Date: Sun, 13 Jun 1999 04:09:36 +0000 From: Darrell Todd Maurina Reply-To: Darrell128@aol.com Organization: Christian Renewal/United Reformed News Service Subject: NR 99080: CRC Synod Convenes for First-Ever Assembly in Canada; Elects Wayne Brouwer as President NR #1999-080: Christian Reformed Synod Convenes for First-Ever Assembly in Canada; Elects Wayne Brouwer as President For the first time in the Christian Reformed Church's 140-year history, the annual synod of the 275,000-member denomination convened in a Canadian city. The June 12 opening session focused on election of synod's officers and confirmation of advisory committee members, tentatively chosen by the officers of last year's synod before this year's synod convened. Rev. Wayne Brouwer, senior pastor of Harderwyk CRC in Holland, Michigan, will serve as this year's synod president. Assisting Brouwer as vice-president will be Rev. Stan Mast, minister of preaching at LaGrave Avenue CRC in Grand Rapids. Dr. George Vandervelde, a professor at the Institute of Christian Studies in Toronto and elder at Willowdale CRC in Toronto, will serve as first clerk of synod, assisted by Rev. Henry Kranenberg, pastor of Bethel CRC in Brockville, Ontario, as second clerk. Brouwer said he expected the biggest issue at this year's synod to be a report on denominational restructuring. The report proposes that most of the denomination's agency boards be replaced by a single large board elected by each of the CRC's classes with program committees of the board governing each of the agencies. Regarded by proponents as bringing necessary consolidation and cooperation to CRC ministry, its opponents regard the new structure as hierarchical. However, the complex proposal includes numerous facts and subjects that make analysis of its effect difficult. One late overture may - or may not - add an entirely different dimension to the synodical agenda. Synod 1999's agenda includes a study committee report on homosexuality which urges the church to re-evaluate the effectiveness of its ministry to homosexuals but calls for no change in the 1973 denominational position that gay sexual activity is sin. In response, two CRC members - Dr. Henk Hart of the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto and former CRC minister Jim Lucas, chaplain of the As We Are gay support group in Grand Rapids, circulated a petition calling for a "safe place" for discussion of homosexuality. The petition, signed by over 300 CRC members including nearly three dozen ordained CRC ministers and numerous professors at Christian Reformed-related colleges, was placed on the agenda for synod by First CRC of Toronto. "Very recent history in our denomination provides evidence that people who discuss views that deviate from 1973 can expect censorship in one form or another," according to the First Toronto overture. NR #1999-080: For Immediate Release: Christian Reformed Synod Convenes for First-Ever Assembly in Canada; Elects Wayne Brouwer as President * No word yet on disposition of late overture and petition by over 300 CRC members and ministers to create "safe space" for discussion of homosexuality by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service ANCASTER, ONTARIO (June 12, 1999) URNS - For the first time in the Christian Reformed Church's 142-year history, the annual synod of the 275,000-member denomination convened in a Canadian city. The Saturday afternoon opening session focused on election of synod's officers and confirmation of advisory committee members, tentatively chosen by the officers of last year's synod before this year's synod convened. Rev. Wayne Brouwer, senior pastor of Harderwyk CRC in Holland, Michigan, will serve as this year's synod president. Assisting Brouwer as vice-president will be Rev. Stan Mast, minister of preaching at LaGrave Avenue CRC in Grand Rapids. Dr. George Vandervelde, a professor at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto and elder at Willowdale CRC in Toronto, will serve as first clerk of synod, assisted by Rev. Henry Kranenberg, pastor of Bethel CRC in Brockville, Ontario, as second clerk. Synod normally meets in Grand Rapids at Calvin College, the official school of the denomination, but occasionally meets elsewhere. Synod 1991 met at Dordt College in northwest Iowa; this year's synod is meeting at Redeemer College in Ancaster, Ontario, just southwest of the city of Hamilton. Both Dordt and Redeemer are CRC-related colleges, though unlike Calvin, neither is owned by the denomination. Brouwer, a native of Bunde, Minnesota, is married to a Canadian wife and has served most of his ministry in Canada - including pastoring the 900-member First CRC of London, Ontario, the CRC's fourth-largest church in Canada. Brouwer's service at First CRC of London ran from 1986 to 1994, and was preceded by one year as a missionary to Nigeria. From his ordination in 1980 to the beginning of his service in Nigeria, Brouwer pastored Iron Springs CRC in Alberta. Brouwer served as vice-president of Synod 1997 and second clerk of Synod 1994, and has also served as board president of CRC Publications and chairman of the denomination's worship committee. Noting that one-third of the CRC's membership is Canadian, Brouwer said he was pleased by the Canadian location. "Since we are such a strongly bi-national church, it is wonderful to have a synod take place on Canadian soil; it affirms the legitimacy of the Canadian churches," said Brouwer. "It takes those who function in a standing capacity such as the general secretary, the executive director of ministries, and the various agency staff, out of Grand Rapids, and anytime that happens and you leave your home turf, it's valuable." Nevertheless, Brouwer said he didn't think the Canadian location would have much effect on the actual decisions of synod. "Synod is constituted the same way in this location as in any other location, the same number of delegates are sent from the same classes, so this location won't have a lot of impact," said Brouwer. "It could have had more impact a few years ago when the committee on structure for Canada was being discussed, since more people from Canada would have been physically present at the synod making their views known." The CRC is divided into 47 classes generally grouped according to geography, and each