NR #1995-106C: For Immediate Release Interclassical Conference Urges Christian Reformed Synod to Lead Denomination in Repentance; Calls for Formation of "Covenant Union" of CRC Conservatives by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. (November 8, 1995) URNS - Meeting at First Christian Reformed Church in the southeast Chicago suburb of South Holland on November 6 and 7, an unprecedented 290 delegates from 110 of the Christian Reformed denomination's 985 churches gathered for a conference whose registration form required each voting delegate to state that "Synod 1995 failed to follow the Scripture and violated Church Order Articles 3, 31, 47, and 86" by its decision to allow women in office and maintain fraternal relations with the CRC's mother church, the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, despite its tolerance of homosexual marriages. This represents over ten percent of the denomination, which has 294,000 members in 985 local churches. While not attending as delegates, a number of other prominent CRC officials were present as observers - including Calvin Seminary president Dr. James A. DeJong and CRC General Secretary Dr. David Engelhard. Headlining the conference was a motion, adopted by a large voice vote majority, to call the Christian Reformed synod to lead the denomination in repentance. The text of the call to repentance will be drafted by the officers of the conference, but conference chairman Rev. Andrew Cammenga confirmed that the call to repentance will respond to Synod 1995's decisions allowing women to serve as ministers, elders, and evangelists and its failure to break ties with the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, despite its tolerance of homosexuality. Both items were cited in the call to convene the conference. To accomplish these goals, the conference also voted to form a Covenant Union of Christian Reformed Churches (CUCRC) seeking "to return the Christian Reformed denomination to its historical biblical positions regarding important denominational issues." The Covenant Union, to be organized as a non-profit corporation, is to hold an annual conference and may hold regional meetings as well to "encourage its members to form a united front in their participation in classical and synodical sessions." Other specific objectives for the Covenant Union will be to "assist in the preparation of overtures and communications," "promote education for office bearers," "enable its members and member churches to do ministry," and "promote the restoration of discipline in its member churches." To organize the Covenant Union, the conference voted to have its officers appoint a group of conference participants to "create the organizational structure, recruit churches and individual members, prepare communications regarding CUCRC to advise all CRC churches, classes, and denominational functionaries, [and] solicit ideas from its members about what synodical actions would demonstrate an appropriate change in direction for our denomination." Responding to the actions of six classes which have exercised an option given them by Synod 1995 to permit the ordination of women by declaring parts of the church order "inoperative," the conference voted to "endorse the idea of classes based on the idea of theological affinity for churches that in conscience believe they must be part of such classes." Adding some "teeth" to the call to repentance, the conference also adopted a resolution to "inform synod that should she not humble her heart in repentance before the Lord, this conference will reconvene next year to consider a proposal to form a new denomination." Opening Worship by Eppinga Most of the first day of the conference was devoted to an opening worship service and sermon by Rev. Jacob Eppinga, retired pastor of LaGrave Avenue CRC in Grand Rapids and longtime columnist for The Banner, the official denominational weekly of the CRC. Eppinga - long known as a moderate conservative - had strong words for the denomination he has served for decades. "I perceive myself generally as a conservative on things that matter and a liberal on things that do not matter," said Eppinga, noting that at one time he had been regarded as one of the CRC's more progressive members by urging a loosening of some practices. However, Eppinga said the time had now come to "tighten up." "There are times when I feel that the denomination into which I was born doesn't really exist anymore," said Eppinga. "Men are not supposed to weep, at least not in public, but I am not ashamed to stand before you this afternoon and shed some tears at what I take to be a crisis in our existence." Eppinga described his experience attending a conference at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, a leading seminary of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, the former Southern Presbyterian denomination now merged into the Presbyterian Church (USA). The speaker, John Leith, had warned Eppinga that the changes that made the PC(US) into a liberal denomination were coming to the CRC but Eppinga had denied that they could ever happen to the CRC. "I was wrong and Leith was right, so I eat the words I uttered then," said Eppinga. "Given the fact that all is not well with us, and that the