From: Darrell128@aol.com Date: Thu, 3 Oct 1996 08:21:03 -0400 (EDT) NR #1996-101 Northern Michigan Nixes Ordination for Mary-Lee Bouma Before deciding to prepare for the ministry herself, Mary-Lee Bouma used to tell women seminarians that they were sinning by preparing for ordination. Classis Northern Michigan didn't quite tell Bouma that she was sinning by accepting a call to pastor Trinity Christian Reformed Church of Mt. Pleasant, but it won't be ordaining her. Meeting September 24 in the Upper Peninsula hamlet of Kincheloe, classis voted by an 18-13 margin not to exercise the option given to it by Synod 1995 to declare the word "male" in the denominational church order to be inoperative. As a result, Bouma cannot be ordained in any church of the classis. In a subsequent vote, the classis also voted to grant the church its blessings if it desired to join a classis which allows the ordination of women. That decision places Mary-Lee Bouma in the ironic position of having to seek ordination through an option originally designed for conservatives seeking to escape classes which allow the ordination of women. NR #1996-093: For Immediate Release Northern Michigan Nixes Ordination for Mary-Lee Bouma by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service KINCHELOE, Mich. (September 30, 1996) URNS - Before deciding to prepare for the ministry herself, Mary-Lee Bouma used to tell women seminarians that they were sinning by preparing for ordination. Classis Northern Michigan didn't quite tell Bouma that she was sinning by accepting a call to pastor Trinity Christian Reformed Church of Mt. Pleasant, but it won't be ordaining her. Meeting September 24 in the Upper Peninsula hamlet of Kincheloe, classis voted by an 18-13 margin not to exercise the option given to it by Synod 1995 to declare the word "male" in the denominational church order to be inoperative. As a result, Bouma cannot be ordained in any church of the classis. While Bouma is free to accept a call to any church in the fourteen classes that have voted to allow women in office, she probably won't be doing so. In a subsequent vote, the classis also voted to grant the church its blessings if it desired to join a classis which allows the ordination of women. That decision places Mary-Lee Bouma in the ironic position of having to seek ordination through an option originally designed for conservatives seeking to escape classes which allow the ordination of women. When Synod 1995 voted to allow each of the CRC's 46 classes to make its own decision on the ordination of women, it may have made something like the Bouma case inevitable. Located on the campus of Central Michigan University, Trinity CRC of Mt. Pleasant bears few similarities to the rural farm churches that dominate the classis. Even some of the speeches by ministers advocating Bouma's ordination were followed by fiery speeches by the elders of their own churches opposing women in office. The final vote - by an even wider margin than the 17-15 vote on the same question last March - made clear that a classis of rural northern Michigan farmers didn't want to make an exception for a struggling campus ministry. For the first time since being called two years ago as the unordained pastor of Trinity CRC, Bouma took the floor of classis to express her views on the ordination of women, noting that she once shared the view of most delegates that the Bible prohibits women's ordination. "My women friends who were going off to seminary, I would sit them down and tell them they are in sin," said Bouma. "They would smile at me and tell me I need to study what the Bible says; I said I don't need to study the Bible, I know what the Bible says." Pointing to six pages of overtures from her church, Bouma reminded the delegates that she affirms Scriptural inerrancy and urged the classis to view the church's defense of women in office not as an attempt to convince the delegates to change their position on women in office or Scriptural authority. Instead, Bouma said, the classis should evaluate whether the church had made a Scripturally-responsible presentation of a position with which the church realized many of the classical delegates would disagree. Trinity CRC's defense of women in office was markedly different from that currently used in the CRC. Never mentioning Galatians 3:28 or an "overall sweep and general thrust" of Scripture, the overture instead focussed on a detailed exegesis of I Corinthians 11, I Corinthians 14, and I Timothy 2 along with briefer citations of other passages which the church says "refer to women as ministers or workers in the gospel ministry using the same language in the Greek which is used for the men." According to the overture, the passages usually cited to oppose the ordination of women "do not forbid women's ordination or even refer to ordained ministry" because "in the New Testament, ministry is defined as service and not primarily as authority." Since women in the New Testament taught and ordination is not primarily authoritative, reasoned Trinity CRC, the Scriptural prohibitions on women teaching or having authority over men have more to do with prohibiting authoritative domineering than with prohibiting humble service by women. "We ask you to make room for us, just to make room for us," said Bouma. "We don't believe it's a salvation issue, we do think it's an important issue, but we think that we can live together in the same classis." While new, the Trinity CRC argument didn't persuade the classis. "I try to work together as best I can with people of all different perspectives, but there comes a time when you have to say, 'where do you draw the line and say you will not compromise the Scripture?'" asked Rev. Merlin Buwalda of Lake City CRC, noting that the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council were already drawing that line in places that appeared to exclude the CRC. Buwalda also noted that the CRC has lost 24,000 members since 1992, over seventy percent of the decline due to secessions by those opposing women in office. "The likelihood of us losing a significant number of more churches is