From: Darrell128 Date: Sat, 2 May 1998 19:16:49 EDT Subject: NR 98022: Church Property Rights Focus of Four Synodical Overtures NR #1998-022: Church Property Rights Focus of Four Synodical Overtures Synod 1998 will deal with at least four and possibly five overtures from Christian Reformed churches and congregations upset by a proposed change in the recommended articles of incorporation for local churches. Since 1970, the synodically-recommended articles of incorporation for local churches have stated that "the ownership of all property, real or personal, acquired by this church shall be vested exclusively in this corporation, and title to the same shall be taken in its name alone," and that the corporation "shall have exclusive control over all its temporalities, nor shall the exercise of its property tights through the lawful decisions of its council and/or congregation be subject to revision by the classis of which this church is a member or the synod of the Christian Reformed Church in North America." Much of that would change if last year's property decision is ratified by this year's synod. Accepting an argument that the current procedure "is based on a congregationalist principle of church government which posits the absolute autonomy of the local congregation," Synod 1998 proposed new rules under which "all real and personal property shall be exclusively in furtherance of the purposes of this church as a member church of the Christian Reformed Church in North America." NR 1998-022: For Immediate Release Church Property Rights Focus of Four Synodical Overtures by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service (April 22, 1998) URNS -- Synod 1998 will deal with at least four and possibly five overtures from Christian Reformed churches and congregations upset by a proposed change in the recommended articles of incorporation for local churches. Since 1970, the synodically-recommended articles of incorporation for local churches have stated that "the ownership of all property, real or personal, acquired by this church shall be vested exclusively in this corporation, and title to the same shall be taken in its name alone," and that the corporation "shall have exclusive control over all its temporalities, nor shall the exercise of its property tights through the lawful decisions of its council and/or congregation be subject to revision by the classis of which this church is a member or the synod of the Christian Reformed Church in North America." A set of synodical rules adopted in 1970 specify that in the event of division within a Christian Reformed congregation, a new church which remains in existence for at least one year and consists of at least 15% of the professing members or 25 total members is entitled to a "just and fair division of property." Much of that would change if last year's property decision is ratified by this year's synod. Accepting an argument that the current procedure "is based on a congregationalist principle of church government which posits the absolute autonomy of the local congregation," Synod 1998 proposed new rules under which "all real and personal property shall be exclusively in furtherance of the purposes of this church as a member church of the Christian Reformed Church in North America." The rules further specify that in the case of irreconcilable division, "the confessing members of this church who, according to the exclusive determination of the classis (or synod on appeal), remain true to the purposes of this church as a member church of the Christian Reformed Church in North America and the principles of doctrine and ecclesiastical government outlined under Articles III and V of these Articles of Incorporation shall be the lawful congregation of this church and shall have the exclusive right to hold and enjoy the real and personal property of this church." That doesn't automatically mean members seceding from the denomination would lose the building, however: under the new Articles of Incorporation, "nothing in this Article VI shall prevent the classis (or synod on appeal) from determining, in keeping with the Scriptural injunction of I Corinthians 6, that more than one group of confessing members of this church are each a lawful congregation and dividing the real and personal property between the groups of members as classis (or synod on appeal) may determine." Adoption of the new Articles of Incorporation is to be considered by synod this summer. If adopted, they would be binding only for churches that receive denominational financial assistance and new congregations entering the denomination. Established CRC congregations will not be required to change their existing articles of incorporation, but synod also voted to "instruct the general secretary to send a biennial inquiry regarding the congregations' current articles of incorporation and to recommend that congregations adopt articles that faithfully reflect the model" adopted by synod. Protests by Churches and Classes The