22 Feb GS 1977 art 77

GS 1977 ARTICLE 77 – Contact Christian Reformed Church

Committee IV presents:

Material

• –  Agenda 8, H, 1
• H. 2
• H, 3

Information

• –  Letter Church at Edmonton, re: Article 146, Acts, General Synod Toronto 1974.
• –   Letter from Committee appointed by Synod Toronto 1974 to send an Appeal to the Christian Reformed Church.
• –   Copies of the Appeal sent to the Christian Reformed Church. (See Appendix VII, p. 102.)

The Consistory of the Church at Edmonton comes to Synod with three requests:

• A. “To declare that the General Synod Toronto 1974 based its decision ‘to discontinue the contact with the Christian Reformed Church as until now was maintained by the Committee on Contact with the Christian Reformed Church’ on incomplete grounds.”
• B. “To declare that the General Synod 1974 should not have decided ‘to discontinue the contact with the Christian Reformed Church as until now was maintained by the Committee on Contact with the Christian Reformed Church.’ “
• C. To “seriously consider to again appoint a Committee for Contact with the Chris­tian Reformed Church.”

A. Observations

The Church at Edmonton requests your assembly “to declare that the General Synod of Toronto 1974 based its decision ‘to discontinue the contact with the Chris­tian Reformed Church’ on incomplete grounds.”

For this request the Church at Edmonton adduces the following grounds:

• 1.  The Committee on Contact with the Christian Reformed Church recommended “That Synod Toronto 1974 continue the Committee on Contact with the Chris­tian Reformed Church”; Synod Toronto 1974 “decided differently, however, without pointing out where in its judgment the Contact Committee had gone wrong in either stating or considering the facts, or in concluding from these facts.”
• 2. Synod 1974 based its decision to discontinue our Contact Committee on the con­clusion that “no fruitful discussion with a view to reaching union with the Christian Reformed Church may be expected.” “This assumption is made be­ cause of the fact that ‘it is evident that the Acts of Synod 1974 of the Christian Reformed Church show a decisive alteration of the rules, so that a relationship with the (Synodical} Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland is continued, while judgment on the faithfulness of these churches is suspended.”
• Although deploring “that the Christian Reformed Church has suspended judg­ment on the faithfulness of the (Synodical) Gereformeerde Kerken in Neder­land,” Edmonton states that Synod Toronto 1974 “did not take into considera­tion the fact, known to Synod, that implicitly the faithfulness of the (Synodical) Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland has been questioned to such an extent that ‘on the basis of the now existing rules the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church would have to cut off all relationship with the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland completely.’ ” The interpretation of the decision of the Christian Reformed Synod 1974, Edmonton claims, “did not reckon with all the available information about its meaning.”
• 3. “When the Christian Reformed Synod 1972 decided to discontinue their Com­mittee for Contact with the Canadian Reformed Churches, the reason was that the remaining point for discussion … was in the province of another Commit­ tee.” In the second consideration of Toronto’s decision the wrong impression is given “that the Christian Reformed Synod 1972 has discontinued the contact with the Canadian Reformed Churches.”
• 4. Synod Toronto 1974 did not consider that the decision of the Christian Re­ formed Synod 1974 “to ‘pursue appropriate avenues of increased contact’ with the (Synodical) Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland” might include “that the Christian Reformed Church wants to check further into the recent theological trends in the (Synodical) Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland.”

Considerations

• 1.   In their additional report, our Contact Committee referred to the decision of the Synod of Orangeville 1968, and stated that they could have executed Orange­ville’s decision to the end. Since points 2 and 3 of the decision of Orangeville had already been complied with, only point 4, the “Appeal” was left.
• Synod Toronto 1974 thus acted according to the recommendation of the Contact Committee, be it that Synod Toronto 1974 appointed a special commit­ tee for that task. The recommendation of the Contact Committee was “sound,” as Edmonton states. Synod decided accordingly and did not deviate from the recommendation as Edmonton alleges.
• 2. Whether one looks at the change of relationship from the angle of suspending judgment officially or from the angle of implicit questioning of the faithfulness of the (Synodical) Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, it is clear that the Christian Reformed Church did not wish to break off that relationship itself.
• Synod Toronto 1974 did not neglect either aspect of the continued relation­ ship. The Synod 1974 of the Christian Reformed Church saw in the new rela­tionship possibilities for “increased contact” with the (Synodical) Gerefor­meerde Kerken in Nederland.
• It is neither an assumption nor an interpretation but only a correct conclu­sion when Synod Toronto 1974 adduced as reason for its decision that “no fruit­ful discussion with a view to reaching union with the Christian Reformed Church may be expected.”
• 3. Synod 1972 of the Christian Reformed Church decided to discontinue the Con­ tact Committee and assured “the Canadian Reformed Churches of its willing­ ness to continue discussion with them in the future, whenever they feel condi­tions will be conducive for a fruitful exchange.” From this it is clear that the Christian Reformed Church indeed considered discontinuation of the Contact Committee to be a discontinuation of the contact as such, only to be resumed when the Canadian Reformed Churches should feel the conditions to be condu­cive for fruitful discussions (Acts 1972, Article 46).
• 4. Edmonton assumes in its interpretation of the decision of the Christian Re­ formed Synod 1974 that pursuing “appropriate avenues of increased contact” with the (Synodical) Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland “might include that the Christian Reformed Church wants to check further into the recent theological trends in the (Synodical) Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland.” However, it was clear to Synod Toronto 1974 from the decision of the Christian Reformed Synod 1974 itself that the new relationship and the “appropriate avenues of in­ creased contact … can and should be employed to strengthen rather than weaken inter-church bonds whenever this is warranted by Reformed ecumeni­cal principles” (Acts 1974, Article 62).
• As for further investigation of “recent theological trends in the (Synodi­cal) Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland,” the Christian Reformed Synod 1974 stated that the specific mandate of 1970 and 1971, to inquire into recent theo­ logical trends in the (Synodical) Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland was ful­filled (Acts, Synod 1974, Article 62, C 8).
• 5. Synod Toronto 1974 based its decision on sound and complete grounds.

