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 | "I wish I had someone who would look into my tear-filled eyes and simply say 'God loves you for who you are!' " Anonymous gay youth, a member of "As We Are." 8 |
The denomination:
The Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC) is a conservative Christian denomination founded in 1857. It is a "Protestant church in the Calvanist tradition." 1 They sponsor the Back to God Hour, heard on many Christian radio stations. They had about 300,000 members in 1995, mostly from the Northeast, Midwest, Western coast and Canada. Total membership had dropped to about 275,000 by 1999. For historical reasons, many of its members are of Dutch ancestry.
The CRC did not allow women to hold positions of power until 1995. They encourage the building of private Christian schools. They condemn divorce except in cases of adultery.
A classis is a level of church organization that has authority over the congregations in a defined geographical area. The CRC holds yearly synods each June.
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CRC discussions on homosexuality:
| 1973-JUN: Synod 1973: The CRC synod stated the denomination's official position on homosexuality. They called
for compassion towards gays and lesbians, saying that:
The synod also declared that:
There appears to have been little discussion about homosexuality over the next two decades. One reason might have been the denomination's growing debate over female ordination. | ||
| 1995-OCT: Classis Grand Rapids East: A chronic state of tension appears to exist between the local classis and some professors in the nearby Calvin Seminary -- the official ministerial training institution for the CRC. During the early 1990s, some seminary professors had taken individual actions to pressure the classis into taking conservative views towards homosexual behavior. During 1994-OCT, the classis debated a majority and minority report on homosexuality that had been submitted to it. They rejected the minority report that called homosexual behavior a distortion of God's plan for sexuality and stated that sexual activity outside of marriage is disobedience. They adopted an ambiguous statement instead. This was seen by many in the CRC as an action which water down the 1973 statement. In an unprecedented move, at least in recent times, 14 Calvin Seminary professors sent a a joint letter to the classis, criticizing its decision. They felt that classis had been reluctant to affirm the moral stance, and the theological reasoning behind, the 1973 report. 6 | ||
| 1996-JUN: Synod 1996: Delegates approved the creation of a committee to restudy the issue of homosexuality. Delegates were concerned about the makeup of the committee; they wanted assurance that no member would deviate from the 1973 statement -- that is, that there would be no gay or gay-positive voice on the committee. A roll-call vote defeated a motion to add Rev. Jim Lucas, a celibate, openly gay minister, on the committee. A second vote rejected the the entire proposed membership of the committee. The responsibility to appoint committee members was assigned to to the denominational board of trustees. | ||
| 1997-OCT: Freedom of speech: Calvin Seminary's publication, the Calvin Seminary Forum is sent "to all church councils... as well as to significant contributors to the seminary." 5 Referring to the 1973 CRC statement on homosexuality, seminary president Dr. James A. DeJong wrote: "People are free to disagree with it, some claim, because we are not bound by synodical decisions. So, some disagree openly -- in personal conversations, on the internet, in articles in church papers, perhaps even in classrooms or from the pulpit. We should tolerate, even welcome these voices, it is said. These dissenters have a right to their opinions and to express them. By giving them a platform in the church the church tests its positions, learns, and moves forward. Even church leaders, office bearers, have claimed this right for themselves and for others." He is concerned that people will be confused "when the church deals with such dissent in a vacillating or indifferent manner." DeJong wrote that dissenters might send an overture (resolution) to a CRC Synod giving biblical support for their position, but should not otherwise advocate change publicly. | ||
| 1998-APR: Study conference: Hope Christian Reformed Church in Oak Forest, IL (a suburb of Chicago) held a homosexual study conference, called "Conference of Hope." This led to numerous protests and a formal call to "rebuke the sponsoring church, pastor, and organizers of the conference." At a meeting in 1999-MAR, Classis Chicago South ruled that the conference "did not provide for the proclamation of the Christian Reformed position on homosexual acts." They rejected a request to require two ordained ministers involved in the conference "to explain to classis their belief and teaching on chastity and to state clearly whether or not they believe and teach that all homosexual erotic acts are unchaste." 4 | ||
| 1999-JUN: Synod 1999: Delegates accepted, with modifications,
the report of a synodical study committee which investigated pastoral
care for homosexuals within the denomination. The report called their
churches "to repentance for their failures to minister to those
who experience same sex attractions." Dr. Melvin Hugen,
chairman of the committee commented: "We have not done what
Jesus did, sit down at table with those who are in public sin."
