Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 19:51:02 +0000 From: Darrell Todd Maurina Reply-To: Darrell128@aol.com Organization: Christian Renewal/United Reformed News Service Subject: NR 99095: CRC Calls Congregations to Repent of Lack of Ministry to Homosexual Members NR #1999-095: Christian Reformed Church Calls Congregations to Repent of Lack of Ministry to Homosexual Members Synod 1999 of the Christian Reformed Church voted today to call churches in the 275,000-member denomination "to repentance for their failures to minister to those who experience same sex attractions." "The question is, are we willing to say we repent of a lack of ministry?" asked Dr. Melvin Hugen, retired Calvin Seminary professor of pastoral care and chairman of the synodical study committee studying pastoral care for homosexuals. "We have not done what Jesus did, sit down at table with those who are in public sin." The synodical decision follows on the heels of eight years of often-bitter debate on whether homosexual practice is sinful. Since 1973, the CRC has gone on record stating that "homosexualism - as explicit homosexual practice - must be condemned as incompatible with obedience to the will of God as revealed in Holy Scripture." Recognizing that temptation to sin is not the same as submitting to that temptation, Synod 1973 also stated that "the church must exercise the same patient understanding of and compassion for the homosexual in his sins as for all other sinners." That synodical position remains unchanged but is not universally accepted. NR #1999-095: For Immediate Release: Christian Reformed Church Calls Congregations to Repent of Lack of Ministry to Homosexual Members * "Nervous" synod delegates express fear of news media response by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service ANCASTER, ONTARIO (June 17, 1999) URNS - Synod 1999 of the Christian Reformed Church voted today to call churches in the 275,000-member denomination "to repentance for their failures to minister to those who experience same sex attractions." "The question is, are we willing to say we repent of a lack of ministry?" asked Dr. Melvin Hugen, retired Calvin Seminary professor of pastoral care and chairman of the synodical study committee studying pastoral care for homosexuals. "We have not done what Jesus did, sit down at table with those who are in public sin." The synodical decision follows on the heels of eight years of often-bitter debate on whether homosexual practice is sinful. Since 1973, the CRC has gone on record stating that "homosexualism - as explicit homosexual practice - must be condemned as incompatible with obedience to the will of God as revealed in Holy Scripture." Recognizing that temptation to sin is not the same as submitting to that temptation, Synod 1973 also stated that "the church must exercise the same patient understanding of and compassion for the homosexual in his sins as for all other sinners." That synodical position remains unchanged but is not universally accepted. Just this week, Synod 1999 ruled that an overture from First Toronto CRC was not legally before synod. The overture stems from the work of 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 - who circulated a petition calling for a "safe place" for discussion of homosexuality. The petition, signed by over three hundred CRC members including nearly three dozen ordained CRC ministers and numerous professors at Christian Reformed-related colleges, responded to the study committee report on homosexuality. The overture noted that the report references retired Fuller Theological Seminary professor Dr. 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." Hart lost his license to exhort - the CRC term for preaching by laymen - when Classis Toronto objected to his views. Lucas officially lost his ministerial credentials because he had received no call to a position of denominational ministry, but lost his ordination only after his local church declined to endorse his continued ministerial status following a decision by Lucas and the board of his ministry to publicly endorse committed same-sex monogamous gay relationships. Those issues led to major concern by a number of delegates over how a synodical decision on homosexuality would be perceived - and whether it was appropriate to begin the report by reminding the churches of the 1973 stance that "explicit homosexual practice must be condemned as incompatible with obedience to the will of God as revealed in Holy Scripture." The synodical advisory committee went beyond the study committee by asking that this statement be the first item adopted by the synod. "While I don't disagree with anything in the statements of the report, they breathe an air which is not as compassionate as the study committee report," said synodical first clerk Dr. George Vandervelde, one of the signatories of the petition submitted through First Toronto CRC. Vandervelde described a situation with a woman whose child was living in a nonmarital sexual relationship but visited the couple in their home despite their unmarried status and had a positive experience. "Had she not gone there, things would have been different; had she gone there and wagged her finger, things would have been different, too," said Vander Velde. "We all know the position of the church; if we need to say that again, why not say it at the end of the report?" Pastor George Vander Weit of Classis Lake Erie, also a signer of the petition, voiced similar concerns. "I have always been a supporter of the 1973 position on homosexuality; those of you who have been on [the unofficial e-mail discussion group] CRC-Voices know that when discussion rages on this issue, I have defended this report," said Vander