Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 10:26:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Darrell128@aol.com Subject: NR 97042: Fraternal Relations Focus Headlines First Meeting of United Reformed Churches' Classis Midwest NR #1997-042: Fraternal Relations Focus Headlines First Meeting of United Reformed Churches' Classis Midwest Meeting on April 8 and 9 at Covenant United Reformed Church in Kalamazoo, Classis Midwest of the United Reformed Churches spent much of its first meeting in organizational business and in the examination of two candidates for the ministry. Most of the first day of classis focussed on the ordination exams of Phil Vos, pastor of Covenant URC, and of Steve de Boer, pastor-elect of Eastmanville (MI) URC. However, much of the classical debate on the second day focussed on a single overture: a proposal from Oak Glen Covenant Community Reformed Church in Lansing, Illinois, urging classis to "pursue the establishment of fraternal relations" with seven conservative Reformed denominations. The Oak Glen overture specified the Canadian Reformed, Free Reformed, Orthodox Christian Reformed, Orthodox Presbyterians, Presbyterian Church in America, Reformed Church in the United States, and Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America as denominations with which the classis should pursue fraternal relations. A subsequent amendment added an eighth denomination: the Protestant Reformed Churches. NR #1997-042: For Immediate Release Fraternal Relations Focus Headlines First Meeting of United Reformed Churches' Classis Midwest by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service KALAMAZOO, Mich. (April 30, 1997) URNS -- Meeting on April 8 and 9 at Covenant United Reformed Church in Kalamazoo, Classis Midwest of the United Reformed Churches spent much of its first meeting in organizational business and in the examination of two candidates for the ministry. Most of the first day of classis focussed on the ordination exams of Phil Vos, pastor of Covenant URC, and of Steve de Boer, pastor-elect of Eastmanville (MI) URC. However, much of the classical debate on the second day focussed on a single overture: a proposal from Oak Glen Covenant Community Reformed Church in Lansing, Illinois, urging classis to "pursue the establishment of fraternal relations" with seven conservative Reformed denominations. The Oak Glen overture specified the Canadian Reformed, Free Reformed, Orthodox Christian Reformed, Orthodox Presbyterians, Presbyterian Church in America, Reformed Church in the United States, and Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America as denominations with which the classis should pursue fraternal relations. According to the overture, the church intended to accomplish five primary goals: "to advise one another regarding questions and problems of import pertaining to the spiritual welfare and the Scriptural government of our churches," "to confer together, as far as advisability or necessity may require, regarding missionary work of the churches at home and abroad," "to strive to attain a common course of action with respect to common problems; likewise to issue joint resolutions regarding movements, practices or dangers, when joint statements are deemed necessary," "to give united testimony to our common Reformed faith in the midst of a world living in error and groping in darkness, particularly to the many churches which have so lamentably departed from the truth of God's Holy Word, and which are in dire need return to the faith of the fathers," and "to express our precious unity in Christ and our oneness as Reformed churches, though scattered over the earth." The overture noted that these five goals were drawn from a 1963 decision by what was then known as the Reformed Ecumenical Synod. Rev. Ralph Pontier, pastor of Redeemer URC in Orange City, Iowa, and a member of the URC synodical fraternal relations committee, urged that classis adopt the overture to send a signal about its intentions. "Our mandate at synod is vague to say the least; if this were adopted as a classis and forwarded to synod that would help give direction to us," said Pontier. "It would also make a wonderful statement if at our first classis we would do that. I would like to be able to say we see the importance of this and we think so highly about this that we did it at our very first meeting." Some delegates wanted to pursue fraternal relations on a still broader basis. "There is another [denomination] that we live with on this side of the [US-Canadian] border that does not have much of a presence on the other side of the border that I do not see listed; that is the Protestant Reformed Churches," said URC stated clerk Rev. Jerome Julien, one of the few URC minist ers to have served churches in both the US and Canada. "I realize there are all kinds of bells and whistles that go off when that name is mentioned but the men on this side of the border may not realize that there are denominations listed here on which all kinds of bells and whistles go off on the other side of the border." After debate, the classis adopted Julien's amendment adding the Protestant Reformed to the list of denominations with which fraternal relations will be pursued. While no delegates argued against the concept of fraternal relations, classis chairman Rev. Ed Knott relinquished the chair to speak against the overture on the grounds that it would be premature. "I'm not against ecumenical relations; I have prophesied that within the next short period of time there is going to be a realignment as far as organization is concerned with many of the organizations on this list," said Knott. "We are at our first classis, we are really not organized. These other communions know that we exist, they know what we stand for, they know why we are being organized. I wonder whether it would perhaps be a little more mature if we wait for some of these people to come to us rather than us, as the new kid on the block, run out and ask some of these churches to come and have relations with us." Other delegates noted that the URC church order specifies that "ecumenical relations between churches may include pulpit exchange, table fellowship, membership transfer, as well as other means of manifesting their unity" and requires that "a church must seek the advice of classis before entering into ecumenical relations, thereby safeguarding the purity of the federation." "This [overture] does not give us permission to establish ecumenical relations locally nor does it ask us as local churches to pursue local relations with other churches," noted Elder Peter Moen of Pompton Plains (NJ) Reformed Bible Church. Responding to Moen's concerns, classis considered a motion that "classis establish ecumenical