During the month of April Germany commemorated the death of one of its martyr-heroes. On April 9, 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was murdered by Nazi orders while the American army of liberation was moving swiftly toward the concentration camp where he was imprisoned. This brilliant theologian, dying at the early age of 39, has left his […]
Classis Submits Overtures for 1993 Ratification of Women in All Offices We want to call the attention of our readers to the overture submitted to Classis Grand Rapids East by First CRC. It comes in the political form of an Appeal designed to convince Synod 1993 of the error of Synod 1992. If the Appeal […]
Dear friend in Christ: Congratulations on being chosen to be a delegate to the Synod of 1993 of the Christian Reformed Church. It is always an honor and a privilege to be selected as a delegate to synod. And it is a grave responsibility. The gravity of this responsibility is especially evident at this juncture […]
It’s interesting to see what the juxtaposition of two letters can do to the meaning and “feel” of a word. Putting the “i” before the “t” in UNITED gives an assurance of solidarity and hope. Putting the “t” before the “i” in UNTIED can inject uncertainty, drifting, separation. FEMINISM Feminism in […]
The Synod of the Christian Reformed Church will gather for its annual meeting on the campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on June 8, 1993. A prayer service for synod will be held the previous evening in the Mayfair CRC of Grand Rapids. For the first time, synod will devote its first afternoon and […]
On Wednesday, June 15, 1993, we were seated in the Fine Arts Center at Calvin College, very thankful that the majority committee regarding women in ecclesiastical office was recommending upholding the decision of Synod 1992 which maintained the wording of Church Order Article 3. Imagine our shock when after just a few minutes, the majority recommendation […]
The agenda before the 1993 CRC synod was, relatively speaking, rather light; but what It dealt WIth was very weighty. The matter of women and ecclesiastical office was again before the delegates of this year’s synod. Many members of the CRC felt that this issue had reached something of a resolution in 1992 when that synod […]
The book by (Rev.) Clarence Boomsma was distributed to delegates of the CRC Synod ‘93 as a valuable contribution to the deliberations on women in church office. Cornelis P. Venema unmasks some of the grave assertions made by the author. In this one year allotted by Synod ‘93 for further discussion in the churches, members and office-bearers ought […]
The Calvin College Women’s Caucus, including 149 Calvin Faculty members, has signed a document submitted to the Board of Trustees of the College entitled, “Justice or Prudence: A Response to Synod 1992.” In the document the signers state that the 1992 decision of synod had damaged their relationship with the CRC. and they call for a […]
Please permit me a few remarks concerning Cornelis P. Venema’s critique of Clarence Boomsma’s Male and Female, One in Christ. I want to make one point about each of his three “pillars.” 1. Venema speaks scornfully of Boomsma’s “theology of equality” based on Galatians 3:28 which says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor […]