NR #1995-095: Classis Illiana "Encourages" Churches to Attend Interclassical Conference of CRC Churches Opposed to Women in Office One ground cited for objecting to Classis California South's decision to sponsor a conference in Chicago is that California South is acting without the concurrence of the classis within whose geographical boundaries the conference will be held. That objection may no longer be valid: at its September 12 meeting, Classis Illiana voted to "encourage our councils to send their own participants and encourage our study committee on Oak Glen Overture B to attend." The notation about "Oak Glen Overture B" is a reference to an overture from Oak Glen CRC in Lansing, Illinois, asking classis to adopt six resolutions on women in office, including resolutions asking Classis Illiana "to declare to the classes of the Christian Reformed Church that it neither can nor will abide by the 1995 synodical decision permitting the ordination of women to the offices of elder, minister, and evangelist" and to "call the Christian Reformed Church to repent of its corporate sin by rescinding its 1995 synodical decision." NR #1995-095: For Immediate Release Classis Illiana "Encourages" Churches to Attend Interclassical Conference of CRC Churches Opposed to Women in Office by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service (September 13, 1995) URNS - One ground cited for objecting to Classis California South's decision to sponsor a conference in Chicago is that California South is acting without the concurrence of the classis within whose geographical boundaries the conference will be held. That objection may no longer be valid: at its September 12 meeting, Classis Illiana voted to "encourage our councils to send their own participants and encourage our study committee on Oak Glen Overture B to attend." The notation about "Oak Glen Overture B" is a reference to an overture from Oak Glen CRC in Lansing, Illinois, asking classis to adopt six resolutions on women in office, including resolutions asking Classis Illiana "to declare to the classes of the Christian Reformed Church that it neither can nor will abide by the 1995 synodical decision permitting the ordination of women to the offices of elder, minister, and evangelist" and to "call the Christian Reformed Church to repent of its corporate sin by rescinding its 1995 synodical decision." Recognizing the weightiness of the Oak Glen overture, Classis Illiana deferred action until its January meeting and appointed a study committee to provide recommendations on the matter to classis. Those recommendations may now include input from committee members who attended the Interclassical Conference. As indicated by the Oak Glen overture, Classis Illiana is generally considered a conservative classis and Oak Glen is by no means the only church in classis which is strongly opposed to women in office. Momence (IL) CRC came to classis with a separate overture asking the classis to send two official observers to the Interclassical Conference, citing three grounds, including that "it is imperative that the churches of Classis Illiana stay informed of the wider movements within the CRC following the decisions of Synod 1995" and that "the meeting holds great potential for gaining information concerning in particular the conservative reaction to synod and any unified course of action." If the overture had passed in its original form, the classis would have had two official observers but neither of the observers would have been allowed to vote. Acting on the recommendation of a classical advisory committee, Classis Illiana took a somewhat mixed course of action: while not acceding to the Momence overture to send official nonvoting observers, the classical vote to "encourage our councils to send their own participants" will actually result in more influence at the Interclassical Conference since the participants from local churches will be eligible to vote. Classis cited three grounds for its decision: that "the nature of the conference to be called by Classis California South is more conducive to having churches send participants rather than classes," that "the fact that the conference will be held within the boundaries of our own classis easily allows for any church of Classis Illiana to participate/observe," and that "official reports from the conference will certainly be available to interested individuals and churches." Little discussion occurred on the floor of Classis Illiana about the substitute motion, except in a humorous response to a comment from advisory committee chairman Rev. Ron Meyer that churches could easily attend the Interclassical Conference because the site of the conference at First CRC of South Holland is "Classis Illiana's back yard." Rev. Norman Shepherd of Cottage Grove CRC in South Holland said he took exception to Meyer's comments on the grounds that "South Holland is not in the back yard of classis, it's the front yard of classis." According to the author of the overture, the major reason for lack of discussion was that Momence CRC had no problem with the substitute motion. "On technical grounds because it is not an ecclesiastical assembly everyone was uncomfortable sending delegates, even though there might have been precedent, so the committee recommended that the classis not accede to our overture," said Rev. Tim Turngren of Momence CRC. "Then they turned around and told everybody it's in our back yard so everybody ought to go to it, and that's what we wanted anyway." Cross-References to Related Articles: #1995-093: California South Announces Date and Location for Interclassical Conference of Christian Reformed Conservatives [See related article list at crossreferences] Contact List: Rev. Tim Turngren, Pastor, Momence (IL) Christian Reformed Church 4132 N. Rte. 1-17, Momence, IL 60954 * O: (815) 472-2943 * H: (815) 472-4592 Rev. Paul Ipema, Pastor, Oak Glen Christian Reformed Church 2224 Indiana Ave., Lansing, IL 60438-2107 * O: (708) 474-0172 * H: (708) 474-0172 Rev. Norman Shepherd, Pastor, Cottage Grove Christian Reformed Church 700 E. 166th St., South Holland, IL 60473 * O: (708) 331-0391 * H: (708) 596-3367 Rev. Ronald Meyer, Pastor, Second Christian Reformed Church 3116 Ridge Rd., Highland, IN 46322 * O: (219) 838-0506 * H: (219) 838-2942 ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr95-095.txt .