A Recent History of the Christian Reformed Church
by Aaron Vriesman
Recent Synods of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) have been called a “coup.” A resigning Council of Delegates member said this is a “new direction.” A prominent CRC minister called Synod’s decisions “reckless, arbitrary, and unimaginable in any other age.” “The votes were never in doubt and everyone knew it,” wrote a delegate of Synod 2024. “A well-organized movement called Abide had been meeting and strategizing for several years now.”
These and other reactions suggest that the decisions of Synod regarding same-sex sex represent a foreign ideology which has only recently infiltrated the CRC. Moreso, they suggest that this infiltration was a deliberate strategy (e.g. by the Abide Project) to change existing CRC values and commitments.
However, such suggestions are not only inaccurate, as this article will show, they’re nearly the opposite of the truth. The following historical summary will show that recent Synodical decisions have been to maintain the CRC’s long-held view of sexuality against some very deliberate strategies to undermine it. (For a more detailed version, click below)
1973
Since it’s beginning in the 19th century, the CRC has always held that same-sex sex is sinful. However, this position was first committed to writing at Synod 1973. This report was ahead of its time in terms of its compassionate concern for those who experience same-sex attraction. Still its commitment to the historic Christian understanding of sexual ethics was clear. Consider these key sentences from the report adopted that year:
We conclude that the New Testament passages which make reference to homosexual behavior are in harmony with the judgment of the Old Testament: homosexual acts are sinful.
The choice for the Christian is between marriage and celibacy. Sex relations outside of marriage are forbidden in the Scriptures.
However, since the time that report was written, an ideology rooted in atheism and entirely foreign to Christianity slowly began to insert itself into Christian circles, including in the CRC.
2011
In 2011, Classis Grand Rapids East asked Synod to “appoint a study committee to review the biblical teachings regarding homosexual orientation and practice in light of current biblical and theological study of these issues.” When Synod did not accede to this overture, a new group calling themselves “All One Body” started to meet in September of that year.
At first, All One Body (A1B) was focussed on having discussions, but within a few years and in defiance of the CRC’s stated position, they openly promoted full participation in church life by professing Christians who were in committed, monogamous same-sex relationships.
2013
In response to developments in US and Canadian politics, Synod 2013 voted 135 to 43 to form a study committee for pastoral advice on homosexuality. The mandate was to “give guidance and clarification” on how to “apply the biblical teachings reflected in” the 1973 report. Though this mandate was challenged by those who wanted to see the 1973 position revisited, Synod voted against this proposal (140 to 39). The following January, Classis Grand Rapids East formed its own study committee which generated a report presenting the Biblical teaching on same-sex sex as open to a variety of legitimate interpretations.
2016-2018
Though Synod 2013 was decisive in its commitment to the teachings of 1973, this was not true of all those selected to serve on the appointed study committee. When their 83-page report was made available (including a majority and minority report…differing on whether a minister could officiate a civil wedding of a celibate same-sex couple), it was evident that the majority of the committee felt constrained by the 1973 position.
When the report came to Synod 2016, many who disagreed with the CRC’s 1973 position came to advocate to the contrary. The night before the report came to the floor, delegates exited their meeting to find messages in rainbow sidewalk chalk: “We are the church too” … “ALL ARE IN GOD” … “WE ARE DYING TO BE WHO GOD MADE US” … “57 yrs in CRC, GAY, What will you do w/ me? And 1000s others?” Around 20-30 LGBTQ-inclusive advocates gathered in the audience wearing rainbow colored clothing for the June 15 debate.
Despite these protests, Synod voted 110-71 to recommend to the churches only the minority report (which had been signed by just two of the eleven committee members). Additionally, Synod voted overwhelmingly to create a new study committee on human sexuality. They would officially be called the Committee to Articulate a Foundation-laying Biblical Theology of Human Sexuality. This time, to ensure the committee did its work in keeping with the convictions of the denomination, Synod stipulated that each member must “adhere to the CRC’s biblical view on marriage and same-sex relationships.”