classis sends two ministers and two elders to synod for a total of 188 delegates. Unlike some denominations where churches and regional units often don't send their full complement of delegates unless the meeting is nearby, almost all CRC delegates attend synod regardless of the geographic location. CRC Agency Restructuring to Dominate Agenda Brouwer said he expected the biggest issue at this year's synod to be a report on denominational restructuring. The report proposes that the denominational agency boards be replaced by a single large board elected by each of the CRC's classes with program committees of the board governing each of the agencies. Calvin College and Calvin Seminary, though owned by the CRC, are exempted from the proposed board restructuring due to the requirements of their respective accrediting agencies. Regarded by proponents as bringing necessary consolidation and cooperation to CRC ministry, the restructuring proposal's opponents regard the new structure as hierarchical. However, the complex proposal includes numerous facts and subjects that make analysis of its effect difficult. "Its very comprehensive nature means that it's very complex," said Brouwer. "The report is a comprehensive effort at restructuring agencies, and while it begs for adoption as a whole, its comprehensiveness means it needs a lot of evaluation. It's very difficult for synod to get its arms around something like this." Advisory Committee Membership Questioned Appointment of advisory committee members is normally a routine process, but that wasn't the case this year. In the only major Saturday business item other than election of officers, Rev. Rich de Ruiter of Alger (WA) Community CRC noted that the chairman of the Committee to Study Structure for Ministry in the United States, Rev. Henry Numan, is also on the synodical advisory committee to recommend what synod should do about the report. Further checking noted that Rev. Gerald Zandstra of the Committee to Give Direction About and Pastoral Care for Homosexual Members and Dr. David Holwerda of the Committee to Study Ordination and Official Acts of Ministry were also assigned to synodical advisory committees addressing the reports on which they had worked. On motion by Pastor George Vander Weit of North Hills CRC in the Detroit suburb of Troy, synod voted to reassign all three delegates to different committees. Late Homosexuality Overture May - or May Not - Make it to Agenda While most of the synodical agenda is taken up by a variety of restructuring proposals, one late overture may - or may not - add an entirely different dimension to the synodical agenda. Synod 1999's agenda includes a study committee report on homosexuality which urges the church to re-evaluate the effectiveness of its ministry to homosexuals but calls for no change in the 1973 denominational position that gay sexual activity is sin. In response, two CRC members - Dr. Henk Hart of the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto and former CRC minister Jim Lucas, chaplain of the As We Are gay support group in Grand Rapids, circulated a petition calling for a "safe place" for discussion of homosexuality. The petition, signed by over 300 CRC members including nearly three dozen ordained CRC ministers and numerous professors at Christian Reformed-related colleges, was placed on the agenda for synod by First CRC of Toronto, which notes that the report references retired Fuller Theological Seminary professor Lewis Smedes' belief that "God prefers homosexual people to live in committed and faithful monogamous relationships" and that the report's recommendations "ask the churches to consider whether same-sex partners should take communion, as well as to consider how to respond to members whose views differ from 1973." The First Toronto overture also notes that "very recent history in our denomination provides evidence that people who discuss views that deviate from 1973 can expect censorship in one form or another." According to the petition, "in order to achieve this atmosphere for a difficult discussion, we humbly, respectfully, and urgently request Synod to stress in the letter the Committee requests Synod ... to add a paragraph which sets as a guideline for this discussion that all who participate in a worthy manner (see above) can count on freedom >from every form of censorship, even when participants explore approaches that go beyond the boundaries of Synod's 1973 Report." Brouwer said he had opinions on the overture, but didn't want to discuss them yet. The key question with a late overture is whether it addresses material appearing in the synodical agenda which could not have been addressed before the March deadline - a decision normally made by synod following the recommendation of its officers and program committee. "The officers have discussed it, it's a matter for the officers to talk about with the General Secretary and synod will do what it chooses," said Brouwer. Cross-References to Related Articles: #1998-102: Homosexuality Study Committee to Call Christian Reformed Synod to Repent of Lack of Ministry to Homosexuals Contact List: Rev. Wayne Brouwer, President, Synod 1999 of the Christian Reformed Church 1627 West Lakewood Blvd., Holland, MI 49424 O: (616) 399-9190 * H: (616) 399-4645 * FAX: (616) 399-8808 * E-mail: brouwer@triton.net 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 Dr. Hendrik Hart, Professor of Philosophy, Institute for Christian Studies 229 College St., Toronto, ON M5T 1R4 O: (416) 979-2331 * hhart@icscanada.edu Rev. Henry Kranenberg, Second Clerk, Synod 1999 of the Christian Reformed Church 61 Hillcrest Dr., Brockville, ON K67 3J3 O/FAX: (613) 342-5997 * H: (613) 345-6420 * E-mail: crc.bethel_henryk@recorder.ca Rev. Jim Lucas, Chaplain, As We ARE PO Box 7824, Grand Rapids, MI 49510 O: (616) 456-6174 * E-mail: JimLucas12@aol.com Rev. Stan Mast, Vice-President, Synod 1999 of the Christian Reformed Church 6909 Belfast SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49508 O: (616) 454-7204 * H: (616) 698-0349 Dr. George Vandervelde, First Clerk, Synod 1999 of the Christian Reformed Church 229 College St., Toronto, ON M5T 1R4 O: (416) 979-2331 * E-mail: vanderve@chass.utoronto.ca ---------------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/reformed/archive99: nr99-080.txt .