I originally wrote this for the congregation I serve in, but I know there are others who are interested in a summary and reflection of what took place at the CRC Synod 2022. Here are my thoughts...
As I sit back in the parsonage on Saturday morning following Thursday’s adjourning of Synod 2022, I’m able to begin processing what took place over the last week. It is settling in that this meeting has finally happened and is finished! The last week has been tiring in every way possible. While I met more great brothers and sisters in the faith from across our denomination and had wonderful and encouraging conversations, there was great stress. Given the weighty matters, strong beliefs, impacts on people, local congregations, classes, and the denomination’s future, it was expected to be stressful, but reality was still greater. While I don’t like being away from our congregation for about three weeks, trust me when I say I’m glad I’m taking off for vacation, too.
First, thank you! Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support in recent weeks and months leading up to this meeting. I apologize that I didn’t provide more information on the prayer Google doc. Part of that was we (delegates) were cautioned from being too active on social media, and I didn’t want this to be seen as me trying to get around that. But part of the limited amount of posts was we were really that busy, the days were that long, and much was fluid in terms of what was dealt with and how long or short things went. While everyone was drained on the final day (several people, including myself, slept through our alarms), we praise God for keeping us alert, attentive, and listening through long hours on the floor. I trust there were many answers to prayer!
I know brevity is important and it’s easy to not even read lengthy writings, but the length of this report shows how much ground we covered. It was truly mind-blowing at some point on Wednesday to realize that we had a particular conversation just the previous morning and yet it felt like so much more time had passed.
What happened?
-Significant Retirements: Colin Watson, Sr.-Executive Director; John Bolt-Deputy Executive Director/long-time Chief Financial Officer; Dee Recker-long-time Director of Synodical Services; Michael Le Roy-Calvin University President. We are a denomination in transition.
-Denominational Restructuring: Deliberations went fairly quickly in regard to the Structure and Leadership Task Force (SALT) report, which showed extensive work by the advisory committee, trust in the work of the COD, and saving energy for the deliberations that were still to come. There is no longer an “Executive Director,” but instead a “General Secretary” (an ecclesiastical officer) and a “Chief Administrative Officer” (an administrative officer). These will be housed in the “Office of the General Secretary,” which is not specifically U.S. or Canadian ministry oriented. There will also be an Executive Director-Canada and its counterpart, a Director of U.S. Ministry Operations. The impact of this will be wait and see. We heard from Canadian delegates (and it’s been spoken elsewhere before) that there are cultural issues going on in the Canadian CRC. In these positions, at the appointment of Synod or the Council of Delegates are Dr. Zachary King-General Secretary; Joel Huyser-Director of U.S. Ministry Operations; Al Postma-Transitional Executive Director-Canada (the national directors will be reviewed after two years).
-Educational/Theological/Practical Preparation of Ministers in the CRC: Calvin Theological Seminary recently went through a curriculum “overhaul,” which involved changes/reductions especially in biblical languages and preaching. Part of this has to do with the increased accessibility to Bible software tools like Logos or simply the internet as well as people pursuing MDiv. degrees or seminary in general not just to pursue congregational ministry. The Candidacy Committee also made some significant changes to their expectations/requirements. Conservative delegates, largely, argued that we need to do more and have a very high bar for those seeking to enter ministry.
-Ministry Shares: Giving to the CRC’s ministries through ministry shares is down significantly, especially in the United States. Classes have been instructed to collect information as to why that is. Time will tell how much the decisions of this year further affect this positively and negatively.
-Classical Delegations to Synod: Classes have traditionally been encouraged to send 4 delegates to Synod. It used to be 2 pastors and 2 elders. About a decade ago, deacons were added, and classes were asked to send a pastor, an elder, a deacon, and another officebearer, which usually ends up being another pastor. Many classes struggle to find deacon delegates, and if they do, they may not always have an alternate. If that person is unable to attend, they only have 3 instead of 4, and thus a limited voice. In response to a couple overtures, Synod decided classes should ordinarily aim to send a pastor, an elder, a deacon, and another officebearer, but if you can’t, you may substitute any alternate officebearer into any of the spots so long as you don’t have more than 2 of a particular office. So, a classis should send a pastor, an elder, a deacon, and another officebearer, but may send 2 pastors and 2 elders, 2 pastors and 2 deacons, or 2 elders and 2 deacons.
-Denial of Penal Substitutionary Atonement was not termed “heresy”: Several years ago, a CRC pastor did deny penal substitutionary atonement in at least one sermon. CORRECTION: This congregation has disaffilliated with the CRC, but the pastor is still listed as a CRC pastor in the yearbook and minister database. At the advisory’s committee recommendation, we did not apply the label of “heresy” to the denial of this—partly because of 9 previously decided marks of heresy for the CRC, but we did 1) “declare that it is a serious deviation from the teachings of the confessions of the [CRC] to in any way deny that Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection provide a substitutionary work of bearing God’s wrath on our behalf because of the just punishment we deserve for our sin…2)…Declare that any officebearer who explicitly denies penal substitutionary atonement is worthy of special discipline…” While not “heresy,” it is a disciplinable offense.
-The Human Sexuality Report (HSR): Much time was spent in prayer with lament and grief for the pain people have experienced around rejection by the church and Christians, and for discernment, unity, love, truth, and grace. We knew there’d be pain to some no matter what happened. Synod discussed this and Neland Ave. in closed session (the general public was kept out of the gallery). There were small (100+ people) groups who protested on two of the days outside the Covenant Fine Arts Center. Throughout these deliberations, we were encouraged to see that what happened and what was decided should not be seen in “win/loss” terms. That being said, what Synod determined and adopted fits what [I] hoped it would.