Recommendation

Synod decide not to grant the request of the Church at Edmonton to declare that Synod 1974 based its decision on incomplete grounds. 

ADOPTED

B. Observations

Edmonton also requests your assembly to declare “that the General Synod Toronto 1974 should not have decided ‘to discontinue the contact with the Christian Reformed Church’.”

For this request Edmonton adduces the following grounds:

• 1. Synod “has not made it unquestionably clear that the ‘Conclusion’ must be drawn that ‘the position of the Christian Reformed Church in the matter of Church correspondence with the (Synodical) Gereformeerde Kerken in Neder­land has now been clearly settled and finalized.’ ” Since the mandate of our Contact Committee reads “to discuss the matter of Church Correspondence with the (Synodical) Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland until the position of the Christian Reformed Church has become clear.” and since Synod Toronto 1974 did not make it clear that that position indeed had become clear, Synod Toronto 1974 “could not adduce as ground that the Contact Committee had ful­filled its mandate.”
• 2. Discontinuation of our Contact Committee “has rendered it impossible to con­ front the Christian Reformed Inter-Church Relations Committee in face-to­ face contact with our objections against their changing of the rules for Cor­ respondence while suspending judgment on the faithfulness of the (Synodical) Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, and to call the Christian Reformed Church to account for this.”

Considerations

• 1.  Synod Toronto 1974 correctly concluded that the position of the Christian Re­ formed Church in the matter of correspondence with the (Synodical) Gerefor­meerde Kerken in Nederland had been settled and finalized. The Christian Re­formed Contact Committee also concluded the same when it recommended to Synod 1972, “That, in the event that one of our future synods changes the pres­ent relationship with the Gereformeerde Kerken, Synod officially advise the Canadian Reformed Churches of such action and extend an invitation to them to initiate further discussion on this matter” (Acts, Synod Toronto 1974, p. 97).
• 2. Discontinuation of a special Contact Committee did indeed render it impossible to “confront the Christian Reformed Inter-Church Relations Committee in face-to-face contact with our objections,” but it did not render it impossible to confront the whole Christian Reformed Church as such with our objections. That confronting was done by means of another “Appeal,” as recommended by our Contact Committee in their additional report to Synod 1974.

Recommendation

Synod decide not to grant the request of the Church at Edmonton to declare that Synod 1974 should not have decided to discontinue the contact with the Christian Reformed Church.

ADOPTED

C. Observations

Edmonton further requests your assembly seriously to consider “to again ap­point a Committee for Contact with the Christian Reformed Church” and that “such a Committee in face-to-face contact with representatives of the Christian Reformed Church

• 1. apologizes for the fact that the Canadian Reformed Churches without good grounds discontinued the contact by means of a Committee after Synod 1974;
• 2. speaks about the matter of the relationship with the <Synodical) Gerefor­meerde Kerken ‘and in this way tries to remove, and to have removed, any ob­stacle which prevents union between the Canadian Reformed Churches and the Christian Reformed Church in the unity of the true faith.’ “

Considerations

• Edmonton did not prove that appointment of a Committee is necessary now that the whole Christian Reformed Church has been confronted with our objec­tions by means of an “Appeal,” in which our objections against the relationship with the (Synodical) Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland have been set forth.
• 1. Synod Toronto 1974 had good and sufficient grounds for its decision and thus an apology would be wholly out of place.
• 2. The Canadian Reformed Churches appointed a Committee with the mandate to speak about specific obstacles. The main obstacle left is the correspondence or anyway the relationship which the Christian Reformed Church has with the (Synodical) Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, and which is an absolute im­pediment to the Canadian Reformed Churches for coming to a union. The Christian Reformed Synod 1972, Acts, Article 46 B 2, decided to “assure the Canadian Reformed Churches of its willingness to continue discussions with them in the future, whenever they feel conditions will be conducive for fruitful exchange.”
• Edmonton did not prove that the conditions are indeed conducive for such a fruitful exchange.
• 3. The Lord Jesus Christ prayed to the Father “that they may be one,” which is a unity in obedience and in true faith. Therefore the Churches may only engage in such contacts with others that are directed to and may be expected to result in unity of the true faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.

Recommendation

Synod decide not to grant the request of the Church at Edmonton to again appoint a Committee for Contact with the Christian Reformed Church.

ADOPTED

D. Observation

The Committee appointed by Synod Toronto 1974 to draft and to send a Chris­ tian Appeal to the Christian Reformed Community submits a 22 page Appeal.

Recommendation

Synod decide

• 1. gratefully to acknowledge the work done by the Committee which sent a Chris­tian Appeal on behalf of the Canadian Reformed Churches to the Christian Re­formed Community;
• 2. to have the Appeal added to the Acts as an Appendix.

ADOPTED