Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - June/95

Contributor - Jeff Kingswood

Title - Editorial

Topic - Editorial

The 50th anniversary of the liberation of Holland and VE day have come and gone and as I watched, listened to, and read the coverage given these events by the media I noticed a common thread throughout. The question "Have we learned anything from all of this?" was common to many reports. Have we learned anything? One retired military officer who spoke said that he thought not. The wars in the world continue, the frequency of atrocities numbs us to the real horror that many live with on a day to day basis, the essentially evil, sinful nature of man is exposed day after day. Have we learned anything? No, the world seems to have learned little except that there are better and more efficient ways of waging war.

The Christian does learn from these things however. The Christian trusts that the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:6-8 are true:

"You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."

The Christian has a context in which to evaluate these events. For the world they occur in a moral and spiritual vacuum but we see them as part of the plan of God for the redemption of His Church. What a wonderful assurance!

Our Regional Synod of Canada is a year old. Our Synod meeting has come and gone. Events, services, programs have been initiated, others drawn to a conclusion. We would do well to ask the question of ourselves: "What have we learned?"

This issue also contains an open letter and a letter to the editor from our brothers and sisters at Seventh Reformed Church in Grand Rapids who were expelled for refusing to pay assessments with which they fundamentally disagreed. What are the implications for us? What is the role of conservative Reformed congregations in a denomination that shows an increasing intolerance of conservative dissent?

In an interview with Dr. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson the Pioneer was told that:

"Any suggestion that either I, or any of the denominational staff, encouraged a certain action by the Classis (Grand Rapids North) is completely inaccurate. Classis acted with a great deal of patience and perseverance and simply took the action which Seventh's actions made necessary."

But we wonder. Certainly the action taken by Seventh gave the classis the legal option which it exercised but was the classis compelled to do so? Not at all. Why didn't the General Secretary counsel the Classis of Grand Rapids to consider giving up its votes at General Synod for one more year while the whole assessment issue is reviewed as we have been promised it will be? Would that have been a rash course of action? As rash as throwing out of the denomination one of the most distinguished congregations of the Reformed Church in America and a leading conservative voice in the denomination?

What seems to be clear is that the structures which were devised in the Constitution of the Reformed Church in America to ensure that the larger assemblies of the church wielded only delegated and limited authority have been turned on their head. The threat of not being allowed to vote at a General Synod meeting is enough to send a classis into actions which only further divide a denomination that is already making its conservative constituency a little more than nervous.

What have we learned? The RCA seems to have paraphrased Luther: Peace if possible, but our tax at all costs.

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