Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1999 01:15:05 -0600 From: Darrell Todd Maurina Organization: Christian Renewal/United Reformed News Service Subject: NR 99024: CRC Gay Conference Leads to Calls for Discipline in Classis Chicago South NR #1999-024: Homosexuality Conference at Christian Reformed Church Leads to Calls for Discipline in Classis Chicago South When Classis Chicago South convenes Thursday morning at Calvin Christian Reformed Church in the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn, it will have to decide what to do with a Chicago-area Christian Reformed church that sponsored a conference on homosexuality that has led to almost a year of protests and a formal call to rebuke the sponsoring church, pastor, and conference organizers. Among the protesters is Rev. David Feddes, who as the broadcast minister for the CRC's English language radio and television ministry, is one of the most-recognized names on the CRC's ministerial roll. The controversial conference began with Betty Vander Laan of the sponsoring church, Hope CRC of Oak Forest, leading devotions that included mention of "the life-giving reality of same-sex love" and praying for "tolerance, even acceptance." Featured speakers included homosexual lay members and both current and former ministers of the Christian Reformed Church, as well as a number of former CRC members and others who are active in the gay community but not connected to the CRC. Among the speakers were a male homosexual couple, Paul Spyksma and Jeff Diehl, who attend a Christian Reformed congregation and use their ten-year-long gay relationship as a model of homosexual married life for young homosexuals just "coming out." The conference concluded with a theological analysis of the official Christian Reformed report on homosexuality presented by John Vriend, a former CRC minister who was deposed for conduct unrelated to homosexuality. A classical advisory committee is recommending a compromise in which classis replaced the requested demands for repentance and public clarification with a reaffirmation of the long-standing Christian Reformed position that homosexual actions are sin but homosexual orientation is not. NR #1999-024: For Immediate Release: Homosexuality Conference at Christian Reformed Church Leads to Calls for Discipline in Classis Chicago South * Advisory committee recommends compromise position to upcoming classis by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service CHICAGO (March 2, 1999) URNS - When Classis Chicago South convenes Thursday morning at Calvin Christian Reformed Church in the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn, it will have to decide what to do with a Chicago-area Christian Reformed church that sponsored a conference on homosexuality that has led to almost a year of protests and a formal call to rebuke the sponsoring church, pastor, and conference organizers. Among the protesters is Rev. David Feddes, who as the broadcast minister for the English language radio and television ministry of the 275,000-member denomination, is one of the most-recognized names on the CRC's ministerial roll. The controversial conference began with Betty Vander Laan of the sponsoring church, Hope CRC in the Chicago suburb of Oak Forest, leading devotions that included mention of "the life-giving reality of same-sex love" and praying for "tolerance, even acceptance." Featured speakers included homosexual lay members and both current and former ministers of the Christian Reformed Church, as well as a number of former CRC members and others who are active in the gay community but not connected to the CRC. Among the speakers were a male homosexual couple, Paul Spyksma and Jeff Diehl, who attend a Christian Reformed congregation and use their ten-year-long gay relationship as a model of homosexual married life for young homosexuals just "coming out." The conference concluded with a theological analysis of the official Christian Reformed report on homosexuality presented by John Vriend, a former CRC minister who was deposed for conduct unrelated to homosexuality. A number of conference speakers had already encountered difficulties for their views. Jim Lucas, a nonpracticing homosexual who serves as chaplain of the "As We ARE" gay support ministry, lost his ordination in May 1998 due to his belief that faithful monogamous same-sex relationships can be within God's will. Rev. Jack Reiffer, a homosexual CRC minister who married and had several children, has been without a call since losing his position last year at Washington (DC) CRC. Don Bergman, a longtime teacher in Kalamazoo Christian High School, lost his job over support for his homosexual son, who serves as communications coordinator for the unofficial Calvin College Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association and himself became a focus of controversy when his Calvin GALA position was publicized shortly after his church, Arcadia (CA) CRC, nominated him for deacon. Spyksma has been placed under silent censure by his home church, Peace CRC in the Chicago suburb of South Holland, Illinois; the church he attends with his gay partner, San Jose (CA) CRC, has refused to allow them to join and has asked them not to partake of communion. Marilyn Gritter, a board member of "As We ARE," was asked by her suburban Grand Rapids church, Ada (MI) CRC, to stop participating in communion after she entered into a gay relationship she considers to be a marriage. Gritter told the conference that "with shaking hands and wildly pounding heart, [she] took the bread and wine, not in defiance of my consistory by any means, but in reliance on my God." Faith CRC of Tinley Park Responds to Hope Conference; Hope CRC Fails to Rule Tinley Park "Out of Order" Having such speakers featured at a conference sponsored by a Christian Reformed church was too much for Feddes and several other members of his local church who attended the conference last spring. After extensive review of the conference tapes, Feddes' suburban Chicago church, Faith CRC of Tinley Park, Illinois, overtured Classis Chicago South's September meeting to declare that the conference "violated biblical and denominational standards of sound teaching and godly conduct" on the grounds that the conference "repeatedly contradicted the Christian Reformed Church's biblical teaching that all homosexual acts are sinful and under divine judgment (Romans 1:26-27; I Corinthians 6:9)," "undermined the admonition and discipline of other congregations and church councils," "damaged the unity of the church," and "wronged homosexual persons by portraying as a healthy, holy way of life a road which in fact leads to destruction." The Tinley Park church also asked classis to require Rev. William Lenters and Dr. Marvin Hoogland, two ordained Christian Reformed ministers whose membership is held by Hope CRC and who spoke at the conference, "to explain to classis their belief and teaching on chastity and to state clearly whether or not they believe and teach that all homosexual erotic acts are unchaste," citing as grounds that Lenters and Hoogland "have made statements which raise concern that they endorse homosexual coupling and thus contradict the biblical and confessional standard of chastity." Two other sections asked classis "to admonish the Hope CRC council to reaffirm that all homosexual erotic acts are sinful and to acknowledge to classis the conference's errors," and "to urge the council of Hope CRC to require clarification and accountability from individual members and officebearers from Hope who organized and/or spoke at the conference in ways that seemed to be at odds with the biblical and denominational position." That request didn't go down well with Hope CRC. In a letter to last September's classis, Hope CRC's council requested "in the strongest possible manner that the Rev. David Feddes and the Faith CRC council withdraw its communication to Classis Chicago South that is directed against the Hope council and the pastors and others who are under its supervision." Hope CRC's council also asked the classis not to print the Tinley Park material in the classical agenda, arguing that the letter - which contains extensive citations and quotes >from conference tapes - consisted of "unsubstantiated allegations" which "will amount to irreversible slander if printed in the agenda and distributed throughout classis to all consistory members." "No matter what happens at classis, the seeds of suspicion and mistrust will have been sown and the damage done will be irreversible," said the Hope CRC council. Hope CRC's efforts to prevent the complaint from being printed in the agenda failed, as did a subsequent formal request to "resolve this matter by determining it to be out of order at classis and by referring all of the materials back to the Hope council for its consideration." Classis did, however, agree to send the homosexual issue to a special four-member committee that studied the matter and is reporting back to this Thursday's classis session. Advisory Committee Seeks Compromise on Homosexual Issue; Hope CRC Pleased by Advisory Committee Report The advisory committee came back with a report that reaffirms the CRC's official position - in place since 1973 - that homosexual acts are wrong, and notes that the Hope CRC conference "did not provide for the proclamation of the Christian Reformed position regarding homosexual orientation or homosexualism" although it did promote "several pastoral guidelines adopted by Synod 1973." The advisory committee didn't call for the requested declaration