relations as defined by Articles 33, 34, and 35 of the church order with those ecclesiastical federations listed in the amended overture submitted by Oak Glen." Some delegates asked what the specified church order articles meant and whether they were free to allow ministers from other denominations not mentioned in the Oak Glen overture to be involved in pulpit exchanges or allow members of other denominations to come to the Lord's Table or transfer their membership papers. Faith URC of Holland, Mich., begun as a secession from South Olive CRC, asked whether the church order prohibited their church from inviting Rev. Randy Lankheet, a former member of South Olive CRC who now pastors the conservative Ontario (CA) CRC, to fill their pulpit. That motion led Knott to relinquish the chair again. "We have to maintain some integrity also in our pulpits; we ought to try to retain our identity as United Reformed pulpits, that the men who occupy those pulpits are United Reformed men," said Knott, noting that while churches might by way of exception invite a "son of the church" to fill their pulpit, the exception should not be authorized by a formal motion at classis. "I'm not sure when we invite ministers of other denominations to occupy our pulpit that we are establishing an identity that we stand for something," said Knott. "I think we want to be identified as United Reformed churches, standing for something, standing according to the Word of God. Let's not throw that away, brothers." Other delegates opposed the motion on different grounds. "I would speak against the motion because it's based on a bad church order article that may be revised in the future," said Rev. Harry Zekveld of Covenant Orthodox Reformed Church in Sanborn, Iowa. After further debate, classis rejected the proposal to establish fraternal relations as a classis but adopted the proposal to ask synod to pursue fraternal relations with the eight denominations listed. Rejection of the proposal, however, doesn't necessarily mean churches are banned from pulpit exchanges, communion, and membership transfers with non-United Reformed congregations. "It shouldn't be interpreted in any way as classis not being interested in ecumenical relations," said Pontier, who said Lankheet and other conservative ministers are still free to preach in URC churches at local option. "The elders have the freedom to do that on an individual basis on the local level on an occasional basis." Some outside the URC federation, however, expressed concern that classis had sent a bad signal by its actions and debate. "My reaction is disappointment, especially since the Alliance of Reformed Churches was omitted from the list, especially since our statement of purpose clearly defines our interest in establishing ecumenical relations with churches of like confessional basis," said Elder Peter Yonker, stated clerk of the group of ex-CRC churches which have generally declined to enter the URC federation. "There is only a slight distinction to be made between a federation and an association of churches, and since we are all congregations holding the same confessions, we ought to work together for common goals." The Oak Glen pastor did not return repeated phone calls requesting comment on his church's reason for not including the Alliance in the list of groups with which to establish fraternal relations. Yonker questioned whether the defeat of the classical proposal would impair relations between URC and ARC churches in Michigan. "We have of course the activities committee of the Lake Michigan Regional Fellowship which includes all of these churches, and we're planning various activities this year including an elder's conference and a Reformation Day service and possibly an annual hymnsing that we have held in the past," said Yonker. "I think this should continue." Yonker also questioned the consistency of URC ministers who argued that only URC ministers should occupy URC pulpits. "We've had Rev. Knott just a few months back, and he was quite willing to come preach for us," said Yonker. "We're happy to have him and we're happy to have him back. There's nothing that separates us." Classis Midwest will next meet on August 5. In other business, classis elected Pontier as its stated clerk, appointed a committee to draft bylaws for the classis, and received a report from the synodical stated clerk indicating that the United Reformed synod had added 12 new churches to the 37 churches represented at the initial URC synod in October. According to the synodical clerk, the denomination currently numbers 9300 members and will shortly exceed 10,000 members if several additional churches join as expected. Cross-References to Related Articles: #1995-110: Former Christian Reformed Congregations Federate to Form "Fellowship of Uniting Reformed Churches" #1995-111: Alliance Minority Declines to Join Federation; Meeting Convened by Interim Committee Chair Gathers Fifteen Percent of Delegates to Continue as Alliance of Reformed Churches #1996-104: New Denomination Born: Most Christian Reformed Seceders Organize as "United Reformed Churches of North America" #1996-119: Alliance of Reformed Churches Reaffirms Continued Existence; Plans Study of Church Polity Questions and Concerns Contact List: Steve de Boer, Pastor-Elect, Eastmanville United Reformed Church 207 Kansas Ave. NW, Orange City, IA 51041 H/O: (712) 737-2202 Rev. Paul Ipema, Pastor, Oak Glen Covenant Community Reformed Church 2224 Indiana Ave., Lansing, IL 60438-2107 O: (708) 474-0172 * H: (708) 474-0172 Rev. Jerome Julien, Stated Clerk, United Reformed Churches in North America 3646 - 193rd Pl., Lansing, IL 60438 H/O: (708) 418-5321 * FAX: (708) 418-5591 Rev. Edward J. Knott, Chairman, Classis Midwest 2759 Porter St. SW, Wyoming, MI 49509 H: (616) 534-4683 Rev. Randal Lankheet, Pastor, Ontario Christian Reformed Church 125 East Philadelphia St., Ontario, CA 91761 H/O: (909) 984-8201 Elder Peter Moen, Pomton Plains United Reformed Church 159 Jacksonville Rd., Pequannock, NJ 07440 H: (201) 694-7118 Rev. Wybren Oord, Pastor, Faith United Reformed Church 12191 Polk St., Holland, MI 49424 O: (616) 875-4654 Rev. Ralph Pontier, Pastor, Redeemer Alliance Reformed Church 4608 Jackson Ave., Orange City, IA 51041-7446 O: (712) 737-4901 * FAX: (712) 737-3350 Rev. Phil Vos, Pastor, Covenant United Reformed Church 7724 Hampton Oaks Dr., Portage, MI 49024 O/FAX: (616) 324-5217 * H: (616) 324-5132 Elder Peter Yonker, Reformed Heritage Community Church 3984 North 168th Ave., Holland, MI 49423 O: (616) 399-1009 Rev. Harry Zekveld, Pastor, Cornerstone Orthodox Reformed Church PO Box 475, Sanborn, IA 51248 O: (712) 729-3789 * H: (712) 729-5366 ---------------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/reformed/archive97: nr97-042.txt .