good ship CRC has sprung some leaks, what do we do?" asked Eppinga. Answering his own question, Eppinga said there were three options for CRC members: go blithely on as if nothing is happening, abandon ship, or work to plug the leaks. Eppinga cited an article by the Episcopal scholar David Mills who noted five stages in denominational attitudes in the face of theological conflict: denial, centralization, homogenization, frantic activity, and finally the "cleansing or expelling of the so-called divisive members." "To combat drift, ennui, malaise, that has replaced a zeal for the Reformed faith among so many is not an easy task," said Eppinga. "We need such a defining moment, because it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to know who we are." Eppinga said that the CRC had some "defining moments," such as Synod 1994's decision that the clear teaching of Scripture prohibits the ordination of women to the offices of minister, elder, or evangelist. However, according to Eppinga, the CRC had recently had more "undefining moments" marked by compromise, such as Synod 1991's decision to back down from a clear stance of opposition to theistic evolution and Synod 1995's decision to allow churches to have women elders without classical or synodical approval and for classes to declare parts of the church order "inoperative" to officially approve women in office without ever changing the church order. Eppinga also cited the recent decision of Classis Grand Rapids East to avoid a clear stand on whether gay marriages are sinful as another example of such an "undefining moment." In the close of his speech, Eppinga noted that the founders of the CRC had greatly suffered to organize the denomination. "They half-froze to death in their sod huts in the wintertime, they were half-eaten to death by mosquitoes in the summertime, the infant mortality rate among them was high, disease took its tool from among their ranks, and they were dirt-poor, and yet with only nickels in their pockets, they built the schools and the churches we have inherited from them; they gave us a heritage," said Eppinga. "Have we lost their love, our first love?" Following Eppinga's sermon, the delegates were led in prayers of praise and thanksgiving, repentance and confession, and intercession by three Christian Reformed conservatives: Dr. Joel Nederhood, director of the CRC's Back to God Hour broadcast ministry, Elder Robert den Dulk, retired president of Westminster Theological Seminary in California, and Rev. Casey Freswick, pastor of Newton (NJ) CRC. Before adjourning to committees, the delegates voted to make Cammenga and Rev. Randy Lankheet, the chairman and secretary of Classis California South's interim committee, the chairman and reporter for the conference. Delegates also voted to elect Rev. Tom Vanden Heuvel, pastor of First CRC of Byron Center, Michigan, and editor of the conservative Outlook magazine, as co-chairman; Dr. John Sittema, pastor of Bethel CRC in Dallas and board president of Mid-America Reformed Seminary was elected to serve as co-reporter. In his closing speech for the day, Cammenga urged the delegates to do their committee work with care and diligence. "We were concerned that these decisions would erode our already-bleeding church. We have already lost too many of our godly members, and we cannot stand much more of that," said Cammenga, alluding to the loss of over seven percent of the CRC's membership in the last three years due in large part to the secession of 55 congregations with over ten thousand members, not counting the 1993 secession of over forty percent of the CRC's Korean membership. Both groups left over the issues of women in office and homosexuality. "We are not here today or tomorrow to bash our denomination; we love her too much for that," said Cammenga. "We are here to find solutions that would honor God and preserve our Reformed heritage." Four Motions Seeking Consensus After an evening session of committee work on Monday, the conference returned to full session on Tuesday morning to hear committee reports and act on their recommendations. The four motions calling the denomination to repentance, establishing the Covenant Union, endorsing the idea of classes based on theological affinity, and to call another conference to consider secession if synod does not repent were the only formal motions officially passed by the conference. However, the conference also heard reports from a number of committees assigned to consider proposals brought to the meeting, each of which were presented prior to the mid-day coffee break. According to the conference minutes, the chairman noted "that these materials are for the use of church councils in the drafting of their own overtures" and therefore "final language does not have to be agreed upon at this conference." This ruling by the chair and the decision to adopt four "summary thoughts from the officers of the conference seeking to put three to four items of consensus" drafted during the mid-day coffee break avoided a conflict over several items, most notably a proposal by Cloverdale CRC in Boise, Idaho "to consider and make plans for a secession from the Christian Reformed Church of North America as a united group of like-minded churches." The committee assigned