NR #1996-027: Total of Christian Reformed Classes Allowing Women's Ordination Reaches Thirteen In the fall of 1995, six CRC classes - Grand Rapids East, Hackensack, Holland, Lake Erie, Pacific Northwest, and Toronto - voted to allow the ordination of women. All but Pacific Northwest had a long history of support for women's ordination. Two additional classes - Chicago South and Huron - did the same in January. Five more classes - Alberta North, Florida, Muskegon, Northern Illinois, and Rocky Mountain - followed suit in March or late February, making a total of 13 CRC classes allowing the ordination of women. When a classis votes to declare the word "male" in article 3a of the denominational church order to be "inoperative," that action places the classis on record favoring the ordination of women, allows the examination and ordination of women ministers and evangelists, and allows the delegation of women elders and ministers to classis meetings. NR #1996-027: For Immediate Release Total of Christian Reformed Classes Allowing Women's Ordination Reaches Thirteen by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (March 29, 1996) URNS - When Synod 1995 voted to allow Christian Reformed classes to ordain women by declaring the word "male" in two church order articles to be "inoperative," nobody knew for sure how many classes would vote to ordain women. After nine months, however, the answer is becoming fairly clear - about a quarter of the 46 Christian Reformed classes are willing to allow the ordination of women. That statistic is in line with three surveys of CRC members over the past decade showing that about seventy to eighty percent of the denomination's membership opposes the ordination of women ministers and elders, while about half supports the ordination of women deacons. However, that is quite different from the denomination's synod which has generally made decisions supporting or opposing women's ordination by slim majorities. In the fall of 1995, six CRC classes - Grand Rapids East, Hackensack, Holland, Lake Erie, Pacific Northwest, and Toronto - voted to allow the ordination of women. All but Pacific Northwest had a long history of support for women's ordination. Two additional classes - Chicago South and Huron - did the same in January. Five more classes - Alberta North, Florida, Muskegon, Northern Illinois, and Rocky Mountain - followed suit in March or late February, making a total of 13 CRC classes allowing the ordination of women. When a classis votes to declare the word "male" in article 3a of the denominational church order to be "inoperative," that action places the classis on record favoring the ordination of women, allows the examination and ordination of women ministers and evangelists, and allows the delegation of women elders and ministers to classis meetings. Two classes - Pacific Northwest and Huron - voted to declare the word male to be inoperative by a margin of only one vote, and in each case subsequently voted to continue to prohibit delegation of women to classis meetings as a partial compromise. One option given by Synod 1995 but so far not acted upon by any classis apart from article 3a was to declare the word "men" in article 43 to be inoperative, thus allowing classes to license women to exhort in the churches of classis without ordination. An earlier decision of Synod 1992 remains in effect allowing women to "expound the Word of God" in local churches without formal authorization by classis. The classical vote on declaring the word male to be inoperative does not affect women elders in local congregations; Synod 1995 ruled that even when a classis refuses to declare the word male to be inoperative, it "shall not exercise its disciplinary authority to enforce compliance provided that the role of women elders is restricted to the local church in which they hold office." No Christian Reformed classes have regular meetings scheduled for April. However, the matter will come up at the May meetings of at least two classes: Quinte and Red Mesa both discussed the matter at their fall and winter meetings and are bringing it up again in May. In both cases the "sticking point" is a synodical rule requiring that classes respond to "local needs and circumstances" in their decision to allow women's ordination. So far, opponents of women's ordination in each classis have successfully questioned whether the synodical requirement has been met for their particular classis. In addition to the 13 classes voting to declare the word male to be inoperative and two classes which will take up the matter in May, overtures to declare the word male inoperative have been defeated at either the fall or winter meetings of nine classes - Alberta South, Atlantic Northeast, Arizona, Chatham, Hamilton, Kalamazoo, Minnesota North, Niagara, and Northern Michigan. At their fall meetings, Classis Heartland, Hudson, and Illiana took the technically unnecessary step of declaring the word male to still be "operative" for the churches of classis - and Illiana went a step further by reserving the right to discipline any churches that might elect women elders despite the synodical prohibition. Two classes took other actions. Classis Central California postponed the matter to September 1998. The situation in Classis Grandville was probably unique - one church submitted an overture to declare the word male inoperative but neither of the church's two delegates were willing to move the overture to place it on the floor. When no other delegate would move the overture either, classis declared that the overture was not legally before it due to lack of a motion and voted to only receive it for information. While that leaves seventeen classes that have not directly acted on the matter of declaring the word male to be inoperative, not all of those classes are neutral on the issue of women in office. Several such as Classis California South have a long history of opposition to women in office and have submitted overtures asking that Synod 1996 overturn the Synod 1995 decision allowing classes to declare parts of the church order to be inoperative. Whether Synod 1996 will be willing to overturn decisions in favor of women's ordination made by almost a quarter of the classes of the denomination remains to be seen. Cross-References to Related Articles: #1995-070: Christian Reformed Classes Permitted to Declare Church Order Ban on Women's Ordination "Inoperative"; Synod Decision Given Immediate Effect without Two-Year Ratification Process #1995-074: Synod Rejects Two Efforts to Require 1996 Ratification of Women in Office Decision #1995-075: Synod Permits Classes to Declare Second Church Order Article "Inoperative"; Women May Now "Expound" or "Exhort" #1995-087: Most Christian Reformed Classes Decline Synodical Option to End Prohibition on Women in Office #1995-088: List of Classis Decisions on Women in Office #1996-028: List of Classis Decisions on Women in Office ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr96-027.txt .