A denominational leader with whom I had lunch last year remarked, “The synod which acts on the headship issue will be a watershed synod.” More recently the editor of The Outlook in an article which has received much favorable comment referred to the 1984 synod as “The Showdown Synod.” More recently the synod which just met has been called “The Single Issue Synod.”

The Synod of 1984 will long be remembered and discussed as the synod that opened the office of deacon in the Christian Reformed Church to women. This is a decision which is causing deep concern and even dismay to many members of the church . While I would not want for one moment to minimize the seriousness ofthis decision, yet I want to point out that the decision in itself is not the real tragedy which occurred during the 1984 synod. There is a much deeper cause for alarm which became apparent during the days that synod met this past June.

Before synod met the editor of The Banner had written in the January 23, 1984 issue, “There is no doubt in my mind that Paul was prescribing a restricted role to women in the service of worship when he wrote I Corinthians 14:34 and I Timothy 2:12. However, the reasons for the restrictions were local, cultural, and therefore temporal. ” The editor acknowledged that a new hermeneutic was needed in order to justify opening the offices of the church to women. The delegates to synod were reminded of the statement of the liberal theologian Dr. Harry Kuitert of the Netherlands who has written, “You cannot read Paul any other way than that he denies ecclesiastical office to women.” This does not matter to Kuitert who relegates the words of the Apostle Paul to a past time.

And now the Christian Reformed Church was faced with a decision. What happened? On Monday, June 18, Synod adopted the following: “That synod declare that ‘the headship principle ‘ which means that the man should exercise primary leadership and direction-setting in the home and in the church, is a Biblical teaching recognized in both the Old and the New Testament.” A principle had been adopted which was rooted in the teaching of the Bible. One of my seminary professors used to say, “If you say ‘A’ you must also be ready to say ‘B.’” But Synod was not disposed to do so, for on Tuesday, June 19, the delegates rejected a recommendation which flowed naturally out of the biblical principle which had been adopted the day before. Synod rejected the recommendation “That synod declare that the headship of the man in the church implies that women should not be admitted to the offices of minister, elder, or evangelist.” And then later on the same day the delegates proceeded to vote to allow women to hold the office of deacon.

How could this happen? As the hours of debate concerning the headship report lengthened there was a growing awareness in the minds of many delegates and visitors that the Word of God was being ignored by many of those who were arguing for opening the offices of the church to women. Rather than seeking to base their case on the testimony of Scripture, appeal was being made to the fact that women possess gifts which qualify them for office and therefore they should be granted the opportunity to use their gifts. Reference was made to the services of women in office in other denominations. The fact that they were serving well was presented as an argument for permitting women to serve in the offices of the Christian Reformed Church. Still others made appeal to “fairness” or “justice” as they pleaded for the opening of the offices to women. But where was the appeal to the Bible? This is the question being asked by many who were participants in or observers at the Synod of 1984. When those who opposed the opening of ecclesiastical offices to women appealed to Scripture to support their position or asked for answers to questions based upon the Bible there was too often only a stoney silence as response.

This cavalier attitude to the Word of God is frightening and constitutes the real tragedy of the Synod of 1984. Dr. Francis Schaeffer entitled his last book “The Great Evangelical Disaster.” In this book, written by the author after he became terminally ill and published shortly before his death, he describes the great evangelical disaster as “the future of the evangelical world to stand for truth as truth. There is only one word this—namely accommodation: the evangelical church as accommodated to the world spirit of the age. First, there has been accommodation on Scripture, so that many who call themselves evangelicals hold a weakened view of the Bible and no longer affirm the truth of all the Bible teaches . . . .” Dr. Schaeffer says the great evangelical disaster is that the evangelical church has accommodated to the world spirit of the age. Within the Christian Reformed Church we have seen that accommodation at the 1984 Synod. Because a valid case could not be built upon Scripture for the opening of ecclesiastical offices to women, appeal had to be made to many other things including what was happening in the world around us.

A colleague who was a student at Calvin Seminary during the early 50s recalls well the reaction of his professors to the declaration by Pope Pius XU in 1950 of the teaching concerning the assumption of the Virgin Mary. The professors were quick to point out that this was the first time that the Roman Catholic Church had made a doctrinal pronouncement without at least some semblance ofappeal to Scripture to support its teaching. Has the Christian Reformed Church now begun to do the same thing? This is a question which will haunt the minds and hearts of many concerned members in the days ahead. It is a question which must not be ignored.

Others will be writing on the pages of this periodical and I am sure in other magazines also suggesting various courses of action which can be pursued by those who cannot accept the decision of synod to open the office of deacon to women. Let us listen to what they have to say.

I ask that many join in praying for reformation. I use the word “reformation” deliberately. During the past decade there has been a weakening of the church’s position in regard to Scripture and its authority . This weakening has been reflected in various crucial synodical decisions made in recent years including the decision just made to open the office of deacon to women. When there is a weakening of a church’s position in regard to the authority of Scripture, the only remedy is reformation, a correction of the error that has crept into the church.

Many are despairing, some are threatening radical actions in response to the decision of synod, still others are talking about leaving the church or waiting to see when the schism will take place. I remind those members of the Church who are so deeply grieved and troubled and who are asking , “What can we do?” that Jesus Christ is the Head of His Church and that His Spirit is almighty. Therefore I urge you to pray for REFORMATION.

Arthur Besteman is the pastor of the North St. Christian Reformed Church of Zeeland, Michigan and the secretary of the Reformed Fellowship.