From: Darrell128@aol.com Date: Wed, 9 Oct 1996 08:03:23 -0400 (EDT) NR #1996-108 Quotes in United Reformed News Service Prompt Classis Hudson to Unseat Rev. Casey Freswick In an almost-unprecedented action, Classis Hudson has voted to refuse to seat one of its ministerial members without first beginning church discipline procedures. The offense, according to the classis, was that the New Jersey minister stated in an interview with United Reformed News Service that he intended to leave the Christian Reformed denomination. Within minutes of convening on September 25 at Flanders Valley (NJ) CRC, Rev. Harvey Stob of Ridgewood (NJ) CRC moved "that Rev. Casey Freswick of Newton not be seated because of 'schismatic activities and statements." The classis minutes also note that "a document is quoted in which Rev. Freswick calls for his church to leave the denomination" and that after the motion carried, both Freswick and his elder delegate, Pete Teune, left the meeting. NR #1996-108: For Immediate Release Quotes in United Reformed News Service Prompt Classis Hudson to Unseat Rev. Casey Freswick by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service (October 9, 1996) URNS - In an almost-unprecedented action, Classis Hudson has voted to refuse to seat one of its ministerial members without first beginning church discipline procedures. The offense, according to the classis, was that the New Jersey minister stated in an interview with United Reformed News Service that he intended to leave the Christian Reformed denomination. Within minutes of convening on September 25 at Flanders Valley (NJ) CRC, Rev. Harvey Stob of Ridgewood (NJ) CRC moved "that Rev. Casey Freswick of Newton not be seated because of 'schismatic activities and statements.'" The classis minutes also note that "a document is quoted in which Rev. Freswick calls for his church to leave the denomination" and that after the motion carried, both Freswick and his elder delegate, Pete Teune, left the meeting. Not recorded in the minutes is the fact that classis president Rev. LeRoy Christoffels unsuccessfully tried to rule Stob's motion out of order and was overruled by an 11-9 vote. After being unseated by classis, Freswick, Teune, and Freswick's wife left the meeting and were followed out the door by CRC General Secretary Dr. David Engelhard, attending classis as a visitor. According to Freswick, Engelhard spent over an hour talking to him and was later joined by classical stated clerk Rev. Don Wisse for another 45 minutes. The problem stemmed from a July 30 article in United Reformed News Service in which Freswick stated that his church would be overturing the Interclassical Conference to call for a united secession from the CRC. "It's a very difficult situation to know what to do, but that you have to do something is clear," said Freswick in that article. "We are now practicing the ordination of women, and I believe everyone who believes ordination of women is wrong should leave because of biblical principles. 'What do righteousness and wickedness have in common?' That is a quote from Scripture, and this is wickedness." The article also quoted Freswick as stating that the CRC was incapable of disciplining at least some advocates of homosexuality, women in office, and evolution. "I think we need to declare that we are seceding from the denomination as officebearers and step out and do that regardless of whether our local churches do that or not," said Freswick in the article. "We said last year we were going to talk about secession so no one should be surprised that that's going to be on the agenda for discussion, and the agenda is going to be made by asking local congregations to submit overtures." That was too much for some in Classis Hudson to tolerate. "The first thing [Stob] did was he asked me why I was there," said Freswick. "They had called me earlier to confirm that the quotes were accurate. They asked me, did I really say that, 'what does righteousness have to do with wickedness.'" "I had expected this to come up, but I had expected it to come up later, not in a discussion about whether or not to seat me," said Freswick, who said he was attending classis because he was still a Christian Reformed minister and had not yet resigned his standing, because he had been delegated to classis by a church which was still a member of the CRC, and because classis had previously objected when ministers seceded without previously informing the classis of their plans or coming to a final classis meeting. Freswick received strong defense not only from the chairman of the meeting but also from