to deal with the Cloverdale proposal and two other items did not specifically respond to the Cloverdale proposal. That wasn't acceptable to some of the conference delegates. Rev. Casey Freswick, pastor of Newton (NJ) CRC, read a Scripture passage from Malachi 1 in which the priests of Israel complain about the polluted sacrifices being presented by the people but continue to offer them to God and are severely rebuked by God for doing so. "The priests come together and say it is a terrible situation, but the priests keep offering the sacrifices," said Freswick. "The Lord says in verse 10, 'Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,' says the Lord, 'and I will accept no offering from your hands.'" "How can I continue to offer up unacceptable sacrifices to God in the CRC?" asked Freswick. The consensus proposal drafted by the conference officers during the coffee break sought to address the concerns of Freswick and others. Conference co-chairman Rev. Tom Vanden Heuvel resumed the meeting with a reading of a declaration passed earlier this summer by the Presbyterian Church in America calling the CRC to repent of allowing women in office and commending those within the CRC who opposed liberalizing trends. "Rev. Eppinga put his finger on it precisely yesterday," said Vanden Heuvel. "It is a spiritual issue, a stand that we are prepared to take as a defining moment. We must stand for the truth and call our mother to repentance and a change, which is what repentance means, a change that leads back to the heart of God which is the heart of that item." Rev. John Vermeer, pastor of First CRC in Sheldon, Iowa, wondered whether the synodical delegates would ever see a call to repentance issued by the conference. "Will this ever get to the floor or will it be ruled out of order because it was not processed through the assemblies?" asked Vermeer. Elder Jake Klassen of West Sayville (NY) CRC noted that the repercussions of refusing to include a call to repentance in the synodical agenda could be extreme. "I think most of us who came here today want the synod to say something," said Klassen. "If synod wants to throw this in the wastebasket, then the blood will be upon their heads, because we have to speak." Elder Harvey Williams from Calvin CRC in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, urged even stronger action, noting that the consensus proposal was drafted by the officers and that all of the conference officers were ministers despite the fact almost three-fourths of the participants were elders or deacons. "This overture will be overwhelmingly, resoundingly defeated at synod," said Williams. "I refuse to pimp anymore for the apparatus of this denomination. I don't control this denomination, you don't control this denomination, they do. I won't be back next year, and neither will many other brothers and sisters, unless you do something radical." Rev. Tim Turngren of Momence (IL) CRC shared Williams' concern that the proposal was too weak. "What I've heard here is a lot of denominational idolatry, and if the synod says no, what do we do then?" asked Turngren. "I would speak against this motion because it simply continues the idea that we can remain Christian Reformed no matter what they do." However, Rev. Bernard Tol of North Street CRC in Zeeland, Mich., said the consensus proposal - particularly the call to allow churches to join classes organized according to theology rather than geography - was in fact a radical proposal and should be appreciated by those calling for strong action. "What we have before us is very radical, but twenty years ago those who asked for women in any of the offices were very radical," said Tol. "They kept coming and coming, and eventually they got what they wanted." The portion of the consensus proposal to call another conference next year to consider secession if synod does not repent drew fire not only from those who thought it was too weak but also from those who thought it was too radical. "There are many in the church who may be wrong on this issue," said Rev. David Feddes, minister of English broadcasting and listener follow-up at the CRC's official radio and television ministry, the Back to God Hour. "Someone who confesses the entire Apostles' Creed, confesses salvation by the blood of Christ, is my brother in Christ." Rev. Ken Benjamins of Wyoming (Ont.) CRC reminded the delegates that he pastored a church from which a number of conservatives had seceded several years earlier and urged careful action before even hinting at secession. "Slow down," urged Benjamins. "We are accomplishing a whole lot already, so let's slow down." However, the majority of the conference thought it important to combine a call to repentance with a warning of possible future action - so long as that action was framed as a meeting to consider secession, not a meeting to secede. "We are not voting on articles of secession, we are voting on whether to hold another conference to discuss the possibility of secession," said Rev. Bradd Nymeyer of Phoenix (AZ) CRC. Rev. Larry Howerzyl of Sully (IA) CRC, shared Nymeyer's views: "If you want synod to listen to what you say, you have to mean what you say," said Howerzyl. "You have to vote for this motion." In the end the consensus proposal