That fall, A1B continued to advocate for full LGBTQ inclusion by inviting renowned CRC philosophy professor Dr. Nicholas Wolterstorff to speak of his own shift in opinion. By 2018, A1B shifted its focus from education to political action. That November, they held an event at Sherman Street CRC in Grand Rapids. Dan Winiarski reported their plan—not to continue advocating through the agreed-upon denominational structures but—to deliberately defy the denomination’s position and force Synod to respond. According to Winiarski, “the panel members…were in agreement (and the audience was too) that the ‘judicial’ plan presented their best path to victory.”
Neland Avenue
Then, the bombshell. On September 10, 2020, Calvin University newspaper Chimes reported that Neland Ave CRC had ordained a woman in a same-sex marriage to the office of deacon. Numerous communications were sent to Neland Avenue asking them to reverse their decision. Neland Avenue responded, “We have come to believe that Scripture not only permits us, but calls us to the decision that we have made.” Numerous overtures would be sent to the next Synod asking for something to be done.
The CRC’s Council of Delegates, at their October 2020 meeting, voted to “send a letter to Neland Avenue CRC grieving Neland's decision to break covenant with the CRC.” In response, Classis Grand Rapids East—whose responsibility it is to hold Neland Avenue accountable—would instead ask Synod “to rescind the action of the Council of Delegates in sending a letter to the Council of Neland Avenue CRC.”
2020-2022
In October of 2020, the Committee to Articulate a Foundation-laying Biblical Theology of Human Sexuality released its report online (known more commonly as the Human Sexuality Report or HSR). The committee upheld 2000 years of Christian understanding of marriage and sexuality. Most controversial in their report was for Synod to declare that "the church's teaching on premarital sex, extramarital sex, adultery, polyamory, pornography, and homosexual sex already has confessional status."
Only after the HSR was released did the Abide Project begin to emerge. On November 18, 2020, sixteen CRC pastors from the USA and Canada met over Zoom to discuss their concern about unbiblical views on sexuality arising within the CRC. They agreed that other concerned people needed to be included. Each subsequent meeting grew in size. The December meeting had 31 attending, and the January meeting had 75. By March, it was evident that a planning team was needed and a steering committee was elected with representatives from each of the CRC regions. The first steering committee met on March 23, 2021.
Meanwhile, other events in the CRC showed that the concerns of the Abide Project were warranted. Subsequent attempts during the pandemic to address Neland Avenue’s actions were unsuccessful in bringing change. In August of 2021, A1B began a campaign of videos critical of the HSR. In February of 2022, a group called the Hesed Project began a website which would advocate against the denomination’s position. In addition, several more CRC churches defied the denominational stance on marriage and sexuality, and nearly one third of the entire faculty/staff at Calvin University voiced their opposition to the HSR. Various communications from the denominational leaders and offices also offered not-so-subtle advocacy against the HSR’s firm commitment to the historic Christian sexual ethic (more detail available in the attached longer version).
Synod 2022
When the pandemic subsided and Synod was finally able to meet again in 2022, around 200 protesters filled the parking lot during the discussion of the HSR. Despite all the defiance and lobbying to the contrary, Synod recommended the HSR to the churches. Additionally, Synod voted 123 to 53 to affirm that “unchastity” in Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 108 “encompasses adultery, premarital sex, extra-marital sex, polyamory, pornography and homosexual sex, all of which violate the seventh commandment.” Synod then voted 134-44 to “instruct Neland Ave to immediately rescind its decision to ordain a deacon in a same-sex marriage,
Not Settled
Just under two weeks after Synod finished, the Neland Avenue Council decided to defy synod’s directives. The in loco committee established to help Classis Grand Rapids East hold Neland Avenue accountable would prove to be unable to fulfill their mandate. One month after Synod 2022, the CRC website released a Synod “Frequently Asked Questions” that provided loopholes for officebearers who disagreed with Synod 2022. So long as an officebearer filed a gravamen with their Council, they “would be considered officebearers in good standing and therefore eligible to serve as delegates to the broader assemblies.” Additionally, the next months would see several more CRCs openly defy the denomination’s position. And in February of 2023, another group emerged, calling themselves “Better Together: A Third Way.” Their aim was to make the question of same-sex marriage a matter for local churches to decide for themselves.