Some key selections from what was adopted… 1) Synod thanked the study committee who wrote the HSR, the many who shared stories, and those who contributed to these deliberations. 2) The whole advisory committee agreed and Synod adopted that pornography is pervasive and harmful, and we should “lead our churches into repentance and healing.” 3) The whole advisory committee agreed and Synod adopted that the pastoral care sections offer “sound, introductory guidance to the churches and strongly encourage continuing conversations around the complex issues within the HSR and how to faithfully implement these practices in the life of the church.” 4) No additional committees of study of this are needed. 5) Synod recommended “the HSR to the churches as providing a useful summary of biblical teaching regarding human sexuality.” 6) Synod affirmed “that ‘unchastity’ in the Heidelberg Catechism Q. and A. 108 encompasses adultery, premarital sex, extra-marital sex, polyamory, pornography and homosexual sex, all of which violate the Seventh Commandment. In so doing, synod declares this affirmation ‘an interpretation of [a] confession.’ Therefore, this interpretation has confessional status…This is consistent with the intent of Recommendation D in the HSR.” 7) “Sexual violence within and outside of covenantal marriage” should also be understood in “unchastity.”
-Abuse of Power/Code of Conduct: While the denomination’s employees and Council of Delegates have signed on to a Code of Conduct, the attempt to apply this same Code to all local officebearers and potentially church employees has been pushed back. The reason is not a rejection of all such codes, but murkiness in language, the thought that it’s better for local congregations to apply this on their own terms—even using much of the Code provided, questioning the effectiveness of this for those it’s trying to catch, and elevating it to the same level as the Covenant for Officebearers.
-Neland Avenue CRC (Grand Rapids church that ordained a woman in a same-sex marriage as a deacon): 1) Synod instructed “Neland Avenue CRC to immediately rescind its decision to ordain…, thus nullifying this deacon’s current term.” 2) Synod instructed “Neland Avenue CRC to uphold our shared denominational covenants and procedures as laid out in the Church Order and the Covenant for Officebearers.”3) Synod instructed “the [General Secretary] to appoint a committee…to meet with Neland Avenue to oversee its compliance…to meet with Classis Grand Rapids East to admonish them…to report to the meeting of Classis Grand Rapids East in the autumn meeting and make pertinent recommendations for its deliberations and actions. If necessary, to invite three other classes to assist the committee in dealing with the issues regarding Neland Avenue CRC. To report to Synod 2023…its own actions and any classical actions taken and present its recommendations.”
-Clergy Use of Pornography: After recognizing pornography is also included in the confessional understanding of “unchastity,” and plenty of research which has shown that a number of pastors have struggled with pornography at some point in their life, why did we not adopt a recommendation titled, “Curtail Clergy Use of Pornography.” There are resources available for churches to do what this is asking, but it’s difficult for what was being proposed “to be successful in resolving the issue; it will not address the underlying issue. Given the presence of personal electronic devices, monitoring church devices will not likely address the issue or solve the problem.” We are not saying don’t take this seriously. We’re not saying this isn’t an issue. This is a matter we’re telling churches to deal with and take responsibility of, not the denomination.
-Race and Justice: All of us are responsible, especially officebearers, to teach and live out a biblical understanding against racism and seeking the justice and flourishing of all people, and “to provide opportunities for listening, learning, and practicing civil dialogue on the difficult conversations needed to better understand one another’s perspective on racism and biblical justice.”
Things that need to be watched:
-Most of the votes around the HSR and Neland Avenue were affirmed by about 70-74%, well above a simple majority, showing there is a lot of agreement throughout the denomination and classes about what is believed on these matters. This wasn’t just the “old, white, male” vote. There is a strong contingent of young pastors fighting for the orthodox, confessional position. There is strong representation from significant minority-ethnic groups in the CRC (especially Korean, Navajo, Latino) that fights for this as well. These votes will have a far-reaching impact.
-Pastors and officebearers throughout the denomination, and what does this look like at the classis-level, so we don’t have to go through a Neland Avenue situation repeatedly.
-Most, though not all, of the progressive and LGBTQ+-affirming congregations are around Grand Rapids and in Canada. What will these congregants, congregations, and classes do?
-Institutions and denominational staff and Calvin University employees/potentially Calvin Theological Seminary employees: It’s no secret that a number of denominational employees have membership in Classis Grand Rapids East churches, the same classis that Neland Avenue is a part of and which continued to not discipline them. As another pastor commented, the culture of the CRC in West Michigan is different from most places throughout the rest of the denomination.
-Outside our denomination—will some conservative RCA congregations who have not yet left decide to affiliate with the CRC?
-I think [the binational classis I serve in] needs to hear more specifically about “the cultural issue” from our Canadian churches. The impression I have from many in the U.S. is that the denomination is just that—wherever and whoever it reaches. I’ve slowly started wrapping my mind around that there are distinct ministries operating in each the U.S. and Canada. The purposes/goals/aims and theological foundations of these organizations may be different, though.
-Ongoing conversations around the necessity of having so many official CRC ministries.
-Our relationship with the Reformed Church in America (RCA), the Alliance of Reformed Churches (ARC), and Kingdom Network USA (both of these split from the RCA in 2021).
This was a reformation moment, but the work is not anywhere near done. The CRC will continue to navigate difficult conversations and situations, but this was a solid step in the right direction.
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