that the conference "violated biblical and denominational standards of sound teaching and godly conduct," but it does declare that the conference "failed to adequately reflect the biblical and confessional standards of the Christian Reformed Church and, consequently, did not promote sound doctrine or godly conduct" and acknowledged that "conference speakers allowed or to some degree promoted the full inclusion and participation in the church by sexually active homosexual couples." The rest of the Tinley Park overture fell on less receptive ears, and the advisory committee report includes repeated commendations of the Hope CRC council for hosting the homosexuality conference. The advisory committee recommends deletion of Tinley Park's request that Lenters and Hoogland be required to explain their views and "state clearly whether or not they believe and teach that all homosexual erotic acts are unchaste," that Hope CRC's council be urged "to require clarification and accountability from individual members and officebearers from Hope who organized and/or spoke at the conference in ways that seemed to be at odds with the biblical and denominational position," and that Hope CRC be admonished to "reaffirm that all homosexual acts are sinful and to acknowledge the conference's errors." According to the advisory committee, the Hope CRC council has already stated in writing that its ordained ministers "affirm the [homosexuality] decision of 1973, particularly the pastoral implications" and that the council has reviewed the statements made at the conference by its members. According to the advisory committee, the Faith CRC council "should seek to enter personal conversation about their concerns with both Rev. Lenters and Rev. Hoogland before bringing the issue to classis in the form of an overture." The advisory committee does, however, encourage the Hope CRC council "to acknowledge that the content of the conference... offended many in the classis, and then, to seek reconciliation with the offended parties." Advisory committees are rare in Classis Chicago South, according to classical stated clerk Rev. Henry Vanden Heuvel, and although their recommendations have usually been adopted that is by no means certain. Vanden Heuvel said that he expected the report to be adopted despite its lack of strong condemnation of Hope CRC. "I believe the classis will approve the report, even though it is quite obviously a compromise," said Vanden Heuvel. "I think that report is a compromise position when they say they commend Hope CRC for putting on that conference." "Very few members of classis had attended that homosexuality conference, and my judgment is that those who did not attend did not feel comfortable making a decision on the report and felt the classis needed some advice," said Vanden Heuvel. "I think the main reason classis appointed a committee is because most of us felt the conference was way too one-sided. There was not a single speaker who took the position that homosexuality is wrong, except perhaps one person." Feddes' pastor, Rev. John Ouwinga of Faith CRC of Tinley Park, concurred with Vanden Heuvel that those who brought the overture objected most strongly to the lack of speakers who oppose homosexual unions. "We're not reacting out of fear or anger, we want to promote biblical ministry to those who are homosexual," said Ouwinga. "It was really focused on people pouring out their emotions, sometimes painful emotions," said Ouwinga. "It wasn't balanced at all in dealing with the issues of homosexuality, it was just a lot of venting without a lot of biblical guidance." Ouwinga said an ideal outcome for his church would be to have classis focus on educating its churches, pastors, and members about homosexuality, within the guidelines of the Christian Reformed Church. "I don't think the classis, and certainly not Hope Church, have had a good balanced dialogue on the issues; I would like to see some theologians, psychologists, pastors, who could review the biblical issues involved," said Ouwinga. "We want to be obedient biblically in having a ministry to homosexual persons." Feddes took a harder line, emphasizing not only ministry to homosexuals but also the need to rebuke people who contradict Scripture in their teaching. "Our reason for brining the overture is we thought the conference gave an opportunity for people who oppose the Christian Reformed position on homosexuality to air their views publicly," said Feddes. "The conference in the selection of speakers seemed to completely avoid anyone who viewed homosexual acts as sinful," continued Feddes. "Some of the members of the organizing church made statements that never contradicted homosexual coupling, and seemed even to endorse homosexual coupling." Feddes said he had not specifically