proposed change won't pass without debate. Two churches and two classes are overturing Synod 1998 to reject the changes -- all four in regions that have experienced at least one secession from the denomination. "This was a top down, not a bottom-up decision; it came from the board of trustees, not a consistory or a classis, and I don't know how it got past synod last year," said Rev. Bruce Persenaire of Escalon CRC in Classis Central California, which sent his church's overture on to synod. "We felt it was a carrot-and-stick approach to helping churches that are in need where they will only get money if they comply with having their property deeded over to the denomination." Escalon considers itself a "middle-of-the-road" church that has no intention of seceding from the denomination, but Persenaire said the new procedure wouldn't stop secessions anyway. "This is not a good way of doing church business," said Persenaire. "I don't think this is going to stem the decline. If churches are bound and determined to leave, they will leave, and most of the churches that are leaving are established churches that wouldn't be required to adopt these articles anyway." Persenaire said he didn't have as much of a problem with home missions churches being required to follow the new articles as he did with existing churches being required to change their articles to obtain financial aid. "To have an established church that has served the denomination faithfully, if they need money they need to open up their articles of incorporation to change them?" objected Persenaire. "When you're talking about a quarter million to $300,000 granted by home missions to an organized church, I don't have as much of a problem." Classis Columbia sent a similar overture to synod after one of its member congregations, Park Lane CRC of Portland, asked classis to study the matter. "The church had a church loan that was taken out on its sanctuary some time ago," said classical stated clerk Rev. Howard Spaan. "One of the stipulations in the decision of synod was this arrangement that any congregation receiving financial assistance from denominational agencies change their articles of incorporation. They read it to mean it was mandatory that they would have to change their articles of incorporation and they resisted this." When classis voted to appoint a study committee, it asked Spaan, who has authored a book on church polity, to join the study committee due to his background in the subject. Spaan noted that the current procedure stemmed from a 1970 minority report written by synodical stated clerk Dr. R.J. Danhof. "As a student of church government, I knew Dr. Danhof rather well. Dr. Danhof was planning to be a lawyer before he entered the ministry and he had a very legal mind, and this was reflected in his report," said Spaan, objecting to "ambiguous language" in the new document. "The language may be clear in Engelhard's mind, but there are people who are not clear," said Spaan. "The Christian Reformed Church in practice for a great many years held that if there was a split and if 15% of the church remained with the CRC, then the property would belong to those who remained in the Christian Reformed Church," said Spaan. "We feel the new statement should emphasize, without all the hocus-pocus that is with it that makes it ambiguous, that whether there is a division of a church that forms two churches within the denomination or one portion outside of the denomination, the property belongs to the local group and the local group should resolve the financial assets." "If this cannot be done locally, because they are part of a denomination, they should seek a fair settlement," said Spaan. "No church should have to put all this mandatorially into their articles of incorporation, but we agree that all churches should do so." While believing that property matters should be settled locally, Spaan said the local settlement should divide the assets rather than assigning them simply to those who remain in the denomination. "We have never gone the way of the Presbyterians or the RCA that when a group defects the property reverts to the denomination," said Spaan. "Whatever the circumstance of division in the congregations, as Christians we should seek for a fair and just settlement of property matters, and it's irrelevant whether they leave as a result of a dispute or whether churches divide and form a second church. If people contribute to the assets of the church in days where there was unity, it is only fair to them that a just division of assets should be made." Overtures in two other classes didn't fare as well. Classis Chatham rejected an overture from Wyoming CRC of Ontario arguing that "the procedure adopted by Synod 1997 for disaffiliation would allow, perhaps even encourage, the churches of classis to lord it over the council and church that sought to disaffiliate." Classis Toronto rejected a similar overture from Maranatha CRC of Woodbridge arguing that "when classis (or synod