Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Oct/93

Contributor - Mike VandenBerg and Art VanderMeulen

Title - Classis: A Ship Adrifrt?

Topic - Classis

Elder Hansen, listened intently to all the alternatives for his struggling congregation. He had heard them all before as the Classis asked them to carefully and prayerfully consider their options at its last meeting. Since that time members of Classis had been working actively with old first church in the absence of pastoral leadership, laying out alternatives for change of closure.

Elder Hansen did not like either of the options and when time came for him to express his opinion, he let them all know just that. "Besides," he said, "I don't feel the Classis has any right to come in here and tell us all how to run our church." The congregation decided to follow this leader and voted to continue to do just as they had always done. One year later the church closed for lack of members.

Community Church, was struggling with the infidelities of their previous pastor. Pastor Jones was loved by the people of the congregation, many of whom had come to know Christ under his care. When it came to light that Classis was removing him from the church, the people were furious. "How dare they come in here and tell us who we can and can't have as a pastor," blared Mrs. Wilson. "It's not up to others, but to us, whom we choose to have as a pastor, and I'll leave the church before I allow others to dictate what goes on here," exclaimed Mr. Vogal.

Hope Church, had lived without much hope as it struggled to find itself and regain its sense of direction after two mismatched pastorates. Whether it was a conflict in styles, a reluctance to share authority, or as some said, "Just plain poor preaching, teaching and caring about the people," the last two pastors had left on less than cordial grounds. The Classis supervision committee wondered what to do. If they stepped in to assist Hope Church, they would be seen a being parental, if they did not step in they would be seen by the congregation as negligent and uncaring.

While all of these illustrations are fictitious, they are played out in Reformed congregations all over Canada and the U.S. week after week. Many have come to distrust the Classis and regard it as just another unnecessary bureaucratic level, through whose hoops we must constantly jump. Classis is often seen as the enemy of the local church, or at the very least is viewed as some kind of meddling relative. 'ne question for the local church is then, is the Classis still a necessary and viable part of the organization of the church of Jesus Christ? Elder Hansen didn't see it as such. He only saw that others were coming in and telling him and the congregation what to do. Community Church had an incomplete view of the role of Classis and thus saw it as meddling in congregational affairs, whether they were right or wrong, and not as a helpful companion. Hope Church needed the aid of its fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, yet this was a relationship that was undeveloped.

As children in catechism class, we heard of how a classis was like a fleet of ships, all sailing close at hand to aid one another in stormy seas. However, we no longer see ourselves in this way. We have thrown that old image out. But now we find ourselves struggling with how to define this group of congregations, bound together by their theology, location, heritage, history and tradition. Perhaps we need a new image to bind us together in common compassion and love for one another. We suggest that Paul's analogy of the church as a body is the best description of our relationship to one another: each codependent on the other, and all dependent on Christ the head.

The Book of Church Order says it in these terms: The Classis is responsible to oversee the workings of the local church, to hold it to mutual accountability, and to aid the local congregation to stay solidly within the Word of God. When we strike out against the authority of the church, like our examples above, simply because we resent its authority and the insistence on accountability, we play into the hands of those who would have us become so exclusive that eventually we believe that only we possess the true doctrine.

All of us remember Jonestown and the Rev. Jim Jones or Waco and the Branch Davidians. Each of these situations became possible when oversight, accountability and supervision were not applied by denominational bodies to the local congregation. We must always remember that when we serve Christ, we do not serve Him in isolation, but with all our brothers and sisters. Terefore, the wisdom and guidance of the church cannot be the sole possession of a single pastor or congregation, but comes from the Holy Spirit, through the body of Christ.

It is disturbing to see the congregational spirit that is moving through our denomination. More and more, instead of seeing a reflection of Christ when we look at the church, we see a reflection of our society. The church is letting the world tell us what is best for ourselves.

In the church we call it congregationalism, each doing only for themselves. In the world, we call it individualism, or the "me" generation. The result is the same, in that we find ourselves increasingly isolated from one another, and from the very God we seek to serve. God never established the church so that it could be our church, our kingdom, our faith and our rule. Rather His goal is that we reflect His glory and authority in the church.

Over the past decades, the Reformed Church has seen the move away from a presbyterian style of government. This style, while keeping the strength of the grass roots - the local congregation - has always stayed tied to the larger church through the Classis, the Regional Synod, the General Synod, and its ecumenical relations to other denominations. However, local congregations have more and more slipped into a congregational theology and style of governance, while the Synods have tended to become more autocratic, ruling from the top down. This has resulted in a severe crisis in identity and a loss of cohesion within this denomination of 1,000 congregations.

What has prompted the writing of this paper is the God-given challenge and opportunity of beginning a new Classis within a new Regional Synod. It is our desire to find ways to address the failures of the past that have prevented us from growing as congregations and as a denomination. We want to find new ways, or perhaps recover old ones, that will allow us to work cooperatively with one another, connected to one another through love for each other which springs from the love of Christ to us. One gift we believe that the Classis of the Canadian Prairies has to offer to the denomination is our willingness to try new approaches, and because of our small size, be able to switch directions quickly if we find them to be failing us.

One thing that the churches of the Canadian Prairies have learned is that long distance love affairs are hard to carry on and keep strong. In our years within the Classis of Cascades, we found ourselves relating to churches in two provinces and four states, spanning an area larger than Ontario and Quebec together. It was trying to relate to churches on a classis level, while being spread out over the area of a Synod. Now with seven of our churches in one province we will find a new closeness that was just not possible before.

One lesson that we are beginning to learn, here on the prairies, is that congregations need to have interaction with one another in ways other than their business meetings. Whether it is pastoral retreats, meetings for all Classis Elders or Deacons, times of worship and praise, or just knowing the names and faces of persons in other congregations, each gives us a sense of belonging and caring for real live human beings and not just some impersonal structure. For really that is what the Classis is all about, being connected, having a sense of belonging, knowing that as individuals and congregations we don't stand alone, but that we are one within the Body of Christ. The Classis ought to be the fellowship that encourages us to reach outside ourselves, helps us to get back on our feet when we have fallen, and offers us prayers and words of encouragement when our congregations are struggling or hurting. The Classis ought to be the one place where we can let down our defenses and say to one another, "we need your help," where we can as a congregation feel no sense of rejection but unconditional love and support. The only way we can do that is to build relational bridges between one another before the crises begin. We have to say "I love you" and have it believed, before we can speak a word of correction. In other words, as the local church is to the believer, so the Classis ought to be to the congregations within its care.

Lastly, the Classis ought to encourage the beginning of new churches within its bounds. This ought not to be the responsibility of the Regional Synod but those who are closer at hand. They ought to be born out of the love congregations have for Christ and their desire to love others even as we have been loved. New church starts are the natural fruit of churches and Classis that are themselves in mission. Therefore, the church in mission is the church indeed and the Classis that is successful in kingdom building will be the one that builds the common belief that it is only together that we are the Body of Christ. So if we have churches that recognize the necessity of being in mission, we will have not only strong churches, and new churches, but strong Classes as well. The Reformed Church must recover the theology that gave its congregations strength by working together in Classical bodies, while discovering new ways of implementing that theology in our world today.

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