addressed the Hope CRC conference on his radio program - currently broadcast to around three hundred stations in the United States and a number of international short-wave frequencies - but does address the matter of homosexuality >from time to time. "I've not spoken on it directly on my program," said Feddes. "Ironically, one of the stated motivations for the conference was to provide a voice for the voiceless, but because those voices have been stated so often and are so similar to the arguments made in other denominations in other settings, it all sounds very familiar. This is of great interest to me as a member of the Christian Reformed Church and as an officebearer in the Christian Reformed Church, so I'm addressing that in classis." Feddes said he didn't want to comment on the advisory committee report prior to classis, but cautioned that he didn't think supporters of homosexual unions have a wide base of support in the CRC. "The church ought not to be panicked into thinking that the whole world is going down the toilet in the next five minutes," said Feddes. "There has been a tendency by some conservatives to take the shrillest and most radical voices and say, 'That is where the whole church is heading and the whole CRC is rotten to the core.' That's just not true." Although Feddes and Ouwinga declined direct comment on the merits and demerits of the advisory committee report, Hope CRC's chairman of the elders said his church is pleased by the report. "The consistory is quite pleased with the report," said Elder Michael De Vries. "I think the committee did a fair job of trying to be sensitive to the concerns expressed in the overture, but also trying to be sensitive to the fact that Hope Church is dealing with the concerns, and that it's probably best to handle that on the local level than to deal with it at a body like classis." De Vries said the church also stood behind the individual members who were criticized by the Tinley Park overture. "I think the consistory has always been very supportive of the conference from the beginning and that there has been an effort to be supportive of the individuals involved, but also to be fair to the concerns that have been raised," said De Vries. "The mood of the consistory has been one of regarding this really as an educational conference, and in a conference like that, not all of what is said will be reflective of the position of the Christian Reformed Church." According to De Vries, the conference's critics have misunderstood its intent. "The main point of the conference from the beginning was not to promote any particular view but to gain a forum for a number of views," said De Vries. "While the consistory itself continues to support the CRC position while being open to further views, we certainly have not contradicted that position, at least in any official way." De Vries agreed with Feddes and Ouwinga on at least one thing: the ideal outcome of the controversy for Hope Church would be to move >from debate to ministry for homosexuals. "I would like to see the classis adopt the recommendations of the advisory committee and let the classis continue to explore what sort of ministry is possible to its gay members and the gay community," said De Vries. "At a minimum, I would hope we could support the recommendations of the advisory committee and then work together on seeing what sort of ministry we can have in the future." Cross-References to Related Articles: #1998-032: Gay Minister Loses Ordination; Classis Grand Rapids East Releases Rev. Jim Lucas from Christian Reformed Ministry #1998-102: Homosexuality Study Committee to Call Christian Reformed Synod to Repent of Lack of Ministry to Homosexuals Contact List: Dr. Michael De Vries, Chairman of Elders, Hope Christian Reformed Church 5825 West 151st St., Oak Forest, IL 50452 O (church): (708) 687-2095 * O (business): (708) 597-3000 * FAX: (708) 687-9917 * E-mail: hopecrc-sec@juno.com Dr. David Engelhard, General Secretary, Christian Reformed Church in North America 2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49560 O: (616) 224-0744 * H: (616) 243-2418 * FAX: (616) 224-5895 * E-mail: engelhad@crcna.org Rev. David Feddes, Minister of English Broadcasting and Listener Contact, The Back to God Hour 6555 West College Dr., Palos Heights, IL 60463 O: (708) 371-8700 * H: (708) 614-7276 * FAX: (708) 371-1415 * E-mail: DFeddes@aol.com Rev. John Ouwinga, Pastor, Faith Christian Reformed Church 8383 West 171st St., Tinley Park, IL 60477 O: (708) 532-8300 * (708) 532-1669 * FAX: (708) 532-8937 * E-mail: faithchr@aol.com Rev. Henry Vanden Heuvel, Stated Clerk, Classis Chicago South 9401 S. 54th Ave., Oak Lawn, IL 60453 H/O/FAX: (708) 422-1428 ---------------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/reformed/archive99: nr99-024.txt .