Weit. Nevertheless, Vander Weit said his personal experience taught him that the denomination needs safe space to discuss the issue. "When I was in one of my churches, one of my elders and one of my deacons lived together in the same house, and I was too naive to figure it out. One of these men has preached in a number of our churches, probably including those of some of you, and he is convinced he is going to hell because of the behavior he is engaged in," said Vander Weit. "If we come wagging our finger, we will have no discussion in the church. If you have to reaffirm 1973, which I have no problem with at all, let's say it at the end, not the beginning." Other delegates warned that a clear declaration on the sinfulness of homosexual practice is essential to effective ministry. "I have just dealt with the struggle of First Pella CRC which went through schism; one of the reasons was they had the idea that the CRC is waffling on the issue of homosexuality," said Rev. Ronald Bouwkamp, regional pastor of Classis Pella. "People question whether or not the CRC still has the same stand. We're not saying anything new, we're just holding on to what we've always said." A number of other delegates expressed concern over how the news media would treat the homosexual matter. "I'm sure the press which is interested in this juicy topic will be saying that we are debating this, and that disappoints me," said Rev. Richard De Ruiter of Alger (WA) Community CRC. "I haven't heard anyone take issue with what [the reaffirmation of 1973] says; I am also concerned about the headlines tomorrow if this is not said; will we see it reported, 'Synod Decides Not to Reaffirm That Explicit Homosexual Practice is Sin?" asked Rev. Bruce Persenaire of Escalon (CA) CRC. "I think the press would be wrong in saying that, but it will still happen." Rev. Mark Davies of Lake Worth (FL) CRC noted the same problem. "We are having a discussion with ourselves, unfortunately the press is listening, but that's the way things are in today's world, and that's okay," said Davies. Advisory committee reporter Rev. Peter Slofstra confirmed that the intent of the committee was to "make a clear affirmation of where we stand as a church." That led to an extended debate about how to deal with the recommendation to reaffirm 1973 if synod decided not to do so. Several delegates proposed alternative solutions, prompting a speech by Calvin Seminary church polity professor Dr. Henry De Moor. "Withholding action means you don't say 'yes,' you don't say 'no.' The problem is that if you have the motion and withhold action, it will be listed in the Acts of Synod with the words 'synod withholds action' underneath it," said De Moor. "If you defeat it, that will appear also in the minutes. The only way you can get this off the agenda is to table it." After synod tabled the motion to reaffirm 1973, it adopted a proposal "that synod declare that the intent of this report is to affirm Synod 1973's understanding of the teachings of Scripture about homosexuality and to help the churches pastorally apply its recommendations" and moved on to several clarifications of words in the report. A number of delegates warned that the church needed to be very careful with its language. "When the church I am in saw that we were going to be discussing homosexuals and ministry to homosexual members, the whole church exploded and went on the warpath," said Elder Joel Kramer of Classis Yellowstone. "If we send this report out with the labels of 'gay and lesbian sisters and brothers,' it will cause an explosion in the church." Others questioned what it meant for the Christian Reformed synod as a whole to repent. "What I find troublesome is this report does not clarify what our failings are," said Rev. Jack Van Marion of Providence CRC in Beamsville, Ontario. "If we join our people together in a prayer of repentance, it seems to me there must be a change in behavior, and how can we change our behavior if we do not know what the necessary changes are?" "The committee couldn't possibly know how each church has failed to minister to homosexuals," replied Rev. Stan Mast, vice president of synod. "How my church has failed is probably very different from how you have failed." While a number of the proposed wording changes failed, one key change targeted by the advisory committee and a number of delegates did pass. Synod voted to change the phrase "Scripture seems to forbid such sexual intimacy with persons of the same sex" to "Scripture forbids such sexual intimacy with persons of the same sex." Rev. Jake Corvers of Brooks CRC in Alberta alluded to the CRC's past experience with women's ordination and warned that any loopholes on controversial issues must be dealt with immediately. "We must send a clear message to the churches; not that many years ago we were arguing another issue, and I'm not even going to name what it was," said Corvers, drawing quiet murmurs from the audience. "It kept coming back and we all got tired of it and finally said, 'Well, just do it.' When we had that debate on the other issue, some of us said the next issue coming before us is homosexuality. We need to send a clear message that won't happen on this issue." "The one thing nobody on our committee wants to do is to have a lengthy debate denomination-wide on whether Scripture prohibits sexual intimacy with persons of the same sex or only seems to prohibit," said synodical committee member Rev. Gerald Zandstra. "I've talked to a lot of delegates to synod and I have been surprised at how many people picked up on that one phrase in the report. That somewhat disappoints me because we wanted to focus on pastoral care, but on the other hand, if this phase is picked up by this many people