very real," said Buwalda. "I've been a fan of '400,000 by 2000,' but you don't hear Home Missions saying that anymore. We're more likely to lose forty thousand members by the year 2000." Rev. Ken Nydam of Cadillac CRC didn't share Buwalda's concerns. "The Reformed tradition finds itself very nicely between evangelical fundamentalism and Protestant liberalism," said Nydam. "I'm not concerned about losing the many people who may leave our denomination over women in office because that is evangelical fundamentalism. That is not a Reformed position and we should not worry about losing people who do not hold a Reformed position." After classis rejected Trinity CRC's overture to declare the word "male" inoperative, it moved to a second overture seeking to allow the local church to ordain Bouma with the assistance of the classis but without declaring the word "male" inoperative. Included in the overture was a section noting that "some have suggested that we petition Classis Lake Erie to join it" but stating that "we do not wish to do that." After debate, classis declined to pass either of the Trinity CRC overtures but instead voted to declare "that Trinity Mt. Pleasant, with regret, be given permission to explore the possibility of leaving this classis to associate with another." The motion, originally proposed by supporters of women in office, was amended on the floor by opponents of women in office in an effort to take the "edge" off a motion which some delegates feared would send a wrong signal to Trinity CRC. In the end, both supporters and opponents of women in office concurred that leaving the classis was probably the only solution that would satisfy both sides as well as the local church. While Trinity CRC's overture and floor debate made clear that the church didn't want to leave Classis Northern Michigan, Bouma confirmed in a subsequent interview that the church was now looking into that as its only remaining option. "We asked them what in the world do you want us to do; we are stuck," said Bouma. "We're looking at this point at talking to a couple of different classes and seeing who might be hospitable to us, and we have the unique opportunity to seek out a classis," said Bouma. "It feels like our classis has said they don't want us." The pastor of Escondido (CA) CRC, which submitted the overture which led to the synodical decision to allow churches to transfer between classes, wasn't much more pleased than Bouma with the vote in Classis Northern Michigan - although he did express hope that the decision would set a clear precedent allowing conservatives to do the same thing. "I guess we expected that, it didn't take them too long; hopefully other conservative congregations in liberal classes will be able to do the same thing," said Cammenga. "But it still doesn't solve the real problem, we are in a denomination that has played fast and loose with the church order and with the Word of God, and that means we are responsible whether we are in a conservative classis or not." While Trinity CRC might also seek affiliation with one of several other classes which have voted to allow the ordination of women, the one most frequently mentioned is Classis Lake Erie, whose Saginaw church is closer to Trinity CRC than any church in Classis Northern Michigan. Pastor George Vander Weit, stated clerk of Classis Lake Erie, didn't mind the possibility of picking up another church but wasn't very happy at the reasons behind it. "I'm not real pleased that churches will start moving from one classis to another, I think it gives a terrible testimony to the inability of Christians to live together," said Vander Weit. "If synod can declare that any congregation may have a woman elder as long as that elder does not attend classis meetings, certainly Northern Michigan could have declared that Mt. Pleasant could have a woman pastor as long as she did not attend classis meetings." Vander Weit also noted that the classical decision came only a few days before the annual day of prayer for the persecuted church. "The conservatives in the denomination have expressed the fear that in the future the progressives will force their will on them and insist that they have women officebearers, but in the present they seem to have no difficulty forcing their will on fellow Christians," said Vander Weit. Classis Northern Michigan's vote to grant its blessing to a transfer of Trinity CRC to another classis clearly didn't please much of anyone in the short term. However, if other classes do the same with conservative churches opposed to women in office, classis transfer may end up being the compromise that nobody likes but most can tolerate. Cross-References to Related Articles: #1994-043: Second Woman Pastor to Serve Christian Reformed Church; Mary-Lee Bouma to "teach, expound the Word of God, and provide pastoral care" as an unordained solo pastor of Trinity CRC, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan #1996-019: Christian Reformed Decline Reaches 9.2% of Denomination; Fourth Consecutive Year of Decline Costs CRC Over 24,600 Members, Drops Denomination Back to 1979 Levels #1996-026: Northern Michigan: No Ordination for Mary-Lee Bouma #1996-076: CRC Synod Rejects 25 Overtures and Communications Calling for End to Classical Option on Ordination of Women #1996-077: Churches Allowed to Switch Classes for Theological Reasons Contact List: Miss Mary-Lee Bouma, Expounder, Trinity Christian Reformed Church 211 W. Broomfield, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858 O: (517) 772-0664 Rev. Merlin Buwalda, Pastor, Lake City Christian Reformed Church 403 John St., Box 659, Lake City, MI 49651 O: (616) 839-4978 * H: (616) 839-4424 * FAX: (616) 839-3099 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 Rev. Kenneth Nydam, Jr., Pastor, Cadillac Christian Reformed Church 509 E. Garfield, Cadillac, MI 49601 O: (616) 775-5291 * H: (616) 775-5914 Pastor George Vander Weit, Stated Clerk, Classis Lake Erie 2901 Waterloo Dr., Troy, MI 48084 O: (810) 645-1990 * H: (810) 649-5388 * E-Mail: northhills@juno.com ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr96-101.txt .