The October 4 annual meeting of the Reformed Fellowship began with an afternoon session which crowded the basement of the Kelloggsville Church. It featured an address by Rev. Raymond J. Sikkema of the Mount Hamilton Christian Reformed Church of Hamilton, Ontario, reflecting as a delegate on the 1984 C.R. Synod.
Reflections on the Synod
He raised serious questions about the way the synod is using its authority, seeing it as contributing to a situation in which there is more talk of a split within the denomination than there has ever been before. Whereas a basic principle of our church order is supposed to be that the authority entrusted to consistories is original, he wondered how that authority can in practice be demonstrated when loyalty to the church creeds is threatened. Despite the fact that elders far outnumber ministers in every church, he observed that in the functioning of our church organization the ministers dominate the proceedings. He saw official visitors from another denomination exercising influence denied to regular delegates . The long synod agenda is distributed too late for many of the delegates to give it adequate study. The committee assignments made by the program committee strongly influence the synod actions long before the synod sessions even begin. Is it not highly significant that although voting later seemed to indicate that the convictions of delegates were rather evenly divided on the crucial women in office issue, all of the ministers and the majority of the elders on the advisory committee appointed to deal with that subject favored opening the offices to women? The speaker also questioned the improper role assumed by the seminary professors, who are not delegates, but are assigned as advisors to each committee. How can the synod delegates, many of whom are present for the first time, properly represent the classes and churches in handling material about which the churches and classes still know nothing? How can one claim that the Holy Spirit is leading the synod when it ignores the communications of over 100 of the churches it is supposed to represent? The synod was not even informed of the contents of those communications. Furthermore, the synod never discussed the pros and cons of any of its three study reports on women in office! When it operates in this way it loses all grounds for being able to say of its decisions “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us . . .” (Acts 15:28). Are not consideration of the manner in which the synod reached its decisions and the insubstantial grounds given for them creating problems for the churches and driving them toward congregationalism?
The speaker suggested several remedies for abuses which he had highlighted. The agenda for the synods ought to be in the hands of the churches at least two months before the synods meet. Committees of pre-advice ought not to be able to change church policy. Major study reports should be given to such committees only to recommend procedure, not to recommend or determine substantive decisions. The synod itself should take the time necessary to deal with such matters. Such matters should be submitted to the churches for a year or two to permit them to study and respond to them. And the approval of 2/3 of the classes should be required before a synod decides such matters. The power of seminary faculty advisors should be sharply curtailed and they should be kept out of the synod debates.
Regarding the women in office issue, the speaker suggested that this is merely “the tip of the iceberg”; the “new hermeneutics” which emerge in this discussion affect all of the Scriptures and every doctrine. Under the influence of the pragmatic American mind neither the synods nor the church members are inclined to seriously study the Scriptures to determine their course. The suggested combination of world missions with world relief comes directly out of the way in which the business world operates not out of study of Biblical principles. Conservative or orthodox people must be prepared to do more serious Bible study. (It has been observed that even in family devotions in many of our homes the reading of the Bible is being displaced by reading of someone’s “meditations”!
The speaker’s observations aroused a good deal of interest and prompted some discussion.
The Bible’s Place Among Us
The evening session was addressed by Rev. Charles Krahe, pastor of the Seventh Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, on the subject, “The Bible and its Place among Us.” He called attention to the common issues that confront us as members of Reformed and Christian Reformed churches as the spirit of opposition to God and His Word seems to be abroad in our time. We must pray to God to restrain that spirit and to revive His Church . Without the Word of God, the Bible, we have nothing on which to stand but old positions and traditions. Only the “Word of God endureth for ever.” Our Lord said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the Jaw, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill . . . Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Jaw, till all be fulfilled” (Matt. 5:17, 18). He insisted too that “the scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). The speaker referred especially to Luke 16:19ff., the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, calling attention particularly to verse 29, “Abraham saith unto him. They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” He saw this as illuminating the question of the Bible and its place among us, noting that this is (1) an eternal question, and (2) an important one. This question about the Bible is not a mere academic matter on which there is room for difference of opinion. It is not like the secondary questions about the relative merits of various Bible translations, or those about unfulfilled prophecies, or those about the comparative merits of Reformed or Presbyterian creeds, however significant some of these matters may be. This question about the place of the Bible is one of eternal importance, for it concerns the eternal welfare of our souls and those of others. If we let go of the Bible we are completely adrift.
The central place of the Bible affects all that we do in the church, and there is no substitute for preaching it. If “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” “how shall they hear without a preacher” (Romans 10:17, 14)?
Devices such as dialog and visual aids are no substitutes for preaching, “God . . . will not have his people taught by dumb images, but by the lively preaching of His Word” (Heidelberg Catechism 98). Such preaching is impossible unless the preachers themselves believe the Bible. Our worship must be led by Biblical preaching if it is to be worship “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). The songs to be used in worship also need to be tested by the Word of God. The church needs a new emphasis on the teaching of that Word. Central in the controversial matter of women’s ordination is our acceptance or rejection of the Bible. The question about their ordination needs to be decided not on the basis of expediency or of their ability but by the Bible’s restriction of ordination to men. A Reformed church must acknowledge the infallible authority of the Bible. The reformation of the church must be on this basis and on it alone. Unless it does proceed on this basis it will come to nought. On the basis of the Word of God we will ultimately prevail, for that “abides for ever.” The “progressives” saying that “Reformed” must be “always reforming,” may sound good, but it is inaccurate. Reformed churches must not merely be up–dated, but continue to be reformed by the Word of God. Only so will they endure. May God grant us all renewed confidence in His Word.
The large crowd who attended the meeting were reminded by this address that important issues that confront us are not limited by our denominational borders. We were called and encouraged as God’s people, to renewed, uncompromising and united commitment to His Word. The ground for Reformed fellowship could hardly have been more appropriately stated.
Tapes of the evening meeting are available through the Reformed Fellowship office for $2.50.