NR #1996-038: Classis Arizona Asks Synod to Rebuke Interclassical Conference Classis California South led the conservative movement in the Christian Reformed denomination following Synod 1995 by calling an "Interclassical Conference" in the Chicago suburb of South Holland to formulate a conservative response to the denomination's decision to allow classes to ordain women by declaring the word "male" in two parts of the CRC church order to be "inoperative." However, the classis has now rejected a key portion of the response drafted by the Interclassical Conference: "affinity classes" based on theology rather than upon geography.. NR #1996-038: For Immediate Release California South Kills Key Interclassical Conference Overture by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service (March 13, 1996) URNS - Classis California South led the conservative movement in the Christian Reformed denomination following Synod 1995 by calling an "Interclassical Conference" in the Chicago suburb of South Holland to formulate a conservative response to the denomination's decision to allow classes to ordain women by declaring the word "male" in two parts of the CRC church order to be "inoperative." However, the classis has now rejected a key portion of the response drafted by the Interclassical Conference. A centerpiece of the Interclassical Conference response was a proposal to create "affinity classes" for churches "that are persuaded that the ordination of women to the offices of minister, elder, and evangelist is contrary to the Scripture and that believe in conscience that they should not be part of a classis where women are ordained to church office." While conservative churches would not be forced to join such a classis, the proposal's proponents argued that it was the only way to maintain peace in classes where majorities voted to allow the ordination of women. When Escondido CRC brought the affinity classis overture to Classis California South, it cited nearly four pages of grounds. Noting "past synods have been hesitant to enforce church order regulations which are not being universally followed and have sometimes explicitly cited this lack of universal adherence as a ground for changing the church order," Escondido CRC argued that the church order article specifying that classes are to be organized geographically has been interpreted as a guideline rather than a fixed rule dating back to the 1600's. Among examples cited by Escondido are the CRC's Classis Ostfriesland, a non-geographical classis composed of German-speaking churches spanning three states; the overlap between the English-speaking Classis Hackensack and Dutch-speaking Classis Hudson in New Jersey; the transfer of Second CRC of Sioux Center, Iowa, to a different classis from First CRC in the same city as a result of conflict within the church and classis; Classis Red Mesa, a classis composed mostly of American Indians on the CRC's Navaho and Zuni mission field, and separate churches, classes, and regional synods for Walloon-speaking and English-speaking churches in the Netherlands organized at the same time the original CRC church order was written. Escondido CRC also cited non-geographical governing units for ethnic minorities in the Presbyterian Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), and United Church of Christ, and five presbyteries explicitly organized in the Presbyterian Church (USA) for reasons of theological affinity during the early 1800's. All the historical and church order precedents weren't enough to persuade the delegates to classis, however, who voted down the Escondido overture by a voice vote. "I think perhaps the overture could have been presented more strongly than it was; that, of course, is my fault," said Escondido pastor Rev. Andrew Cammenga. "I think maybe a statement such as 'If you want to keep conservatives in the denomination you have to do something like this' might have helped." According to Cammenga, part of the reason for the defeat was that the conservative churches in Classis California South were not united in supporting the overture. "There were even a couple of moderately conservative people who were fearful of this because they were afraid it would decimate the conservative classes and the conservative voice in synod itself," said Cammenga. "They suggested that if classes were deprived of their conservative voices, all the conservatives would be in one classis or two and that their voice would be diminished greatly." One of the overture opponents, Rev. Bart van Eyk of San Diego CRC, lamented the pain caused by division within the CRC and doubted that the overture would have salved that pain. "I have been on record for many years being opposed to homosexuality and opposed to women in office," said van Eyk. "When this whole proposal came before us in our church council, it came before us on the Sunday before the classis meeting and we didn't really have time to examine it and all its ramifications. All I feel is extreme pain on this whole issue and I think many people share that on all sides of the fence." Classis California South also voted down an overture from First CRC in Chino asking Synod 1996 "to declare the decision of Synod 1995 regarding women in office to be discriminatory in character" on the grounds that the decision was equally unfair to "women officebearers who find themselves in classes which have not declared the word 'male' in Church Order Article 3 to be inoperative within their bounds" and to "male officebearers who must, against their consciences, function with women officebearers at various levels within those classes which have declared the word 'male' in Church Order Article 3 to be inoperative." Noting that previous synodical decisions dating back to 1968 have strongly condemned racial discrimination as sin, First Chino argued that "since Synod finds no reason, Biblical or confessional, to exclude qualified women from holding all offices of the church, for any church to restrict qualified women from holding those offices on the basis of gender alone constitutes being guilty of a no less serious kind of discrimination." First Chino's overture wasn't any more persuasive to the delegates than that of Escondido, and classis also voted it down by a voice vote. However, California South did adopt one item of the Interclassical Conference: an overture from First Chino asking synod "to lead the churches of our denomination in repentance "by declaring the Synod 1995 decision regarding women in office "to be in conflict with the Word of God and the Church Order," by "immediately terminating ecclesiastical fellowship with the GKN," the CRC's mother church in the Netherlands which has ordained homosexual clergy since 1979, and by "heeding the call of fellow Christians of other Reformed churches to maintain a biblical position with regard to these important matters," citing rebukes from the Presbyterian Church in America, Orthodox Presbyterian Church, North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council, and the Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland." "I don't remember that there was much opposition; if at all, the opposition was minimal, and the vote was practically unanimous," said Cammenga. 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 #1995-069R: Synod Withholds Action on Korean-Language Classis #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" #1995-080: Presbyterian Church in America General Assembly Unanimously Warns CRC to "Repent and Rescind" Women in Office Decision #1995-081: Classis California South Calls Special Meeting to Discuss Christian Reformed Women in Office Decision #1995-082: California South Calls Conference of Christian Reformed Classes, Councils, to Address Women in Office Decision #1995-087: Most Christian Reformed Classes Decline Synodical Option to End Prohibition on Women in Office #1995-093: California South Announces Date and Location for Interclassical Conference of Christian Reformed Conservatives #1995-102: Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland Sever Ties with Christian Reformed Church in North America #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 #1996-012B: Kalamazoo Declines to Allow Women Delegates to Classis Contact List: Rev. Andrew Cammenga, Pastor, Escondido Christian Reformed Church 1850 N. Broadway, Escondido, CA 92026 * H/O/FAX: (619) 745-2324 * E-Mail: ACAMMENGA@aol.com Rev. Ron Scheuers, Pastor, First Christian Reformed Church 12943 Magnolia Ave., Chino, CA 91710 O: (909) 591-9111 * H: (909) 590-2324 * FAX: (909) 464-9636 * E-Mail: MRenk@aol.com Rev. Bart van Eyk, Pastor, San Diego Christian Reformed Church 6710 Shannon Ave., San Diego, CA 92115 * O: (619) 469-5218 * H: (619) 460-4466 ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr96-038.txt .