submitted by the officers passed by a wide voice vote majority - apparently gaining the support of most who thought it either too weak or too strong. If Synod 1996 does not repent and if the following conference does not call for secession, the Covenant Union proposal is likely to become the major focus of conservative activity in the CRC. According to Dr. W. Robert Godfrey, president of Westminster Theological Seminary in California and a conference delegate, the "Covenant Union" is modelled after an earlier group of conservatives in the mainline Presbyterian Church (USA) at the time of the disruptions which led to the formation of Westminster Theological Seminary and finally of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in 1936. "I think its purpose is to try to gather as many individuals and churches together to try to promote those ideas together," said Godfrey. "I think the aim is to make it as large a group as possible, and in that sense perhaps it will rally more people behind it." Godfrey emphasized that neither the Covenant Union of the 1930's nor the new Covenant Union formed this year were intended to promote secession - although that eventually happened in the PC(USA) when the denominational leadership deposed Dr. J. Gresham Machen, the founder of Westminster Seminary, for organizing an independent board for Presbyterian missionary work rather than supporting the approved denominational boards. "The original Covenant Union was a union designed to try to call the PC(USA) back to Reformed orthodoxy and faithfulness," said Godfrey. "There obviously are a series of actions that are called for by the conference and we'll have to look at how the synod and the denominational leadership respond to our call for repentance before we can predict whether there will or won't be a secession." Denominational General Secretary Responds Not everyone was pleased by the conference's decision to call the Christian Reformed denomination to repent and to warn that a new denomination could be formed if the CRC did not repent. According to CRC General Secretary Dr. David Engelhard, who attended the meeting as an observer, the conference exceeded its mandate. "The first day of course was mostly spent in worship which had wonderful singing and a good presentation by Rev. Eppinga," said Engelhard. "Tuesday morning I thought the conference went well until coffee time, and then after the coffee time I was deeply disappointed because I thought they were going toward building an infrastructure toward a new denomination." According to Engelhard, part of the problem was the Cloverdale proposal, but another part was the fact that the consensus proposal came from the officers rather than out of a response to the Cloverdale proposal. "It strikes me that there was a little duplicity toward what their intentions were," said Engelhard. "Although the Cloverdale overture was there, it was the officers rather than a preadvisory committee on the Cloverdale overture who presented that proposal, three of whom had told me that forming a new denomination was not their intention, and that suggests to me that they were trying to direct the body in a certain direction." Although Engelhard expressed dismay at the call to repentance, he focussed particular concerns on the warning that a new denomination could be formed. "That kind of pressure or illegitimate means reminds me of the situation of a young couple in marriage counselling who says we love each other, we are fine Christians, but we will only stick together if she lives up to my expectations or he lives up to my expectations," said Engelhard. "These people would be very opposed to divorce in human situations, as I am, but they seem to have a different view of divorce in an ecclesiastical context." "I understand it is only to consider a proposal, but it seems to me that the conference went far beyond what they had said they would do, and consequently that their intentions may have been far from noble," Engelhard said. However, Rev. Andrew Cammenga - who in addition to serving as conference chairman pastors the church which originally called for the conference and repeatedly declared prior to the conference that its intent was not to lead a secession out of the CRC - continued to insist that he did not come to the conference to lead a secession. "The purpose of the calling of the conference had nothing to do with secession," said Cammenga. "The final outcome of the conference was, of course, something the originators had no control over in a sense; this was a compromise which we hoped would still keep churches within the bond of the Christian Reformed Church, give them some hope that we are not going to be satisfied with mere talk." Cammenga said he hoped that neither secession nor any of the other options would ever need to be considered. "No, I don't want to secede," said Cammenga. "We really want to see the denomination return to its first love as Rev. Eppinga read last night from Revelation." Cammenga said he was pleased with most of what happened. "We are very happy with the number of churches and conferees who attended, with the spirit of the conference even amidst people of quite different opinions," said Cammenga. "I think we have some very positive things to work for, and