in case of appeal) is asked first to determine that an irreconcilable division (schism) has occurred within a congregation and then is given exclusive determination of which members of the congregation have remained true to the purposes of the church as a member church of the CRCNA, with the knowledge that a group of members so favored will have the exclusive right to hold and enjoy the real and personal property of the church, all appearance of impartiality is lost." "I would think that the word "impartiality' is crucial for us; there is no impartiality in the present system," said Maranatha CRC pastor Rev. Hendrik Bruinsma. "Secondly, our knowledge of what has happened in other denominations where this has become the rule doesn't seem to indicate that this is a method which avoids acrimony." "Since denominations owning the property is so common in Canada, that precedent is so strong that my fear is it would be upheld regardless of what the agreement is," said Bruinsma. "Whoever classis favors gets the property, period, and classis has every reason to favor even a small group that remains." A fifth overture may be coming from a Michigan congregation: Lamont CRC in Classis Zeeland. At its January meeting, Classis Zeeland rejected a similar overture from the church, but Lamont is returning to the May meeting with a revised overture for consideration by classis. De Moor: "Congregationalism is Not Reformed" Calvin Seminary professor of church polity Dr. Henry De Moor, who served as a member of the synodical study committee that drafted the 1997 proposals, strongly objected to arguments that the synodical decision departs from prior practice. "I sense that people don't understand that congregationalism is not Reformed," said De Moor. "I think the CRC in taking this stand has returned to its origins and its true color with regard to Reformed church government." "The overtures all suggest that synod is departing from traditional Reformed polity and is swooping down upon congregations to tell them what they can or cannot do with their assets," said De Moor. "I think the important point for people to understand is this is not some new synodical direction which is thrust upon the churches to get even with them for their independent spirit." According to De Moor, the problem is not with a church leaving unanimously or nearly unanimously but with churches that divide. "If the church wishes to depart and its a 100 percent decision, that's fine, nobody's going to quibble about the property. We had long had a policy that those who remain true to the Christian Reformed Church are the primary holders of the assets until 1970 when it became strictly a percentile basis and you just divide up the pot." De Moor said the key problem with the current property rules established in 1970 is a lack of accountability. "In Reformed church polity local church congregations have always been accountable to broader assemblies," said De Moor. "If there is a dispute within a local congregation on any matter, including financial matters, Reformed polity has always said there ought to be accountability and classis ought to have some authority." "What has happened in recent years is that a certain segment of the church and often a majority thumbed their nose at the classis, and embraced a much more congregationalist view," said De Moor. "It's that which synod is trying to correct." Cross-References to Related Articles: #1997-063: Christian Reformed Synod 1997 Faces Crossroads Decision: Will Seceding Churches Keep Their Property? #1997-073: Synod Modifies Local Church Property Rights #1998-005: Classis Zeeland Rejects Ban on Women's Ordination #1998-007: Chatham Rejects Effort to Revise Property Rules Contact List: Rev. Ken Benjamins, Pastor, Wyoming Christian Reformed Church PO Box 445, 529 Superior St., Wyoming, ON N0N 1T0 O: (519) 845-0244 * H: (519) 845-3442 Rev. Hendrik Bruinsma, Pastor, Maranatha Christian Reformed Church 4561 Langstaff Rd., Woodbridge, ON L4L 2B2 O: (905) 851-0044 Dr. Henry De Moor, Professor of Church Polity, Calvin Theological Seminary 3233 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4387 O: (616) 957-7194 * H: (616) 940-0513 * FAX: (616) 957-8621 * E-Mail: DEMH@Calvin.edu 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@crcna.org Rev. D. Vance Hays, Pastor, Parklane Christian Reformed Church 16035 SE Main, Portland, OR 97233 O: (503) 253-4728 * H: (503) 253-0546 * E-Mail: chrisd@abctech.com Rev. Bruce Persenaire, Pastor, Escalon Christian Reformed Church 2131 California St., Escalon, CA 95320 O: (209) 838-7223 * H: (209) 838-7294 * FAX: (209) 838-3939 Pastor Howard B. Spaan, Stated Clerk, Classis Columbia 100 SW 195 Ave. #143, Beaverton, OR 97006 O: (503) 645-2415 Rev. Richard Terpstra, Pastor, Lamont Christian Reformed Church 4745 Leonard Rd., Coopersville, MI 49404 O: (616) 677-3363 * H: (616) 677-2143 ---------------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/reformed/archive98: nr98-022.txt (reformatted 5-6-98) .