Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 05:41:16 -0500 From: Darrell Todd Maurina Reply-To: Darrell128@aol.com Organization: Christian Renewal/United Reformed News Service Subject: NR 98107: Cl. Michigan Goes On-Line; URC Synod Asked to Follow NR #1998-107: Classis Michigan Goes On-line; URC Synod Asked to Follow Classis Michigan of the United Reformed Churches is going on-line, and the denomination itself may be following suit after the next synod. Classis Michigan unanimously adopted two overtures from Covenant URC of Kalamazoo, which asked classis "to allow us to post the classis meeting agendas and minutes on our web site" and to overture synod "to give us permission to post a list of URC churches, synodical agendas and minutes, and similar documents on our Web site." NR #1998-107: For Immediate Release: Classis Michigan Goes On-line; URC Synod Asked to Follow by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. (October 28, 1998) URNS - Classis Michigan of the United Reformed Churches is going on-line, and the denomination itself may be following suit after the next synod. Classis Michigan unanimously adopted two overtures from Covenant URC of Kalamazoo, which asked classis "to allow us to post the classis meeting agendas and minutes on our web site" and to overture synod "to give us permission to post a list of URC churches, synodical agendas and minutes, and similar documents on our Web site." Covenant URC noted that the former Classis Midwest, which Synod 1997 divided into Classis Southwest United States, Classis Central United States, Classis Michigan, and Classis Eastern United States, had already given permission for posting its documents on the Internet. "Ecclesiastical assembly meeting agendas and minutes are ordinarily made available for public distribution," noted Covenant URC. "Publishing such documents on the World Wide Web lowers the cost of publishing and improves the speed of distribution of these agendas and minutes." The church offered its services to classis at no cost, and noted that it "has received a number of requests from independent groups expressing desires to affiliate with the URCNA after they visited Covenant URC's web site." "The comments that we have received from such groups include expressions of admiration and respect for our form of church government," wrote Covenant URC. "Posting classical agendas and minutes on the web allow those outside our federation to see how we govern ourselves, can improve our public relations through showing openness, and can serve to encourage those outside our federation to affiliate with the URCNA." Covenant URC delegates noted that they had already received a number of families coming to their church after finding the church's website on the Internet, and the proposal to post classical agendas and minutes on the Internet met with no opposition. The idea of having Covenant URC host a website for the entire denomination also passed, but not without some questions. "These are some of the positive aspects; what are the negative aspects, if any?" asked Rev. Ed Knott, a retired pastor in Beverly URC of Wyoming. "Is Greg Rickmar [the Covenant URC webmaster] in charge of this?" Covenant URC pastor Rev. Phil Vos said that Rickmar is careful to operate under the authority of his consistory, even though some of its members - including Vos - don't have direct Internet connections and can't view the website for themselves. "Greg sends me so much information that I can't keep up," said Vos. Rev. Derrick Vander Meulen of Bethel URC in Jenison strongly supported the Covenant URC overture. "I can't think of any negatives to this unless someone read our agendas and minutes and didn't like them," said Vander Meulen. "Our minutes and agendas are normally public and I can't really think of any negatives." After Vander Meulen's speech, the Covenant URC overture passed by unanimous voice vote. Cross-References to Related Articles: #1998-086: Four of Six United Reformed Classes to Meet in October Contact List: Rev. Edward J. Knott 2759 Porter St. SW, Wyoming, MI 49509 H: (616) 534-4683 Rev. Derrick Vander Meulen, Pastor, Bethel United Reformed Church 1950 Cedar Brook Dr., Jenison, MI 49428 O: (616) 457-4001 ¥ H: (616) 457-9652 ¥ E-Mail: derrickvm@juno.com Rev. Phil Vos, Pastor, Covenant United Reformed Church 7724 Hampton Oaks Dr., Portage, MI 49024 O/FAX: (616) 324-5217 ¥ H: (616) 324-5132 ---------------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/reformed/archive98: nr98-107.txt .