The past week was bracketed by two meetings, one on Monday and the other on Friday evening, both of them concerned with the same subject. The subject of interest was last June’s Christian Reformed synod decisions and their expected consequences. A Feminist View The first, held on Monday, Nov. 5, in the Calvin Seminary auditorium, […]
Many readers of the Christian Reformed Churches’ Banner were likely startled to find it’s September 17, 1984, issue largely devoted to the discussion of homosexuality. It appears that the successful effort to override the Biblical prohibitions of women in church office may now be followed by a comparable effort to break down the churches’ traditional […]
As delegates gathered for the 1984 RES meeting in Chicago it was generally recognized that the future of this organization was problematic. Despite faithful efforts by some member churches, it is our view that the future of the RES is still very much in doubt. We say this because the decisions taken in Chicago were […]
I want to preface my remarks about the decisions of Synod 1984 in regard to the women’s issue with two observations: The first observation is that the issue is not liberal versus conservative and the second is not against women and the use of their gifts and talents. The real issue is, What Does the […]
A Premise of Synod Infallibility? A recent church bulletin contained a “Report on Synod 1984 for Classis . . .” Its opening paragraph reads, “There is no doubt that every Synod of the CRC is unique and different. Different issues, the composition of the delegates, the emotional climate in the denomination, and many other […]
A previous issue of the Outlook gave a general account of the proceedings and decisions of this Synod of the Christian Reformed Church. In my judgment, as a delegate to this assembly, the one decision which more than any other displays where we are and where we are going as a denomination is the […]
Decisions of the latest Christian Reformed Synod have startled many people. They make it plainer than ever that we who by the grace of God want to hold and maintain the Biblical and therefore Reformed Faith will have to do much more than try to expose increasing errors of faith and life. We will have […]
The coming June synod meeting promises to be a turning point in Christian Reformed denominational history. The key proposal on the synod agenda will not seem to be very significant. We may expect to see its importance minimized by especially its promoters. The assembly will be asked to approve opening our churches’ governing consistories to […]
Shirking Men Incite Officious Women Arthur Besteman Recently I visited with two young men who are completing their first year of service as officebearers in the Christian Reformed Church. The one is serving as a member of the consistory of a large, suburban church, the other holds office in an average size rural congregation. […]
Back-to-God Hour This year’s 450-page synod agenda begins, as usual, with the stirring report on the denomination’s radio and television outreach, its Back–to-God Hour. “We have a longer tradition of broadcasting than any other denomination has,” and it is characterized as a distinctively church activity. It reaches out ‘“to every inhabited region in major world […]