Reflections on Sacrament

Today was Communion once a gain at church; I recently gained the privilege of participating in such.

In my readings of Catholic theologians in my look at Catholicism and RO, sacrament has a meaning for me perhaps beyond that mentioned in the Christian Reformed forms – sacrament is the place where the physical and transcendent are intermingled.

This mirrors the balance in the place of the church. The church gathers for things like prayer and sermons and Bible study, but needs also to be involved in meeting the physical needs of its surrounding community and elsewhere. With too much emphasis on either side, the church becomes warped.

And this, in turn, is like the peculiar makeup of human beings themselves, a mixture of transcendent and physical.

Thus, sacraments, especially Communion, emphasize the odd tensions in all of these. Communion is a remembrance of Christ’s death, a way of tangibly experiencing him physically, while he is in a transcendent place. It is an expression of union and solidarity with the church of all times in all places, as one Body of Christ that together celebrates the Sacrament. It also expresses the bond between people, as exists in both planes. It fulfills the participant’s inner need by being a very human activity, existing in both planes.

Quite interesting.

CRC Synod 9: Thursday

Early on, there was a large discussion about the reponse to Overture 3, to get Synod to ensure that delegates can recieve communion from a male elder if they so wish. The recommended response was to not accede to this, but rather advise the convening church of Synod to be considerate when they organize Synodical worship.

The best speech on this came from Rev. Ronald Chu. He discussed how we lose our Christian freedom both when we are insensitive and when we are “too sensitive”. When we are “too sensitive”, everyone has to watch what they say even beyond the usual impetus to speak in a disciplined manner, and everyone’s speech is ‘tied up’. He compared this overture to Korean churches sending an overture to receive communion from a Korean person.

The proposed Abuse Victims Task Force report was sent back to commitee.

The committee in charge of the PCN relationship recommendations came with a report to get the IRC to develop a special process that would “develop and maintain” a long-term relationship with the PCN while keeping in mind some restrictions.

Thus the debate was brought up again. One delegate offered the metaphor that the difference between dialogue and fellowship is like “having coffee and being in bed”. Ken Rip compared the relationship we want rather to a SERVE trip. The committee’s recommendation passes.

The Sergeant-at-arms gave a short speech, wishing to remind Synod the difference between “omnipotence” and “impotence”, especially when relating to authority, is large. Thus, everyone ought to return quickly from coffee.

The overture concerning guidelines for retiring pastors was brought up. Initially, the advisory commitee advocated acceding to it. However, concerns from the floor, such as whether or not Synod is overstepping its authority by giving such “decrees” to the churches, caused the committee to reconsider. It came back later that day with the opposite reccomendation, which passed.

The names chosen for the Form of Subscription study commitee were presented and passed. Everyone seemed very happy with the people chosen. It was noted that the kind of commitment these people were making, service up to 2011, had to be decided in about 45 minutes Thursday night.

As Synod finished a day early, the ED wanted to sort out how many meals were needed, as many people would go home sooner than otherwise. They used the electronic voting system for this. However, someone wanted their no-lunch vote recorded.

Some person (I think from Classis Kalamazoo) was given the rock from the podium. Apparently he collects them; Rev. Boot noted the great privilege of having been given a rock that he had touched.

CRC Synod 8: Wednesday

Wednesday was a very eventful day at Synod.

The major concern was the CRC’s relationship with the PCN (Protestant Church in the Netherlands). The GKN (the Dutch CRC) merged with two other churches a number of years ago to form the PCN. However, it was unclear whether or not the PCN was a continuation of the GKN, or a new denomination. Synod decided the PCN was a new church.

However, this was not so evident as they discussed what sort of relationship to have with the PCN. It seemed that most delegates took for granted that it is advantageous to mantain a relationship with the CRC’s parent-sister church. Alongside this, many delegates were still very concerned with what was viewed as the GKN and PCN’s deviation from the Christian faith.

Therefore, the majority report’s recommendation that full fellowship with the PCN was defeated. Especially relating to homosexual matters, 1 Corinthians 5 and 6 were invoked involving the propriety of discipline in this area.

Ken Rip gave my favourite speech in this debate. He compared the grace we must show with the grace God showed when approaching Abraham and David, who were imperfect, with his special grace. Thus this is the type of grace we ought to show to the PCN. (At the beginning of this speech, he called Rev. Boot “Madam President”, which prompted someone to yell out “use the rock!”. There was lots of other discussion (not all of it too great, which vice-president Thea Leunk made jest of).

