From: Darrell128@aol.com Date: Fri, 20 Sep 1996 04:23:21 -0400 (EDT) NR #1996-092 Back to the Drawing Board: Muskegon Classis Tables Proposed Settlement with Pastor of RCA's Fourth-Largest Church "Frustrated and embarrassed" was how a representative of Christ Community Church described his reaction to the August 13 decision of the Muskegon Classis of the Reformed Church in America to send a proposed amicable settlement back to committee for more work. The response came after a 2-1/2 hour closed session at Fifth RCA of Muskegon in which delegates to the special meeting of the Muskegon Classis debated whether to approve a proposed separation agreement between classis and Christ Community Church. If approved by classis, the proposed settlement would have brought an end to the long-running dispute between the classis and its largest church, which is also the fourth-largest congregation in the 316,000- member RCA. After the church allowed the Muskegon Metropolitan Community Church, a congregation primarily composed of practicing homosexuals, to meet on church premises, the classis began an investigation which led to further concerns over the senior pastor's views on the authority of Scripture and belief that profession of faith in Jesus Christ is not necessary for salvation. NR #1996-092: For Immediate Release Back to the Drawing Board: Muskegon Classis Tables Proposed Settlement with Pastor of RCA's Fourth-Largest Church by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service MUSKEGON, Mich. (August 14, 1996) URNS - "Frustrated and embarrassed." That's how a representative of Christ Community Church described his reaction to the August 13 decision of the Muskegon Classis of the Reformed Church in America to send a proposed amicable settlement back to committee for more work. "I'm definitely frustrated; I was looking forward to a settlement tonight, not another meeting," said Rev. Robert Kleinheksel, minister of care and social challenge at the 2800-member Christ Community Church of Spring Lake, Michigan. "I was hoping to have a certain chapter closed tonight." Kleinheksel's response came after a 2-1/2 hour closed session at Fifth RCA of Muskegon in which delegates to the special meeting of the Muskegon Classis debated whether to approve a proposed separation agreement between classis and Christ Community Church. If approved by classis, the proposed settlement would have brought an end to the long-running dispute between the classis and its largest church, which is also the fourth-largest congregation in the 316,000- member RCA. Since October of 1995, Classis Muskegon and Christ Community Church have been locked in an escalating theological dispute centering on the views of Rev. Richard Rhem, Christ Community's senior pastor. After Rhem's church allowed the Muskegon Metropolitan Community Church, a congregation primarily composed of practicing homosexuals, to meet on church premises, the classis began an investigation which led to further concerns over Rhem's views on the authority of Scripture and belief that profession of faith in Jesus Christ is not necessary for salvation. By February 1996, classis decided to drop its concerns over homosexuality and center its discussion on Rhem's views of Scripture and salvation apart from Christ. When the Christ Community membership voted by a seven-to-one margin on May 19 to leave the denomination if necessary to remain under Rhem's pastoral care, the classical negotiating team decided to implement an earlier resolution to work toward a "peaceful separation from the denomination" that would allow Rhem to "demit" (voluntarily resign) his RCA ministerial credentials while releasing the church into independent status. Muskegon's plans hit a snag when RCA General Secretary Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson told the RCA General Synod in June that the proposed solution "belies and denies all we believe in the Reformed Church in America about the nature of ordination, the accountability of ministry, and the composition of the church." Specifically naming the situation at Christ Community and an earlier conflict over nonpayment of denominational financial assessments between the North Grand Rapids Classis and the conservative Seventh Reformed Church of Grand Rapids that led to the expulsion of Seventh Reformed from the RCA, Granberg-Michaelson gave General Synod delegates what he termed a "strong warning against establishing an unfaithful and damaging precedent" in dealing with church splits. "We do little to protect the purity of our doctrine by making a mockery of our polity," said Granberg-Michaelson. Following General Synod, the Classis Muskegon executive committee proposed to test the mind of classis by proposing disciplinary action rather than a peaceful settlement. Instead of a peaceful settlement, the classical executive committee proposed that Rhem receive a "formal rebuke," be held "in disrepute before Christ, the church, and the world," and that classis begin a disciplinary process that would lead to his "probable deposition from office and removal of the privilege of serving as a minister of word and sacrament in the RCA." Angered by the shift, the Christ Community board of trustees called a special meeting on July 3 and voted unanimously to secede from the RCA on July 4. According to Ron Zoet, director of operations at Christ Community and spokesman for the church, the board of trustees viewed itself as exercising the authority given to it by the earlier 803-116 congregational vote declaring the church's intention to leave the RCA. Confronted by a situation in which the fourth-largest church in the denomination had voted to violate the RCA's book of church order by seceding without classical approval, the classis met on July 17 and averted a legal battle over ownership of the building - and a $1.5 million mortgage on the building - by formally rebuking Rhem while allowing him to demit his RCA ministerial standing "when Christ Community Church is willing to return to the negotiation table for an additional effort and we are able to reach a mutually acceptable separation agreement." That agreement was supposed to have been reached at the August 13 classis meeting. According to the official call to the meeting, "proposed letters of understanding have been reviewed and initialed" involving a variety of factors between the RCA and Christ Community Church, the RCA and the Muskegon Classis, and between classis and Christ Community Church. "The documents