considering the very short time that we had I think it was very profitable." Meeting in the Chicago suburb of South Holland, an unprecedented 290 delegates from 110 of the Christian Reformed denomination's 985 churches voted to call the Christian Reformed synod to lead the denomination in repentance. The call to repentance will respond to Synod 1995's decisions allowing women to serve as ministers, elders, and evangelists in the 294,000-member denomination and its failure to sever ecclesiastical fellowship with the CRC's mother church, the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, despite its earlier decision to admit practicing homosexuals to church membership and to ordain them to church office. The conference voted to form a Covenant Union of Christian Reformed Churches seeking "to return the Christian Reformed denomination to its historical biblical positions regarding important denominational issues." Adding some "teeth" to the call to repentance, the conference also adopted a resolution to "inform synod that should she not humble her heart in repentance before the Lord, this conference will reconvene next year to consider a proposal to form a new denomination." Cross-References to Related Articles: #1995-070: Christian Reformed Classes Permitted to Declare Church Order Ban on Women's Ordination "Inoperative"; Synod Decision Given Immediate Effect without Two-Year Ratification Process #1995-074: Synod Rejects Two Efforts to Require 1996 Ratification of Women in Office Decision #1995-075: Synod Permits Classes to Declare Second Church Order Article "Inoperative"; Women May Now "Expound" or "Exhort" #1995-081: Classis California South Calls Special Meeting to Discuss Christian Reformed Women in Office Decision #1995-082: California South Calls Conference of Christian Reformed Classes, Councils, to Address Women in Office Decision #1995-093: California South Announces Date and Location for Interclassical Conference of Christian Reformed Conservatives #1995-094: Iakota Rejects Interclassical Conference #1995-095: Classis Illiana "Encourages" Churches to Attend Interclassical Conference of CRC Churches Opposed to Women in Office Contact List: Rev. Ken Benjamins, Pastor, Wyoming Christian Reformed Church PO Box 445, 529 Superior St., Wyoming, ON N0N 1T0 * O: (519) 845-0244 * H: (519) 845-3442 Rev. Richard Blauw, Pastor, First Christian Reformed Church 16304 South Park Ave., South Holland, IL 60473 * O: (708) 333-8211 * H: (708) 225-1431 * FAX: (708) 333-6722 Rev. Andrew Cammenga, Pastor, Escondido Christian Reformed Church 1850 N. Broadway, Escondido, CA 92026 * H/O/FAX: (619) 745-2324 * E-Mail: ACAMMENGA@aol.com Elder Robert den Dulk, Past President, Westminster Theological Seminary in California c/o First CRC, 2175 Leoni Dr., Hanford, CA 93230 * O: (209) 584-2235 Dr. David Engelhard, General Secretary, Christian Reformed Church in North America 2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49560 O: (616) 246-0744 * H: (616) 243-2418 * FAX: (616) 246-0834 * E-Mail: engelhad@crcnet.mhs.compuserve.com Rev. Jacob Eppinga, Pastor Emeritus, LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church 2141 Ontonagon SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506 * H: (616) 241-2415 Rev. David Feddes, Minister of English Broadcasting and Listener Contact, The Back to God Hour 6625 Maple Lane Dr., Tinley Park, IL 60477 * O: (708) 371-8700 * H: (708) 614-7276 * FAX: (708) 371-1415 Rev. Casey Freswick, Pastor, Newton Christian Reformed Church 47 Condit St., Newton, NJ 07860 * O: (201) 383-9635 * H: (201) 383-2263 * E-Mail: CFrez@aol.com Dr. W. Robert Godfrey, President, Westminster Theological Seminary 1725 Bear Valley Parkway, Escondido, CA 92027 * O: (619) 480-8474 * H: (619) 741-1635 * FAX: (619) 480-0252 Rev. Larry Howerzyl, Pastor, Sully Christian Reformed Church 103 - 9th Ave., Sully, IA 50251 * O: (515) 594-4440 * H: (515) 594-4449 Elder Jake Klassen, West Sayville Christian Reformed Church c/o West Sayville CRC, 31 Rollstone Ave., West Sayville, NY 11796 * O: (516) 589-4688 Rev. Edward Marcusse, Pastor, Cloverdale Christian Reformed Church 8989 Craydon Pl., Boise, ID 83704 * O: (208) 375-4219 * H: (208) 377-4256 Dr. Joel Nederhood, Director of Ministries, The Back to God Hour 18507 Locust Ave., Lansing, IL 60438 * O: (708) 371-8700 * H: (708) 474-4189 * FAX: (708) 371-1415 Rev. Bradd Nymeyer, Pastor, Phoenix Christian Reformed Church 2434 E. Earll Dr., Phoenix, AZ 85016 * O/F: (602) 954-7289 * H: (602) 956-6794 Rev. Bernard Tol, Pastor, North Street Christian Reformed Church 333 Valley Dr., Zeeland, MI 49464 * H: (616) 772-9356 * O: (616) 772-1545 Rev. Tim Turngren, Pastor, Momence (IL) Christian Reformed Church 4132 N. Rte. 1-17, Momence, IL 60954 * O: (815) 472-2943 * H: (815) 472-4592 Rev. Thomas Vanden Heuvel, Pastor, First Christian Reformed Church 2475 - 85th St. SW, Byron Center, MI 49315 * H/O: (616) 878-9278 * F: (616) 878-3256 * E-Mail: TomLaur@aol.com Rev. John Vermeer, Pastor, First Christian Reformed Church 9th St. at 9th Ave., Sheldon, IA 51201 * O: (712) 324-2374 Elder Harvey Williams, Calvin Christian Reformed Church c/o Calvin CRC, 2313 Saemann Ave., Sheboygan, WI 53081 * O: (414) 458-0092 ------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr95-106c.txt .