NR #1996-065: Women in Office Leads Orthodox Presbyterians to Suspend Ties with CRC, Will Terminate in 1997 Unless CRC Changes The General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC), meeting at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Penn., voted on June 12 to suspend ties with the Christian Reformed Church. According to the official resolution adopted by the General Assembly, "unless the 1997 regular general assembly determines that the intervening actions of the Christian Reformed Church in North America warrant a reversal of this action or a continuation of the period of suspension, the relationship of ecclesiastical fellowship with the Christian Reformed Church in North America shall be terminated with the close of that assembly." The OPC has had close relations with the CRC since its founding and has had relations with the CRC longer than any other North American denomination. Only the CRC's mother church, the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, and a few of the GKN's other daughter denominations have continuously maintained ties with the CRC longer than the OPC has maintained fraternal relations with the CRC. NR #1996-065: For Immediate Release Women in Office Leads Orthodox Presbyterians to Suspend Ties with CRC, Will Terminate in 1997 Unless CRC Changes by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (June 14, 1996) URNS - The General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC), meeting at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Penn., has voted to suspend ties with the Christian Reformed Church. According to the official resolution adopted by the General Assembly on June 12, "unless the 1997 regular general assembly determines that the intervening actions of the Christian Reformed Church in North America warrant a reversal of this action or a continuation of the period of suspension, the relationship of ecclesiastical fellowship with the Christian Reformed Church in North America shall be terminated with the close of that assembly." CRC General Secretary Dr. David Engelhard had just received the OPC letter today and declined comment pending review of the letter by the synodical officers and the Interchurch Relations Committee. OPC denominational officials provided copies of the General Assembly minutes dealing with the matter but could not immediately be reached for further comment. The 20,000-member Orthodox Presbyterian Church, founded in 1936 after the Presbyterian Church (USA) deposed Westminster Theological Seminary founder Dr. J. Gresham Machen due to his opposition to liberal trends in that denomination, has had close relations with the CRC since its founding. The CRC was largely responsible for providing the funding that kept Westminster alive during the Great Depression of the 1920's and has had relations with the OPC longer than any other North American denomination. Only the CRC's mother church, the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, and a few of the GKN's other daughter denominations have continuously maintained ties with the CRC longer than the OPC has maintained fraternal relations with the CRC. The OPC General Assembly cited the CRC's debate over relations with the GKN in its official letter to the CRC Synod. "We appreciated your struggle in 1993 as you wrestled with the nature of your continuing relationship with your mother church, the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland," wrote the OPC General Assembly. "You were faced with (then) recent decisions of the synods of the GKN to allow conduct that in your judgment was contrary to the Scriptures and in conflict with the decisions of your own synod, with the observation that your own concerns and protests regarding these decisions had not moved the synod of the GKN to modify its position, and with a concern over the laxity within the GKN in dealing with ministers and other leaders who openly promoted views conflicting with the Reformed confession." "Today we find ourselves in a similar situation with respect to the decisions of your 1995 Synod, and we confess, brothers, we find it every bit as distasteful as you did in 1993," wrote the OPC. "But we have promised, and with this letter are keeping that commitment, to engage in 'the exercise of mutual concern and admonition with a view to promoting the fundamentals of Christian unity.'" The OPC General Assembly - which has been studying the question of continued fraternal relations with the CRC since the CRC first voted in 1990 to open the offices of minister, elder, and evangelist to women subject to later ratification - warned with regard to ordaining women that "it now appears that you have chosen to follow a different course, one that abandons the standards and beliefs of all the other member churches of [the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council], and violates our relationship of Ecclesiastical Fellowship." Following the initial 1990 decision, Synod 1992 allowed women to do most of the work of ministers and elders without ordination, Synod 1993 allowed women to be ordained subject to ratification in 1994, Synod 1994 declared that Scripture prohibited women's ordination, and Synod 1995 allowed each of the CRC's 46 regional classes to ordain women by declaring the word "male" to be "inoperative" in the denomination's church order. So far, 14 classes have made that declaration. Citing the 1994 CRC synod decision banning women's ordination, the OPC warned the CRC that "the ordination and/or installation of women to the office of elder, minister, or evangelist is contrary to the Scriptures." The OPC General Assembly also warned that the method of declaring parts of the CRC church order to be "inoperative" was disorderly and a violation of the Scriptural requirement in I Corinthians 14:40 that "all things should be done decently and in order." "Brothers, we plead with you to repent," wrote the OPC General Assembly. "What you have done and the manner in which you have done it do not bring honor to the name of Christ." The OPC action follows similar steps taken by the Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland or CGKN) and the Reformed Churches in New Zealand (RCNZ). Last year, the CGKN terminated fraternal relations with the CRC and the RCNZ suspended fraternal relations, both over the issue of women in office. Cross-References to Related Articles: #1993-028: Christian Reformed Synod Votes Down Advisory Committee Majority, Approves Women Elders and Ministers; Afternoon and Evening Sessions Reject Call to Take Action Against Calling God "She," Send Children at the Lord's Table Question Back to Study Committee #1994-035: Christian Reformed Synod Rejects Women in Office on Biblical Grounds #1994-036: Two Hundred Women Take Over Synod Floor in Protest Against Christian Reformed Denial of Women's Ordination; Synod Votes to "Urge" Churches Not to Ordain Women Elders, Pastors #1995-067: Christian Reformed Synod Votes to Keep Fraternal Relations with Gereformeerde Kerken Despite Advocacy of Gay Rights #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 Contact List: NOTE TO EDITORS: Most synodical delegates are staying on the campus of Calvin College. To reach delegates in their dormitory rooms during Synod 1996, expected to adjourn on or before June 20, call Calvin College at (616) 957-0000 or contact the synodical news office at the following numbers: Synod News Office: Press Officers Rev. Robert De Moor and Rachel Boehm Van Harmelen O: (616) 957-8652 * F: (616) 957-6469 Pre-Recorded Synod News Hotline: (616) 224-0841 or toll-free (888) 277-9663 Rev. Donald Duff, Stated Clerk, Orthodox Presbyterian Church 614 Roberts Ave., Glenside PA 19038-3711 * O: (215) 956-0123 * H: (215) 887-4901 * FAX: (215) 957-6286 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 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. Tom Tyson, Editor, OPC New Horizons 908 Fernhill Rd., Glenside, PA 19038 * O: (215) 956-0123 * H: (215) 886-8315 * FAX: (215) 957-6286 Rev. Richard S. E. Vissinga, President, Synod of the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland Watermunt 11, 8265 EL Kampen, NETHERLANDS ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr96-065.txt .