NR #1996-066: Fraternal Relations with Dutch "Mother Church" to Head Agenda When Christian Reformed Synod Convenes Today When the Christian Reformed synod convenes this morning at 8:30 am at the Fine Arts Center on the Calvin College campus in Grand Rapids, the first item on its agenda will be the hotly-debated question of fraternal relations with its Dutch "mother church," the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (GKN). According to a 1995 report of the CRC's Interchurch Relations Committee, the key items of concern have been the GKN's admission of practicing homosexuals to church membership and church offices, including the pastorate, the GKN position on scriptural authority, and whether missions to the Jews are necessary. NR #1996-066: For Immediate Release Fraternal Relations with Dutch "Mother Church" to Head Agenda when Christian Reformed Synod Convenes Today * Acceptance of Gay Marriages, Ordination of Practicing Homosexual Ministers by Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland to Highlight CRC Synodical Debate by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (June 17, 1996) URNS - When the Christian Reformed synod convenes this morning at 8:30 am at the Fine Arts Center on the Calvin College campus in Grand Rapids, the first item on its agenda will be the hotly-debated question of fraternal relations with its Dutch "mother church," the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (GKN). Relations between the 292,000-member Christian Reformed Church and the much larger GKN have become increasingly strained in recent years. According to a 1995 report of the CRC's Interchurch Relations Committee, the key items of concern have been the GKN's admission of practicing homosexuals to church membership and church offices, including the pastorate, the GKN position on scriptural authority, and whether missions to the Jews are necessary. At last year's Christian Reformed synod, the GKN synod president touched off a firestorm of criticism when he told the CRC synodical delegates that in his denomination, "where believers are true to each other in love, and are committed to the edification of Christ's church, the apostle's words become true that in Christ there is neither male nor female, slave nor freeman, Jew nor Greek - and, I might add, neither hetero nor homo." In his June 16, 1995 speech, GKN synod president Rev. Richard Vissinga also said that in his own local church, the Open Hof Gemeente in the Dutch city of Kampen, "homosexual men or women participate in task forces, committees, and consistory." "When they live with a partner under one roof, they are faithful to each other in love. In faith we accept one another as a gift of God," said Vissinga. "Homosexuals experience the room which the church has come to respect as theirs as a boon and a gift. Unfortunately, this room is not found everywhere among us." Vissinga also told the CRC synodical delegates that his denomination had adopted a report on the medical treatment of seriously handicapped newborn children. "With reverence for the Creator, for life, for those concerned, and with great care, the study notes that in exceptional cases it may not be irresponsible to terminate life," said Vissinga. Synod 1995 voted by a slim margin of 80 to 89 not to break fraternal relations with the GKN. However, Synod 1996 has received eight overtures asking the CRC to "terminate," "sever," "discontinue," or "suspend" ties with the 800,000-member GKN. A ninth overture requests synod to "intensify restrictions on ecclesiastical fellowship" with the GKN citing grounds similar to the other eight. Among the opponents of GKN ties are the CRC's largest congregation, the 2400-member Sunshine Community Church in Grand Rapids, which has appointed a special committee to study the CRC's 1995 decision and its implications for Sunshine as a member of the Christian Reformed denomination. In addition, a conference of over 300 conservative CRC leaders meeting last November in the Chicago suburb of South Holland passed a number of resolutions severely critical of CRC ties with the GKN and warned that a failure to repent of women in office and ties to the GKN could result in the formation of a new denomination. Similar concerns have been voiced by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Reformed Churches in New Zealand which have suspended relations with the CRC and the Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland which has terminated relations. The growing uproar in the Christian Reformed denomination and disruption of ecumenical relations with other denominations led to a highly unusual speech by CRC General Secretary Dr. David Engelhard to the GKN General Synod meeting in the Dutch city of Lunteren on April 23 of this year. In a speech which Vissinga later said "shocked" the GKN delegates, Engelhard warned the GKN General