The delegates voted to change the text of the report at one point:
"Scripture seems to forbid such sexual intimacy with persons of
the same sex" was changed to "Scripture forbids..." A resolution was submitted by the First Toronto CRC. It had been prepared by Dr. Henk Hart of the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto and former CRC minister Jim Lucas. The First Toronto overture noted 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." (Dr Hart lost his license to exhort (preach as a lay person) because of his pro-gay views. Lucas lost his ordination because of his endorsement of committed monogamous same-sex relationships.) They had circulated a petition calling for a "safe place" to discuss homosexuality within the CRC. It was signed by over 300 CRC members, including almost three dozen ministers. The Toronto overture "asked the churches to consider whether same-sex partners should [be permitted to] take communion, as well as to consider how to respond to members whose views differ from [the CRC's] 1973 [declaration on homosexuality]." 2 With "no discussion, debate, or public announcement," the Toronto resolution was ruled out of order. "CRC General Secretary Dr. David Engelhard simply announced that the synodical officers were recommending that no new materials would be added to the synodical agenda without specifying what those materials might be." 3 The homosexual study committee will submit a revised report to Synod 2002, after receiving input from CRC congregations. |
"As We Are" support group:
Gay and gay-positive members of the CRC have started four AWARE groups in the U.S. AWARE is an acronym for "As We Are." Since the founding of the group it has attracted many members from a variety of other denominations, and has become ecumenical. Other members are committed Christians who are not affiliated with any denomination. AWARE holds an annual gathering each summer. 7
The future:
The CRC debated the topic of female ordination for many decades before finally voting in 1995 to allow women into positions of power. Some members feel that the decision was made by a denomination exhausted by endless debate, and in search of peace. Some voices within the denomination warned that if women were accepted for ordination, that arguments for gay and lesbian ordination will logically follow. Their predictions appear to be coming to fruition. Although searches of the denomination's web site and of sermon archives at some CRC churches found no references to the topic, discussions about homosexuality appear to have generated much heat at synod and other meetings.
No modification of the denomination's position is expected in the near future. Changes in religious belief about homosexuality started in the U.S. and Canada with the most liberal Christian denominations. Mainline faith groups such as the United Methodist Church and Presbyterian Church are currently debating the issue actively. There is a significant possibility that one or both will eventually split over the issue, much as various denominations divided over the slavery issue in the mid-19th century. Many in the CRC currently appear to be concentrating on the suppression of free discussion of the homosexual issue. They, like other conservative Christian denominations, have yet to fully engage the issue openly. As yet, gays and lesbians within the CRC have no effective voice on church committees.
References:
- The Christian Reformed Church's official home page is at: http://www.crcna.org/cr/crwb/
- "CRC Calls Congregations to Repent of Lack of Ministry to Homosexual Members," and "Christian Reformed Church Calls Congregations to Repent of Lack of Ministry to Homosexual Members; 'Nervous' synod delegates express fear of news media response," Christian Renewal/United Reformed News Service at: http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/reformed/
- "CRC Synod Rules First Toronto Homosexuality Overture Out of Order," Christian Renewal/United Reformed News Service at: http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/reformed/
- "Classis Chicago South Criticizes Hope CRC's Homosexuality Conference," Christian Renewal/United Reformed News Service at: http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/reformed/
- "Seminary President to CRC: All Christian Reformed Members 'Obliged to Support' Synodical Stance on Homosexuality," Christian Renewal/United Reformed News Service at: http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/reformed/
- "Calvin Seminary Professors Urge Classis Grand Rapids East to Affirm CRC Synod's Ruling that Homosexual Practice is Sin," Christian Renewal/United Reformed News Service at: http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/reformed/
- "As We Are" is a gay/lesbian support group made up primarily of CRC members. They can be contacted at http://www.asweare.org/ or P.O. Box 7824, Grand Rapids, MI, 49510, or (616) 456-6174 or info@asweare.org
- "A gay youth's story," As We Are, at: http://www.asweare.org/five/index.html
Copyright © 1998, 2000 & 2003 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolernace
Latest update: 2003-JUN-16
Author: B.A. Robinson
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