Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 22:35:22 -0400 (EDT) From: Darrell128@aol.com Subject: NR 97066: PCA General Assembly Cuts Ties with Christian Reformed Church Over Women's Ordination NR #1997-066: Presbyterian Church in America General Assembly Cuts Ties with Christian Reformed Church Over Women's Ordination For the second time this week, a conservative Reformed denomination has voted to cut ties with the Christian Reformed Church over the issue of women's ordination. Meeting June 11 at Village Seven Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America affirmed the unanimous recommendation of an advisory committee to "terminate our recognition of the Christian Reformed Church as a church in ecclesiastical fellowship immediately." The CRC voted in 1995 to allow each of its 47 classes to decide whether to allow women to be ordained as ministers, elders, and evangelists, and has allowed women deacons for over a decade. The PCA bans the ordination of women to any office but allows churches to appoint women to assist the male deacons and permits them to be called "deaconesses." The administrative secretary of the CRC's interchurch relations committee, Rev. Leonard Hofman, said he was "stunned" by this week's actions by the Presbyterian Church in America and the Orthodox Presbyte rian Church. "I'm obviously emotionally moved when churches in close fellowship with us in a period of a week remove ties with us," said Hofman. NR #1997-066: For Immediate Release Presbyterian Church in America Cuts Ties with Christian Reformed Church Over Women's Ordination by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service (June 11, 1997) URNS -- For the second time this week, a conservative Reformed denomination has voted to cut ties with the Christian Reformed Church over the issue of women's ordination. Meeting June 11 at Village Seven Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America affirmed the unanimous recommendation of an advisory committee to "terminate our recognition of the Christian Reformed Church as a church in ecclesiastical fellowship immediately." The CRC voted in 1995 to allow each of its 47 classes to decide whether to allow women to be ordained as ministers, elders, and evangelists, and has allowed women deacons for over a decade. The PCA bans the ordination of women to any office but allows churches to appoint women to assist the male deacons and permits them to be called "deaconesses." The administrative secretary of the CRC's interchurch relations committee, Rev. Leonard Hofman, said he was "stunned" by this week's actions by the Presbyterian Church in America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. "I'm obviously emotionally moved when churches in close fellowship with us in a period of a week remove ties with us," said Hofman. Despite having been organized only 24 years ago, the 278,000-member PCA has become the second-largest of the conservative Reformed denominations in North America and at a 2.4% annual growth rate is one of the fastest-growing denominations of any theological category in the country. The PCA's 1338 churches are mostly located in the southern United States. The largest of the conservative Reformed denominations in the United States is the CRC, which has declined from 316,000 members to 285,000 since 1992. "With most of the mainline denominations experiencing a dramatic decline in church attendance, we are thankful and motivated by the consistent growth, both in number of new churches as well as overall attendance," said PCA stated clerk Dr. Paul Gilchrist in a prepared statement issued prior to the General Assembly. "We are fortunate not to be torn internally by debates on issues that are so destructive to other less united denominations. Our efforts and discussions focus on the how-to's of ministry - which is where we as the leadership of this denomination can best serve our members and our missions." The vote to break fraternal relations followed a severely critical speech by CRC General Secretary Dr. David Engelhard who addressed the General Assembly as a fraternal delegate and noted his dissatisfaction with the PCA's interchurch relations committee report, arguing that it contained factual errors and misleading statements. Engelhard left the assembly following the vote and could not be reached for comment. The PCA decision to cut ties with the CRC represents a marked shift from earlier support for the CRC. Under orders from the 1996 General Assembly, members of the PCA's interchurch relations committee moved last November to suspend the CRC from membership in the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council, the major interdenominational fellowship of conservative Reformed denominations in North America; the motion was referred to committee and will come back for discussion this November. The PCA also had four overtures from its presbyteries calling for an investigation of the interchurch relations committee for alleged failure to carry out the mandate of the General Assembly on a number of issues, including CRC relations. PCA officials said the 1995 decision to ordain women was the turning point in their view