Synod that "the pressure to go our separate ways and to break ties as sister churches is becoming steadily more intense." Following Engelhard's speech, the GKN General Synod "recessed as quickly as possible to committee meetings, which in effect meant going into executive session, without the press, visitors, and other observers," according to the Dutch newspaper Friesch Dagblad. The Dutch newspaper also reported that Vissinga "had no regret about his remarks." "In [Vissinga's] view, some of his predecessors who have addressed CRC synods have been less clear than he regarding the stand of the GKN," wrote Friesch Dagblad. "As a result of this past ambiguity, the idea had taken root in the CRC that the GKN neither condemned nor condoned homosexuality, when in reality the GKN has elevated the acceptance of homosexual church members to a matter of principle." When synod convenes, it will consider a recommendation from its advisory committee on interchurch relations which is even stronger than that of the standing denominational Interchurch Relations Committee. The recommendation to "further restrict its ecclesiastical fellowship with the GKN for a minimum of two years" is not as strong as the actions requested by the overtures, but would represent the strongest stance the CRC has ever taken toward its Dutch mother church. The CRC's definition of ecclesiastical relations with other denominations includes six items: "exchange of fraternal delegates at major assemblies," "occasional pulpit fellowship," "intercommunion (i.e., fellowship at the table of the Lord)," "joint action in areas of common responsibility," "communication on major issues of joint concern," and "the exercise of mutual concern and admonition with a view to promoting the fundamentals of Christian unity" (Manual of CRC Government, p. 269). Synod 1983 suspended pulpit and table fellowship between the CRC and GKN; if the advisory committee recommendation is adopted, Synod 1996 will refrain from exchange of fraternal delegates and joint action in areas of common responsibility as well as mandate its Interchurch Relations Committee to "intensify its pursuit of the two remaining provisions of ecclesiastical fellowship with the GKN." "This action acknowledges the concerns of those who believe that fellowship with churches which tolerate practicing homosexuals as members and officebearers is contrary to the teaching of and disobedient to Christ and the gospel," according to the advisory committee. Synod's deliberations on ties with the GKN will be deliberated in the presence of Vissinga and a number of other GKN leaders who are in Grand Rapids attending the sessions of the Reformed Ecumenical Council. Since the Reformed Ecumenical Council adjourned last Saturday, the GKN leaders are expected to leave shortly after Monday's synodical debate is completed. Cross-References to Related Articles: #1995-067: Christian Reformed Synod Votes to Keep Fraternal Relations with Gereformeerde Kerken Despite Advocacy of Gay Rights #1995-068: Complete Text of the GKN President's Fraternal Address #1995-106C: Interclassical Conference Urges Christian Reformed Synod to Lead Denomination in Repentance; Calls for Formation of "Covenant Union" of CRC Conservatives #1996-011: CRC's Largest Congregation Joins Protest Against Fraternal Relations with Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland #1996-044: Engelhard to Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland: Christian Reformed Synod Upset by Biblical Justification of Homosexuality in Dutch Mother Church #1996-045: Christian Reformed Conservatives Pleased by Engelhard Speech to Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland #1996-063: Christian Reformed Interchurch Relations Committee Recommends that Fraternal Relationship with Dutch Mother Church be Held "In Abeyance." #1996-064: GKN Synod President Addresses Christian Reformed Synod Contact List: NOTE TO EDITORS: Most synodical delegates are staying on the campus of Calvin College. To reach delegates in their dormitory rooms during Synod 1996, expected to adjourn on or before June 20, call Calvin College at (616) 957-0000 or contact the synodical news office at the following numbers: Synod News Office: Press Officers Rev. Robert De Moor and Rachel Boehm Van Harmelen O: (616) 957-8652 * F: (616) 957-6469 Pre-Recorded Synod News Hotline: (616) 224-0841 or toll-free (888) 277-9663 Dr. David Engelhard, General Secretary, Christian Reformed Church in North America 2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49560 O: (616) 246-0744 * H: (616) 243-2418 * FAX: (616) 246-0834 * E-Mail: engelhad@crcnet.mhs.compuserve.com Rev. Richard S. E. Vissinga, President, Synod of the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland Watermunt 11, 8265 EL Kampen, NETHERLANDS ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr96-066.txt .