Synod 2023
When Synod 2023 convened, A1B held demonstrations along the paths that delegates had to traverse. Their signs included “Avoid Loveless Orthodoxy / Accept God is Love,” “Say ‘All Are Welcome’ … and MEAN IT!” An A1B board member shared that 130 people participated.
Despite the demonstrations, Synod 2023 did not reverse its stance on the meaning of “unchastity” in the Heidelberg Catechism. Additionally, Synod voted not to sustain Neland Avenue CRC’s appeal of the decisions of Synod 2022 (124-47 with six abstentions).
Synod also voted to “remind all church visitors throughout the CRCNA of their authority and responsibility to, in a spirit of love and grace, guide officebearers into alignment with the biblical guidelines, including but not limited to all areas of human sexuality.” Synod 2023 was an emotionally grueling meeting, full of tension and tears. A total of 8 delegates departed in protest.
Resistance Continued
In the months following Synod 2023, several more churches adopted openly affirming commitments in defiance of Synod’s decisions. On October 26, 2023, Better Together: Third Way shared a template for church Councils to protest Synod’s decisions of the last two years. Several of those protests would be sent to Synod 2024.
Synod 2024
Synod 2024 continued in the same direction as the two prior Synods. On gravamina, Synod voted 137 to 47 (74.5%) that “confessional-difficulty gravamina are not meant, nor should be used as an exception to the confessions.” Synod voted 134 to 50 to instruct churches “who have made public statements, by their actions or in any form of media, which directly contradict synod’s decision on unchastity to repent and to honor their covenant commitments to the CRCNA.” The same resolution said, “all office-bearers from churches in non-compliance, by actions or in any form of media, be placed on a limited suspension.” Those that adopted the Better Together protest letter were also placed on limited suspension, meaning such officebearers could not be voting delegates at Classis or Synod.
Conclusions
The CRC has always overwhelmingly held the traditional, biblically orthodox position on marriage and sexuality and has always taken this conviction seriously. What was called “unimaginable in any other age” of CRC history better describes the recent compromises on biblical sexual ethics.
Any strategy to change the direction of the CRC was done by those at odds with the HSR. A1B held protests at Synod meetings and developed a political plan to force the issue on the CRC through defiance. Classis Grand Rapids East responded to the decisions of Synods 2011 and 2013 by producing their own report on human sexuality that sought to legitimize interpretations of Scripture at odds with the majority of the CRC. Neland Avenue broke covenant with the CRC by ordaining someone in a same-sex marriage. When the rest of the CRC expressed their deep concerns about their action, Neland Avenue doubled down. Instead of holding Neland Avenue accountable, Classis Grand Rapids East defended Neland Avenue’s actions to the Council of Delegates.
All of this took place before the Abide Project existed. The Abide Project began, not as an attempt to chart a new direction, but precisely to avoid it. The only unprecedented developments have been the deliberate attempts to protest and defy the decisions of Synod, and the subsequent failure of classes to keep such congregations accountable. Synods 2022-2024 responded to the widening defiance with a firm conviction, but not a new conviction.
Disappointment with recent synod decisions is understandable. Recasting history as a conservative takeover is dishonest.
 | A guest post by
|
Thank for an excellent, very well written article. You accomplished your objective very convincingly.
Marlyn Visser
1st CRC Orange City
Thanks Aaron, the opposition seems to be so sure, in their own arrogance, that they don’t care at all what the denomination has decided. They will do anything to undermine Synod’s decision. Thank you Abide.