of the CRC. "They no longer were being guided by Scripture in the ordination of women," said former PCA interchurch relations chairman Rev. Ric Perrin, who will be the PCA's fraternal delegate to next week's CRC synod. "We really felt they had crossed a major line at that point. Our concern, quite honestly, is the Christian Reformed Church has begun to move away from its historic position on the authority of Scripture." "We've come to the conclusion that the change in the position of women is symptomatic of a far greater change on Scripture that leaves the CRC very, very, vulnerable to other changes," said Perrin. While not adopting the overtures calling for a rebuke of the PCA interchurch relations committee, the PCA General Assembly did pass a motion directing its NAPARC delegates to continue to press for suspension and eventual expulsion of the CRC at the level of NAPARC. According to the General Assembly mandate, "if the CRC does not reverse the actions of Synod 1995 regarding women in office within a year of being suspended by NAPARC, at the next meeting of NAPARC, the [interchurch relations committee] shall introduce a motion that the CRC be expelled from NAPARC." "The intention there is to say we started a process by suspension and we're going to follow it through," said Perrin. The administrative secretary of the CRC's interchurch relations committee -- who also serves as chairman of the National Association of Evangelicals -- rebutted PCA charges that the CRC had changed its view of Scripture. "I was aware that they had come to the conclusion that our church was no longer guided by the Word of God," said Rev. Leonard Hofman. "I did not think that was a judgment they were in a position to make." "According to their representatives, it seems they would like to put some space between us, put some distance between us so we don't have to be wrangling all the time," said Hofman. "While there may be positive things about that, it still means they are putting distance between brothers who are agreed in so many substantial matters but still are taking a step back and apart." The PCA does, however, want to keep at least some discussion going with the CRC. The PCA's interchurch relations committee has also been instructed to "initiate discussions with the CRC with a view toward issuing a recommendation to the 26th General Assembly [1998] concerning the future relationship between the two denominations." Cross-References to Related Articles: #1994-026: Presbyterian Church in America Committee Report Recommends Apology to Christian Reformed #1994-029: PCA General Assembly "Pleads" with Christian Reformed Denomination not to Open All Church Offices to Women; Proposal to Dismiss Interchurch Committee Rejected After Floor Fight #1995-070: Christian Reformed Classes Permitted to Declare Church Order Ban on Women's Ordination "Inoperative"; Synod Decision Given Immediate Effect without Two-Year Ratification Process #1995-080: Presbyterian Church in America General Assembly Unanimously Warns CRC to "Repent and Rescind" Women in Office Decision #1996-070: Christian Reformed Synod Intensifies Restrictions on Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland #1996-071: Orthodox Presbyterian Fraternal Delegate Announces Suspension of Ties With Christian Reformed Church #1996-076: CRC Synod Rejects 25 Overtures and Communications Calling for End to Classical Option on Ordination of Women #1996-104: New Denomination Born: Most Christian Reformed Seceders Organize as "United Reformed Churches of North America" #1996-121B: Conservative Interchurch Council Will Study Discipline of Christian Reformed Church for Women's Ordination #1997-064: Orthodox Presbyterian General Assembly to Consider Cutting Longstanding Christian Reformed Ties #1997-065: Orthodox Presbyterian General Assembly Breaks Longstanding Christian Reformed Fraternal Relationship Contact List: Rev. Donald Duff, Stated Clerk, Orthodox Presbyterian Church 614 Roberts Ave., Glenside PA 19038-3711 O: (215) 956-0123 * H: (215) 887-4901 * FAX: (215) 957-6286 Dr. David Engelhard, General Secretary, Christian Reformed Church in North America 2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49560 O: (616) 246-0744 * H: (616) 243-2418 * FAX: (616) 246-0834 * E-Mail: engelhad@crcna.org Dr. Paul Gilchrist, Stated Clerk, Presbyterian Church in America 1852 Century Place, Suite 190, Atlanta GA 30345 O: (404) 320-3366 Rev. Leonard Hofman, General Secretary Emeritus, Christian Reformed Church 2237 Radcliffe Circle Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 H: (616) 942-0205 Rev. K. Eric (Ric) Perrin, Past Chairman, PCA Interchurch Relations Committee 703 Woodcreek Ct., Columbia, SC 29212 O: (803) 772-1000 * H: (803) 781-7520 * FAX: (803) 772-1003 Rev. Jack Peterson, Chairman, OPC Interchurch Relations Committee 1315 White Rock Drive, San Antonio, TX 78245 O: (210) 690-6360 * H: (210) 675-9097 Rev. Edward Van Baak, President, CRC Interchurch Relations Committee 1518 Cambridge SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506-3946 H: (616) 243-0796 ---------------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/reformed/archive97: nr97-066.txt .