Rev. Jim Stastny, attending classis for the first time as the newly-installed pastor of West Sayville (NY) CRC. Stastny, after apologizing for making a strong speech at his first classis, asked the classis whether any member had filed charges against Freswick with his consistory. After learning that no charges had been filed, Stastny said classis had no right to unseat Freswick without first trying and convicting him of an offense. That argument wasn't persuasive to the classis majority, which argued that Freswick's acknowledged quotes were sufficient evidence to deny him voting rights at their meeting. While no attempt was made to unseat the Newton elder, Freswick said his elder had no interest in staying after his pastor was unseated. "The elder informed classis of what he considered an inconsistency that they would discipline me but not the elders because they believe the same thing I believe, and then he said he couldn't say if I was removed and so he left," said Freswick. Freswick said his conversation with Engelhard and Wisse was frank but civil. "[Engelhard] came out and said if that's what you believe, that's probably what you gave to do," said Freswick. "Given the fact that I believe the ordination of women is a sin, it would probably be very difficult for me to stay in the CRC." "I said I believe that the major difference between the Christian Reformed Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA) was a matter of percentage, not of principle, and he disagreed with that," said Freswick. "That was my point of difference with Dr. Engelhard, that we have made non-confessional that which is confessional and failed to discipline those who deny the confessions. We do not have the same percentage of people who deny the confessions as the Presbyterian Church (USA) but we have the same things going on." In a subsequent interview, Wisse made clear that while he didn't necessarily agree with all the decisions made at classis he believed classis had the right to do what it did. "Schismatic activity within a denomination is when you plead for people to leave," said Wisse. "That's a schism, so I say classis had a legal right to do it, whether they were correct in other areas I dare not judge." If Newton CRC does secede, it will be the fifth church to leave the classis in the last six years. Classis Hudson currently has 13 organized churches, having lost conservative churches in Pompton Plains, NJ; Brooklyn, NY; and Franklin Lakes, NJ; as well as an African-American church in Harlem that seceded for unrelated reasons. In addition, the conservative Chinese-American congregation in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens has refused to send delegates to recent meetings after classis questioned whether the 48-member church should be allowed to keep its organized church status and voting rights. "I personally feel very sorry because I think we need these people in the church," said Wisse. "I don't think we need everything they say, but I am sad these people are leaving. We need their voice." Freswick said he was also sad to be leaving the CRC, but that Classis Hudson's actions made his church's secession even more likely. "This has united the local church even more; I think there's no doubt about it," said Freswick. "I think that the Christian Reformed Church is really going to be left with not being able to tolerate those people who call women in office sin." Cross-References to Related Articles: #1996-076: CRC Synod Rejects 25 Overtures and Communications Calling for End to Classical Option on Ordination of Women #1996-088: Interclassical Conference of Christian Reformed Conservatives to be Asked to Create Nongeographical Classes; Minority Urges Immediate Secession from Christian Reformed Denomination Contact List: Rev. LeRoy Christoffels, Pastor, Preakness (NJ) Christian Reformed Church 490 Valley Rd., Wayne, NJ 07470 O: (201) 628-1313 * H: (201) 694-1516 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 Rev. Casey Freswick, Pastor, Newton Christian Reformed Church 47 Condit St., Newton, NJ 07860 O: (201) 383-9635 * H: (201) 383-2263 * E-Mail: cfres@nac.net Rev. Jim Stastny, Pastor, West Sayville Christian Reformed Church 31 Rollstone Ave, West Sayville, NY 11796 O: (516) 589-9281 * H: (516) 589-1281 Rev. Harvey Stob, Pastor, Ridgewood Christian Reformed Church 376 Dunham Pl., Glen Rock, NJ 07452 O: (201) 445-1832 * H: (201) 445-2310 Rev. Don Wisse, Stated Clerk, Classis Hudson 183 Godwin Ave, Midland Park, NJ 07432 O: (201) 445-4260 * H: (201) 444-6423 ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr96-041.txt . (corrected)