The long-awaited discussion about the Form of Subscription also came up Wednesday. The motion to recommit the FoS revision, along with their “doctrinal covenant” and other work, to a new committee passed unanimously. Part of this (from an amendment from the floor), this committee will report to Synod in 2009 and 2010. The new FoS and report is due to the churches in 2010, and it will be before Synod 2011. Also, from the discussion on the floor, it is clear that the new-document type of revision of the FoS is what will be followed.

The study committee for this was unusually made up of a huge 11 people. At least 2 will be ethic minorities, and 2 from emerging churches. This was to counter what was called “tokenism” by appointing only one person from these groups.

Concerning nominees for boards, Synod turned down the BOT’s request not to have a slate of nominees to vote from, which I think was very wise. They agreed with the BOT to eliminate the BOT alternates, to free them for other work.

The debate over whether to eliminate women advisors was quite charged, as the recommendation was not very well-worded. Rev. Vanden Akker wrote a more neutral version of this, which passed handily.

Synod 2008: 7 – Tuesday Afternoon 2

I was only able to catch the second half of the session once again (after coffee break at around 3:00).

I did catch some of the discussion about the Contemporary Testimony. There were a variety of concernas about it, but most could be lumped together. Many thought that the 2008 revision was not distributed widely enough or for enough time, as it could only be found online or in the printed Agenda for Synod. A number of people thought the statements in articles 48, 50, and 51 were too political in nature; the revision committee responded that this was indeed intentional, and that the political views are those already decided upon by a past Synod; the committee not trying to prescribe its own views for everyone. Because of this, a few delegates wanted to defer the report for next year, and there was a whole bunch of procedural goo that needed to be sorted out about this. (Henry De Moor had plenty of opportunity to speak!) In the end, the revision was adopted.

Overture 9, wanting Synod to instruct the Board of Trustees to develop ecological guidelines for the CRC, was also considered. The advisory committee affirmed that ecological action is an important part of the church’s mission, but because of an abundance of existing resources, instructing the BOT to make this list would not be necessary. As an alternative, the advisory commitee proposed instructing the BOT to assemble a web page on the topic of eco-justice for the CRC. Synod adopted both these recommendations.

The list of resources about eco-justice the committee recognized is probably going to get lost and buried in the Acts, so here is the list:

• “The Just Stewardship of Land and Creation” published by the Reformed Ecumenical Council of 1996.
• The CRC Office of Social Justice and Hunger Action’s eco-justice page at www.crcna.org/pages/osjha_ecojustice.cfm
• Earth-Wise: A Biblical Response to Environmental Issues by Calvin B. DeWitt

This session of Synod was extremely well-watched, with over 100 viewers at some points. This is over triple what it has been.

(the sessions I missed I can’t watch right now due to technical difficulties, but I will as soon as possible.)

CRC Synod 2008: 5 – Tuesday Morning 2

(due to my schedule not lining up with Synod’s, some of these will be out of chronological order)

Rev. Joe Vanden Akker brought up a motion to supplement the reponse to Communication 2 from his classis last night, saying that the supplement to Church Order article 45b does not deprive a classis from the right to send communications of protest. The problem was with the language of what was adopted last night, “…delegates (not classes) may register protests…”; this seemed to say that classes did not have a right to send communications of protest. This drew a large amount of discussion.

One delegate called up advisor Henry De Moor, who argued that having delegates register protest rather than classis was a wise decision of Synod 2007. He brought up the distinction between declaring things like “we don’t like Synod’s decision” and being able to do what is necessary to come to Synod in good conscience. Having delegates do this is the correct avenue. Rev. Vanden Akker, however, noted that what is actually in the Church Order supplement or Acts of Synod don’t say anything about classes.

Rev. Joe Kok, reporter of the study committee that put forth what was adopted last night, supported this motion. He explained that living in “Christian multiculturalism” required an attention to every detail, especially the language of statements sent back and forth. By being mindful of the messages between those who do not necessarily agree makes sure everyone feels included and needed.

In the end, this motion was carried.

The NLT was adopted as acceptable for use in worship, with reservations. Surprisingly, there was no discussion on this issue.

The Faith Formation Committee gave their presentation, and I believe their discussion luncheon is happening right after this session.

And I caught this on for only a few seconds before the session webcast was cut off, but to whoever made this and put it up: it’s simply awesome.

CRC Synod 2008: 4 – Tuesday Morning 1

There was a variety of stuff discussed this session, though Report 6 on finances was one of the main matters, which does not lead to interesting reporting.

