort. —Adopted
Chris, I think you will find the week filled with times of joy, greater awareness, times of excitement and others of tedium. Relax. Enjoy the process, even if at times it seems unnecessarily complex. I've been to a few, and have seen God's hand at work in final resolutions to seemingly intractable problems. I'll see you next Friday.
Our classical prayer coordinator produces a half page bulletin insert to be published the Sunday before classis. Each edition highlights the ministy of one congregation and notes items of interest at the upcoming meeting. The stated clerk is going to begin distributing a summary of highlights of the decisions of each classis meeting to distribute to all the churches. It's hard to know the best balance. Weekly communications may be ignored because of their regularity. The problem with publishing to a classical web site is someone has to go there to find the information. Pushing out six communications a year for publication in church bulletins may be accepted and used by more churches.
In my experience, knowing the source does make a difference in how we judge the weight of a comment. I have never posted an anonymous comment anywhere. Some may think knowing I am commenting adds weight, others the opposite. But they will know the source.
Bill Vis
P.S. As a pastor I occasionally receive anonymous communication. I always destroy such.
precherkid, I didn't condemn anonymous comments on the web. I merely note they carry less weight than when a comment comes from a named source I know and trust. Not sure how you make the leap to child abuse. As a mandatory reporter I have and will report such when there is credible evidence.
What's the rush? We adopt a new confession once every 150 years or so. We amend every 30 years or so. Allowing an extra year for a broad denominational discussion isn't unreasonable. Also, having a significant consensus on confessional changes would help avoid further division in the CRCNA. The overture deliberately avoided requiring the classical concurrence for church order changes so as not to gum up the works. But confessional changes go to the foundation of what we believe. Gaining broad consensus is warranted.
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?
Posted in: The BIBLE on the History Channel
One of our members told me yesterday that her non-Christian husband asked her to watch it with him. I am praying that God will use this series as the open door through which this man will step asking more questions and perhaps finding the answers in Christ.
Posted in: I Don't Want to Be One of Those Pastors
Thought provoking piece, Sam. Thank you. We are both Calvin Seminary class of 1979 and the same age.
Until this past fall I had planned to retire early from my current charge in Howard City, but God gave me a distinct nudge to accept a new challenge. I thought at age 60 no church would be interested and was surprised to receive two calls a week apart. In three months I head to Anchorage, Alaska to serve Trintiy CRC until retirement. I am hoping for and expecting good things to happen.
There is a lot to be said for the wisdom and skill that comes from experience. I encourage pastors not to stop using those gifts too quickly, and churches not to reject them too quickly, either.
Here is a link to the article Sam mentions: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/april/quitting-time.html
Posted in: I Don't Want to Be One of Those Pastors
Bert, I will be two months short of ten year here when I leave. I went exactly ten years at my last church. Nothing to brag about, just how God prompted. That said, I remember sitting with a pastor going through a nasty separation after about 13 or 14 years in his church. As part of the process he needed to be evaluated by the occupational psychologist used by the denomination. One thing that psychologist said has stuck with me ever since. Very few people have the ability to effectively serve as the key leader of any American institution for more than ten years. He pointed to Lee Iacocca at Chysler and others. I think he was probably right.
We are looking forward to our first moose sighting. Just hoping it is not on the Alaska Highway as we drive up.
Posted in: BOT Highlights - September 2012
From the report: "Instructed the Executive Director, in consultation with staff, to review and propose a revision to the Public Declaration of Agreement with the Forms of Unity, in light of the newly adopted Covenant for Officebearers and the new status of the Belhar Confession." After Synod 2012 carefully reached a compromise so that no one would have to subscribe to the Belhar Confession, is BOT now instructing that the Public Declaration of Agreement that is read at synod is to include the Belhar? That is what it sounds like.
Posted in: BOT Highlights - September 2012
Thanks, Henry. My flag went up with the explicit reference to "the new status of the Belhar Confession" in the BOT instruction. Synod made clear that it did not want the Belhar to be a document that people would have to subscribe to, and referencing it in the Public Declaration of Agreement would suggest at least some level of subscription.
Posted in: BOT Highlights - September 2012
Article 76, page 806 in the 2012 Acts. In full:
ARTICLE 76
(The report of Advisory Committee 9 is continued from Article 74.)
Advisory Committee 9, Creation Stewardship, Mr. Lawrence Hoogerhyde, Sr., reporting, presents the following:
Creation Stewardship Task Force
B. Recommendations (continued)
Call to Action
In response to section XI, 1 of the task force’s report regarding the “Doctrine of Discovery” (p. 348), the Advisory Committee recommends:
That synod affirm the necessity for the CRC to examine, better understand, and respond to the “Doctrine of Discovery” and related legal instruments—particularly in their origins, their historical effects, and their continuing effects on indigenous peoples in Canada and the United States. To that end synod instructs the Board of Trustees to form a small task force with a clear mandate, process, and time frame composed of knowledgeable CRC staff, board members, and appropriate resource persons. The task force will be expected to keep the church informed throughout its work and to conclude its work with a summary report of its findings and, if appropriate, recommendations to the Board of Trustees and synod
for further action.
Ground: This responds appropriately to the Creation Stewardship Task Force report’s conclusions that, although a deeper understanding of the “Doctrine of Discovery” and related legal instruments could be very helpful in clarifying our cultural attitudes toward caring for creation, the issues raised by the “Doctrine of Discovery” and related instruments cut deeply across the entire spectrum of the church’s life and ministry in Canadian and U.S. society and, therefore, merit a separate effort.
—Adopted
Posted in: Great Expectations: Synod—through a Rookie’s Eyes
Chris, I think you will find the week filled with times of joy, greater awareness, times of excitement and others of tedium. Relax. Enjoy the process, even if at times it seems unnecessarily complex. I've been to a few, and have seen God's hand at work in final resolutions to seemingly intractable problems. I'll see you next Friday.
Posted in: The Secret Society
Our classical prayer coordinator produces a half page bulletin insert to be published the Sunday before classis. Each edition highlights the ministy of one congregation and notes items of interest at the upcoming meeting. The stated clerk is going to begin distributing a summary of highlights of the decisions of each classis meeting to distribute to all the churches. It's hard to know the best balance. Weekly communications may be ignored because of their regularity. The problem with publishing to a classical web site is someone has to go there to find the information. Pushing out six communications a year for publication in church bulletins may be accepted and used by more churches.
Posted in: Our Attitudes Toward Our Leaders
pdr,
In my experience, knowing the source does make a difference in how we judge the weight of a comment. I have never posted an anonymous comment anywhere. Some may think knowing I am commenting adds weight, others the opposite. But they will know the source.
Bill Vis
P.S. As a pastor I occasionally receive anonymous communication. I always destroy such.
Posted in: Our Attitudes Toward Our Leaders
precherkid, I didn't condemn anonymous comments on the web. I merely note they carry less weight than when a comment comes from a named source I know and trust. Not sure how you make the leap to child abuse. As a mandatory reporter I have and will report such when there is credible evidence.
Posted in: Like a Mighty Turtle...
What's the rush? We adopt a new confession once every 150 years or so. We amend every 30 years or so. Allowing an extra year for a broad denominational discussion isn't unreasonable. Also, having a significant consensus on confessional changes would help avoid further division in the CRCNA. The overture deliberately avoided requiring the classical concurrence for church order changes so as not to gum up the works. But confessional changes go to the foundation of what we believe. Gaining broad consensus is warranted.