GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The delegates who spoke into the Synod floor microphones Thursday morning could have filled several church pews— a congregation of comments on how to consider sexual sin and minister to LGBTQ+ people.
“We’re a microcosm of our wider culture,” a delegate said. “Deeply divided. Politically maneuvered and politically maneuvering.”
On Thursday, Synod 2023 voted 124-to-47 to deny an appeal from Neland Avenue Christian Reformed Church, again telling the Grand Rapids church to not appoint to office people in same-sex marriages.
READ MORE: Neland Avenue, Christian Reformed Church await Synod's decisions on sexuality
During last year’s Synod— the annual meeting of the Christian Reformed Church— the denomination ordered Neland Avenue to “immediately rescind its decision to ordain" a deacon in a same-sex marriage, and an in loco committee was created to “oversee [Neland’s] compliance” with the order.
The instruction came after Synod 2022 codified “unchastity” and “homosexual sex” as sinful, affirming parts of the Human Sexuality Report as bearing “confessional status." The move meant those in the CRC had to agree with the denomination's position on same-sex relationships or risk discipline or disaffiliation.
But Thursday morning, moments before Synod 2023 discussed Neland Avenue's appeal, a delegate left the Calvin Chapel in protest “on behalf of the pain that was caused to so many in the LGBTQ community.”
“We’re called to be a voice for the voiceless,” said Dave Struyk, Classis Grand Rapids South.
The day prior, Struyk had shared how God took him on a “journey” when his son came out to him as gay: “It’s important for us to take some time to be able to listen to each other,” he said.
When Struyk vacated his seat, the Church Order II Advisory Committee read its recommendation to the body: “That synod not sustain” the Neland Avenue appeal.
“Thus, while local congregations have the responsibility to elect their own officebearers, they do not have the right to elect anyone who does not meet biblical requirements,” it wrote.
“This has been heavy, heavy for everyone,” Jason Ruis, committee chair, said. “This has been hard and there’s no desire to cause pain.”
Then, the delegates spoke before the vote.
“You know one thing about our deacon,” an elder at Neland Avenue said, speaking against the motion. “How can you know this person? We do and every single Fruit of the Spirit is evident. Every single Fruit of the Spirit.”
Shortly after, another member of Neland’s church council stepped to the microphone, saying she had “learned a lot” from the deacon—who has since completed her term.
Those hundreds of miles removed from the 107-year-old West Michigan congregation offered disapproval as well, with one delegate from Classis Niagara in Canada characterizing the denomination as “no shining city on a hill.”
“I’m concerned we have grace on our lips, and contempt in our hearts,” he said. “We are an army that shoots its own wounded.”
Still, others supported the denial of the appeal.
“I have observed a new and unfamiliar attempt to interpret the Bible,” a delegate from Classis Ko-Am said, “Not based upon the already approved or common-sense approach, but rather on each individual's presupposed agenda.”
“We are calling [Neland] to repentance in line with what we passed last night. We are not saying they can't stay with us,” said another. “We are saying they must return to our faith.”
Yesterday, Synod 2023 also affirmed Synod 2022’s decisions on sexuality, denying requests from classes and churches to reverse the confessional status of “unchastity” or remove “homosexual sex” from its definition.
Later, the denomination also voted not to delay the implementation of the Human Sexuality Report (HSR): “We acknowledge the immediacy of the call… to follow through with the pastoral care outlined in the Human Sexuality Report for the sake of our witness to Jesus Christ.”
Despite the motion's passage, more than a dozen delegates came forward in disagreement: “We need time and space in order to work this out in a more gracious way."
In addition to the decision to reject Neland Avenue’s appeal, Synod 2023 also instructed Classis Grand Rapids East— of which Neland is a member— to guide the congregation “into alignment” with the denomination. However, a motion to create a new in loco committee to ensure the church and classis’ compliance, failed.
Synod 2023 adjourned at 3:26 p.m. Thursday, deferring a number of matters related to Church Order to Synod 2024 for the sake of time.
“We’ve seen a lot of the eye made blind by human sin amongst us these last several days,” president Paul DeVries said at the close of Synod 2023, quoting the hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy" and motioning to the entire delegation. “May we go out knowing that God is still holy— perfect in love, in power and purity.”