are intertwined and need interpretive explanation," wrote classical stated clerk Rev. Jim Stevens. "They will be reviewed and explained during the meeting on August 13 with a hoped for recommendation that they will be adopted by the classis." What those documents contained was not immediately clear. Immediately after opening devotions, classis adopted a motion to close the meeting to members of the press - with the result that reporters from two local newspapers and three television stations were required to wait outside in the church narthex while classis debated the terms of the separation agreement. Whatever the separation agreements included, they didn't meet with approval of the delegates. After two and a half hours of debate - some loud enough to be heard outside the sanctuary - delegates emerged with little more than an agreement to send the draft document back to committee for more work. "I'm confident that more specific conclusions will be reached in the weeks ahead," said Kleinheksel, regretting that "there is still a lot of suspicion" between classis and Christ Community Church. According to classis minister Rev. Richard Veenstra, designated spokesman for the Muskegon Classis, the vote was not entirely surprising. "I was expecting either an agreement to expedite the agreement and authorize the executive committee to work out the snags or a motion to refer this back to committee," said Veenstra. Veenstra declined comment on what the "snags" were, and declined to confirm reports that they centered on the financial settlement between Christ Community Church and the minority which voted against separation from the RCA. An earlier version of the settlement between Christ Community Church and Muskegon Classis specified that the classis would "relinquish all interest in and claim to the real estate" owned by Christ Community Church and that the church would indemnify the classis for the outstanding mortgage, pay outstanding assessments due to the classis and denomination as of June 30, continue classis dues through the end of the year, and pay up to $30,000 if necessary to satisfy outstanding assessments through the General Synod for the RCA's denominational paper, the Church Herald. According to Veenstra, the classical action in closing the meeting to the press was not unprecedented and was intended to address the "comfort level" of the delegates in speaking with members of the media present. "I think it's unusual that things remained open as long as they have," said Veenstra. "Delegates see things in the press and are telling me about it and saying, 'Is this what is happening?'" While the classical executive committee could call another special meeting of classis to deal with a settlement, Veenstra said that was unlikely and that the classis probably would not deal with the matter again until the next regularly scheduled meeting on October 1. "I think there are enough issues to discuss that we won't meet before then," said Veenstra. Whatever classis decides on the Rhem case is likely to have wide repercussions elsewhere. In earlier meetings, a number of members of the Muskegon Classis have supported Rhem's theological position and some churches outside the classis have been even more vocal in their support. One entire classis, the Classis of Schenectady in New York state, voted by a slim majority to become a "classis of refuge" for Rhem - an option which could not legally be exercised without approval by the Muskegon Classis and the Regional Synod of the Great Lakes. Despite the expressions of support for Rhem's views, the RCA General Synod took a strong stance in support of salvation through Christ alone and adopted a change to the denominational book of church order which, if ratified by two-thirds of the RCA classes, would add a question to the annual denominational report asking each local church whether it supported the doctrine that salvation is found only through Christ. "The RCA has taken a giant step to the right this year at General Synod," said Rev. Sherwin Brantsen, pastor of Laketon Bethel RCA in Muskegon and a former supporter of Rhem. "I think Muskegon Classis was encouraged by the stand of General Synod in rebuking universalist tendencies and rebuking anyone who would take a stand other than salvation only through Christ." "The long term effect is going to be that people who want to teach that salvation is apart from Christ will not want to make the RCA their home and those who want to be evangelical will," said Brantsen. Cross-References to Related Articles: #1994-041: Unprecedented Decision of Reformed Church in America Synod Removes Voting Rights from Two Regional Classes #1995-032: Reformed Church in America Expels Leading Conservative Church for Nonpayment of Denominational Assessments #1996-013: Special Meeting of RCA's Muskegon Classis Discusses Homosexuality, Scripture, Salvation Apart from Christ #1996-023: Muskegon RCA Classis: No Room for Pastor Questioning Salvation Apart from Christ, Authority of Scripture #1996-086: Muskegon Classis Rebukes Rhem for "Heretical" Views, Restarts Negotiations "to Reach a Mutually Acceptable Separation Agreement" with Christ Community Church #1996-093: Dr. Jonathan Gerstner on Rhem: "Tragedy is the Only Word" Contact List: Rev. Sherwin Brantsen, Pastor, Laketon Bethel Reformed Church 1731 Dykstra Rd., Muskegon, MI 49445 O: (616) 744-1749 * H: (616) 744-2287 Dr. John R. de Witt, Pastor, Seventh Reformed Church 950 West Leonard St., Grand Rapids, MI 49504 O: (616) 459-4451 Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, General Secretary, Reformed Church in America 49 Yawpo, Oakland, NJ 07436 O: (212) 870-2845 Rev. Robert Kleinheksel, Minister of Care and Social Challenge, Christ Community Church 225 East Exchange St., Spring Lake, MI 49456 O: (616) 842-1985 * H: (616) 846-7777 * F: (616) 842-3476 Rev. Richard Rhem, Senior Pastor, Christ Community Church 225 East Exchange St., Spring Lake, MI 49456 O: (616) 842-1985 * H: (616) 846-7777 * F: (616) 842-3476 Rev. James Stevens, Stated Clerk, Classis of Muskegon 281 North 2nd Ave., Fruitport, MI 49415 O: (616) 865-6165 Rev. Richard Veenstra, Classis Minister, Classis of Muskegon (RCA) 17432 North Shore Estates Rd., Spring Lake, MI 49456 O: (616) 788-2321 * H: (616) 842-0454 Ron Zoet, Director of Operations, Christ Community Church 225 East Exchange St., Spring Lake, MI 49456 O: (616) 842-1985 * H: (616) 846-7777 * F: (616) 842-3476 ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr96-092.txt .