Several overtures were recieved about the new hymnal. The presence of the Reformed confessions and creeds was confirmed in the hymnal. Originally, there was not to be a seperate psalm section, as in previous CRC hymnals, but an overture is being referred to the committee for consideration, with the objective of changing this.

The candidates for ministry, which were approved last night, were presented to Synod. There was no good shot of all of them, but these few will illlustrate.

Congratulations to you all!

CRC Synod 2008: 3 – Monday Evening

The most interesting discussion tonight was about Overture 2, wishing Synod to “call all the churches to a return to a faithful practice of worshiping twice on the Lord’s Day”, have the Banner report on why this is a good thing, and for Home Missions to encourage second services in church plants. The advisory committee recommended not acceding to the overture, noting that in the relevant Church Order article supplement (51-a), Synod already encourages second services.

Rev. Randy Blacketer (he wrote a Banner article on the upcoming Form of Subscription debate), shared how his congregation fulfilled the purpose of having a second service while not having one. He described that the purpose of having a second service is to teach the Reformed faith and confessions, something he holds as very important. His congregation fulfills this purpose by holding a first service, meant for this kind of teaching, having a break, and then having a service for worship.

There was a moment of dramatic tension when Overture 11 was on the floor. This overture wanted to establish another committee to study the women-in-office issue. When Rev. Boot called for discussion, I waited in a moment of pure and unadulterated silent hope that nobody would say anything. And nobody did. (Yay!)

Classis Minnkota sent Communication 2 to say to Synod that it sends delegates under protest, as Synod’s decision to allow female delegates strains their conscience. The advisory committee reccomended responding by saying that the mechanism for registering such protests was established last year for delegates and not for classes. (Acts of Synod 2007, pg. 612) These protests are necessary so that those who disagree with the women-in-office decisions are able to honour their convictions while still coming to Synod in good conscience. Some delegates thought that there should be more response than this to the legitimate concern of the classis. However, Rev. Andrew Vander Leek pointed out that individuals, not classes, have a conscience, thus having the delegates rather than the classes register protest is more appropriate. Synod adopted the advisory committee’s recommendation.

Forty-one ministers retired this year, and I wish to join Synod in expressing appreciation for their work of service.

More than once tonight, the advisory committee report that was being dealt with was not on the CRCNA website on time. This is neither a big deal or much of a problem, but it is definitely beneficial to be able to see what the recommendations are. The absence of report 5A was noted almost immediately on the scrolling text below the video and was put up in a very short amount of time, but the same could not be said of reports 5B or 3B. However, everything else about the web presentation of Synod is excellent, such as the video cutting (with nice fading transitions!), the up-to-date scrolling text, and even the presence of the advisory reports; those that keep this going deserve more recognition!

(sorry for no pretty pictures tonight!)

CRC Synod 2008: 2 – Monday AM

The Monday morning session consists almost entirely of voting. The remainder, as one can expect, is usually more interesting.

Among the appointments was a “Sergeant-At-Arms”, which is appointed every year (why this was started I have no idea). The current mandate of this position is, according to Rev. Boot, “to make sure you come back after coffee”. Rev. Daniel Sarkipato was appointed to this position. Rev. Boot gave him a large hooked staff as a token of authority; here is Rev. Sarkipato receiving his staff.

Synod was given Calvin coffee cups to use all week in place of a multitude of cups of the paper and/or Styrofoam varieties. Here is Executive Director Jerry Dykstra explaining this.

The rock-turned-gavel seems to have been replaced by the real thing, however for some reason Rev. Boot has kept the rock also, yielding this interesting podium:

Synod will meet for another session tonight at 7:00 PM.

I would like to express much appreciation for whoever is running the webcast, likely named Tim, for putting the archive clip up within just a few minutes of the session being over. Thanks!

CRC Synod 2008: 1 – Saturday

Synod started just after 9:00 this morning.This first session is used to officially open Synod, elect officers, finalize the makeup of the advisory committees, and give general announcements.

President pro-term Rev. Rich Verkaik, the pastor of host church River Walk Community Church, brought all to order, but as the gavel was missing he had a rock; check it out in this picture.

After President Byker spoke, Rev. Verkaik opened Synod with a devotion. He spoke about the difference that bringing an attitude of love to Synod makes: if one is at Synod because they have to be there, they are not bringing the attitude of love that those that come with a spirit of servanthood. He showed the difference between the outcomes of these with 1 Cor 13, showing that even the most brilliant and knowledgeable of delegates are but a clanging gong without love, but everyone can make a positive impact if they bring love with them.

