NR #1996-090 Free Reformed Synod Breaks Relations with Harold Camping's Church; Approves Issuing Call to Westminster Prof Joey Pipa Meeting from June 5 to 7 at the Free Reformed Church of Dundas, Ontario, the 1996 synod of the Free Reformed Churches of North America dealt with a number of internal items and two major items dealing with churches outside the 3600-member denomination: whether the Free Reformed Church of St. Thomas, Ontario, should be allowed to call Westminster Theological Seminary professor Dr. Joey Pipa and whether the denomination should break its "restricted correspondence" relationship with the church founded by Harold Camping of Family Radio. Synod decided in the affirmative on both issues. NR #1996-090: For Immediate Release Free Reformed Synod Breaks Relations with Harold Camping's Church; Approves Issuing Call to Westminster Prof Joey Pipa by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service (July 30, 1996) URNS - Meeting from June 5 to 7 at the Free Reformed Church of Dundas, Ontario, the 1996 synod of the Free Reformed Churches of North America dealt with a number of internal items and two major items dealing with churches outside the 3600-member denomination: whether the Free Reformed Church of St. Thomas, Ontario, should be allowed to call Westminster Theological Seminary professor Dr. Joey Pipa and whether the denomination should break its "restricted correspondence" relationship with the church founded by Harold Camping of Family Radio. The relationship with Camping's church, Alameda (CA) Reformed Bible Church, dates back to 1982 when contacts with some of the members of the denomination's Seattle home mission station led to an invitation to supply the Alameda pulpit on an occasional basis. Camping, a former member of the Christian Reformed denomination, is best-known as the founder of Family Radio, a nationwide broadcast ministry which maintains radio stations throughout the United States. While generally Calvinistic, his views of eschatology and Scriptural interpretation came under severe criticism in Reformed circles when he published a book announcing that the world might end in the year 1994. According to synod chairman Rev. Pieter VanderMeyden of the Grand Rapids Free Reformed Church, the restricted correspondence relationship was originally established despite concerns about the decision by Camping's church to amend portions of the Dutch Reformed confessions. "When it became clear that their development became impervious to correction because of their changes of the creeds we felt we had to cut off contact," said VanderMeyden. VanderMeyden said that Camping's changes in the creeds arose from his objections to Abraham Kuyper's doctrine of presumptive regeneration - objections shared by the Free Reformed. "We see him as somewhat overreacting in his treatment of sacramental language that is found in the creeds," said VanderMeyden. "He objects very strongly to calling baptism the seal of the covenant, insisting that only the Holy Spirit seals. That language in the creeds , as well as the form for baptism, is radically altered." The 1996 synodical action followed a decision by last year's synod to send a letter to the consistory of Alameda Reformed Bible Church asking it to indicate how they evaluate Camping's views and at what points they distance themselves from his views as well as the relationship between the church and Family Radio. Prior to Synod 1995, two Free Reformed ministers had also visited the church and personally discussed their concerns with Camping. However, when Synod 1996 received no response to the previous year's letter, it voted to break ties. The other major action of Synod 1996 may become a footnote in Free Reformed history or become far more significant. After studying the denominational church order, synod ruled that there was no prohibition against the St. Thomas Free Reformed Church issuing a call to Dr. Joseph Pipa, director of advanced studies at Westminster Theological Seminary in California and one of the leading Puritan scholars in North America. Pipa is currently a PCA minister and pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Escondido. "We found they had adequately investigated his credentials and presented it in an orderly fashion and nothing presented an objection to extending a call," said VanderMeyden. "The consistory is considering proposing it to their congregation but it hasn't gone further than that. It may be that the interest that this article stirs may be premature." Synod also reminded the St. Thomas consistory that if Pipa is called and accepts that call, he will still have to sustain a colloquium doctum examination by synod. The interest in Pipa on the part of a denomination composed almost entirely of Dutch immigrants stems from a mutual interest in and devotion to the theology of the Puritans. Most of the Free Reformed congregations date back to the mass influx of Dutch immigrants from its "mother church," the strongly conservative 75,000-member Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland. "Our distinctives have to do with what we call experiential Calvinism and that distinctive is probably most focussed on the manner and concept of preaching which we feel needs to have not only the authority of proclamation and exposition of the Word of God and also a discriminating application to the heart and conscience, together with a description of the work of grace in leading a person to Christ and his communion with Christ in the process of sanctification," said VanderMeyden. "The early immigrants sensed very soon that Kuyper's teaching regarding presumptive regeneration had continued to leave its mark on the view of the congregation and preaching in the Christian Reformed denomination," said VanderMeyden. "What they heard was that the congregation was viewed organically, to use one of Kuyper's concepts, as the people of God, the elect, the regenerate, converted, who simply needed to come to the consciousness of their salvation and to work it out, to manifest it in good works." In other business, synod voted to provisionally adopt a report on principles and procedures for discussions with other Reformed denominations and to organize the Bellevue mission station, pastored in the Seattle suburbs by former CRC minister Rev. Kuldip Gangar, on September 6. When the Bellevue church becomes an organized congregation, the Free Reformed denomination will have three instituted churches in the United States, twelve in Canada, and one in the Central American country of Guatemala. Cross-References to Related Articles: [No related articles on file] Contact List: Elder Harold Camping, Alamdeda Reformed Bible Church 290 Hegenberger, Oakland, CA 94501 O: (510) 568-6200 Free Reformed Church of St. Thomas 143 St. George St., St. Thomas, ON N5P 2M3 O: (519) 631-6800 Dr. Joseph Pipa, Professor, Westminster Theological Seminary in California 1872 Hemmingway Ct., Escondido, CA 92027 O: (619) 480-8474 * H: (619) 738-8651 Rev. Pieter Vander Meyden, Pastor, Grand Rapids Free Reformed Church 946 Ball Ave. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 O: (616) 456-5910 * H: (616) 458-3250 ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr96-090.txt .