here at synod, it will be picked up by many more people in the churches, and we'd better fix it now." After changing the requested wording, synod passed a number of educational recommendations including inviting each church to hold an adult education class; inviting each church council to discuss the report; asking the Banner, the CRC denominational paper, to include a series of articles on the report; and asking CRC Publications to publish a brief booklet summarizing the 1973 and 1998 synodical reports on homosexuality. After an additional three years of receiving responses to the reports, the homosexuality study committee is scheduled to submit a revised report to Synod 2002 proposing specific means by which to minister to homosexual members. "We structured this in such a way that congregations, perhaps for the first time in CRC history, will have substantial input into a study committee's final report," said Zandstra in a later interview. Zandstra noted that even those who disagree with the study committee's position on homosexuality will be free to give their input to the committee. "From our standpoint, they all will have the opportunity to give all the input they want," said Zandstra. "We will listen to it, even if it doesn't mean we will act on it." According to Zandstra, both he and other committee members tried to be sensitive to the concerns expressed on the floor of synod by those who fear the CRC is watering down its position on homosexuality. "My whole family has left the CRC," said Zandstra. "When I read the report, I read it with their eyes, and said, 'What in the report will cause needless offense?'" At least some input is likely to come from the signatories of the First Toronto petition, said Dr. Henk Hart, who visited synod to hear the synodical debate on homosexuality. "I am not at all convinced that synod knew that it was closing doors that I'm personally persuaded members of the committee were trying to close," said Hart. "If people had made speeches to the effect that this limits people's freedom to discuss, there would perhaps have been debate about that on the floor of synod, but that didn't happen." "It seems to me a foregone conclusion that there will be a response to Lew Smedes' article, and then a discussion will start which synod said ought not to happen," said Hart. "What will happen then? I don't know. Time will have to tell." Cross-References to Related Articles: #1998-102: Homosexuality Study Committee to Call Christian Reformed Synod to Repent of Lack of Ministry to Homosexuals #1999-080: Christian Reformed Synod Convenes for First-Ever Assembly in Canada; Elects Wayne Brouwer as President #1999-081: Christian Reformed Synod Rules First Toronto CRC Homosexuality Overture Out of Order Contact List: TO CONTACT SYNOD DURING SESSION: June 12-19, 1999 Synodical News Office Redeemer College, 777 Garner Rd. East, Ancaster, ON L9K 1J4 O: (877) 799-0913 * E-mail: press@redeemer.on.ca 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. Peter Borgdorff, Executive Director of Ministries, Christian Reformed Church 2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49560 O: (616) 246-0832 * H: (616) 957-3288 * E-mail: borgdorp@crcna.org ____ Rev. Ronald Bouwkamp, Interim Committee Chairman, Classis Pella 130 Peoria West Street, Pella, IA 50219 H/O: (515) 625-4313 * E-mail: ronb@kdsi.net Rev. Jake Corvers, Pastor, Brooks Christian Reformed Church 39 Charlesworth Cres., Brooks, AB T1R 0H3 H/O: (403) 362-4750 Rev. Mark Davies, Pastor, Lake Worth Christian Reformed Church 1404 Kilgore Ln., Fort Worth, FL 33460 O: (561) 585-2011 * H: (561) 585-2704 * FAX: (561) 585-0523 * E-mail: markartdav@aol.com Dr. Henry De Moor, Professor of Church Polity, Calvin Theological Seminary 3233 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4387 O: (616) 957-7194 * H: (616) 940-0513 * FAX: (616) 957-8621 * E-mail: DEMH@Calvin.edu Rev. Richard de Ruiter, Pastor, Alger Community Christian Reformed Church 1521 Silver Run Ln., Bellingham, WA 98226 O: (360) 724-5211 * H: (360) 724-5211 * E-mail: rjdr@sos.net Dr. Hendrik Hart, Professor of Philosophy, Institute for Christian Studies 229 College St., Toronto, ON M5T 1R4 O: (416) 979-2331 * FAX: (416) 979-2322 * hhart@icscanada.edu Dr. Melvin D. Hugen, Chairman, CRC Homosexuality Study Committee 2105 Raybrook SE #5034, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 H: (616) 942-0001 * E-mail: mhugen@calvin.edu 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 107 LaGrave Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 O: (616) 454-7204 * H: (616) 698-0349 * FAX: (616) 454-9710 Rev. Bert Slofstra, Pastor, First Christian Reformed Church 16 Kimbermount Dr., St. Catharines ON L2N 5V6 O: (905) 687-3372 * H: (905) 646-7350 * FAX: (905) 687-8074 * E-mail: pslofstr@freenet.npiec.on.ca Dr. Lewis Smedes, Professor Emeritus, Fuller Theological Seminary 475 Fairview, Sierra Madre, CA 91024 H: (626) 355-1238 * FAX: (626) 355-8678 Dr. George Vandervelde, First Clerk, Synod 1999 of the Christian Reformed Church 229 College St., Toronto, ON M5T 1R4 O: (416) 979-2331 * H: (416) 226-3975 * FAX: (416) 979-2332 * E-mail: vanderve@chass.utoronto.ca Pastor George Vander Weit, North Hills Christian Reformed Church 3150 North Adams Rd., Troy, MI 48084 O: (810) 645-1990 * H: (810) 649-5388 * FAX: (248) 645-1991 * E-mail: gvanderweit@juno.com Rev. Jack Van Marion, Pastor, Providence Christian Reformed Church 4964 Alexandra Ave., Beamsville, ON L0R 1B5 O: (905) 563-0955 * H: (905) 563-4536 * FAX: (905) 563-0462 * E-mail: provcrc@vaxxine.com Rev. Gerald Zandstra, Pastor, Seymour Christian Reformed Church 840 Alger St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49507 O: (616) 245-8726 * E-mail: BSQG78E@prodigy.com