After the roll call, Rev. Verkaik remembered they forgot to sing, so all broke out in singing ‘Take My Life and Let It Be’ and ‘Make Me a Channel of Your Peace’. They sing with the exact idiosyncrasies of my congregation…

The voting system was introduced, but before the electronic voting was tested, the primary system was:
‘All in favor of testing the primary voting, say I:’
‘I’
‘OK… It works.’

To test the electronic system, they voted for a favourite cartoon character. It may be useful for somebody, somewhere, in a very bizarre set of circumstances, that Synod 2008 prefers the Road Runner.

The officers chosen for this Synod were:

• President: Joel Boot (same as Synod 2007)
• Vice President: Thea Leunk
• First Clerk: Leslie Kuiper
• Second Clerk: Laryn Zoerhof

Introductions for various people present followed. Many chaplains were present; there was a short presentation in which they were recognized. There were fraternal delegates present from other churches: 2 from the CRC in Nigeria, and one from the Reformed Church in Zambia. The press and office staff, the prayer team, the Calvin staff, the denominational staff, agency directors, and the directors of specialized ministries.

Executive Director Jerry Dykstra make various announcements, including a dress code (“your mother is watching”), and what to do in the case of a tornado. He pointed out that ministers and elders are seated at opposite sides of the table, because in the past this made it easier for the president to know who people were. Every night except Sunday, there will be a TV with sports on it at Johnny’s.

President Joel Boot closed in prayer.

The supplement on the CRCNA website was updated today to include 2 extra overtures and likely other stuff. This needs to be re-downloaded for anyone following Synod on the Intertubes.

The webcast was quite well-watched for a session of this sort. Just over twenty people were watching at the beginning, climbing to almost 40 by 10:30, then declining again as the end approached.

My objective in following Synod this way is to show that it is a gathering of people, who behave as people and not as beaucratic robots; they have a very good sense of humour, which isn’t recorded in the published Acts. In fact, this is the only way that the love in servanthood that Rev. Verkaik talked about can bring the delegates together to make good and wise decisions for the church.

CRC Synod 2008: Agenda Part 2

This post is part of a summary of the Agenda. If you want to see what I have written about what has actually happened at Synod this week, please see the front page of this blog. I will keep these summaries updated throughout the week. The official CRCNA Synod page is here.

I finally finished reading the rest of the Agenda for Synod 2008, and here are my highlights: (not that the material left out is unimportant):

The Candidacy [for ministry] Committee examined the issue of the status of ministry associates. It was their understanding that being a ministry associate does not automatically allow one to preach, [167]  but is determined by the mandate of the position the MA fills. Synod 2007 decided that MAs can be called as solo pastors given that “economic need” is present and the other relevant Church Order articles could not be followed. [170] The Candidacy Commitee recommends dropping the “economic need” clause, [171] and adopting a guideline to give a standard for whether it is appropriate to call a MA. [171]

The Contemporary Testimony revision seems excellent. They revised the report to avoid cliches and keep the wording meaningful, also responding to new issues in our changed contemporary situation. Scriptural references are listed at the bottom with explanatory sentences rather than footnotes in the text, which turns out to be very nice. As they changed some of the thematic developments, the report discourages word-for-word comparison with the 1986 version. [211] I don’t have the patience to study the whole document, but it reads well and is clear and relevant, as is its goal.

The Faith Formation Comittee had in its mandate two issues of most interest: children’s communion and infant dedication. Children’s communion is studied intensively, but no recommendations are stated for this year; they plan to end up producing thorough documents about this. [241] They plan to organize communication about topics in this area: putting together a web site, sending discussion points to councils, and organizing representative correspondents. [239-240] They put forth an interesting recommendation that Synod hold a discussion about these matters in the form of a luncheon. [241]

There were a few overtures concerning the new hymnal, slated for release in 2013. Overtures 6 and 7 deal with some proposal not to include the confessions in the hymnal; I didn’t see anything about this (perhaps I just missed it). Overture 8 wishes to ensure there is a seperate Psalm section in the hymnal, as in all previous. I think this issue has sides that are about balanced – having a seperate Psalm section reinforces the importance of singing the Psalms, however it also makes them harder to find, discouraging their use.

Overture 9 asks Synod to establish an “Environmental Policy Task Force”, to write up a list of guidelines for those that wish to live environmentally responsibly. I would have thought this should fall outside of Synod’s juristiction, however it is painfully obvious even at my own church this is needed, as people do not all see environmental responsibility as the important moral issue that it is. I strongly urge Synod to adopt the recommendation in this overture.

If I forgot anything important, be sure to let me know!