ARTICLE 15 – Theological College Appointments

Synod enters into closed-restricted session. Committee Ill presents:

A. MATERIAL –   Agenda VIII, 

• A, 1.  Nominations for the Theological College
  • a.   Regional Synod East;
  • b.   Regional Synod West.
• A,  2. Board of Governors
  • a.   Report to General Synod 1983;
  • b. Proposal re Fourth Professor.

B.  OBSERVATIONS

• 1.  a.   The Board of Governors  recommends that Synod “appoint, elect, reappoint or reelect six (6) active ministers as Governors (in accordance with Section 3.04 (a) of By-Law 1 (as amended) to hold office until the next General Synod and to appoint at least three (3) substitutes from each Regional Synod area.”
  • b. Regional Synod Ontario of November 10. 1982. nominated as Governors (Aca­demic Committee) the Revs. P. Kingma, J. Mulder and Cl. Stam, and, as substitutes, the Revs. J. DeJong, M. Werkman and J. VanRietschoten, in that order.
  • c. Regional Synod West of September 20, 1983, nominated as Governors (Aca­demic Committee) the Revs. J. Geertsema, M. VanBeveren and J. Visscher , and, as substitutes, the Revs. M. VanderWel, B.J. Berends and C. Van­ Spronsen, in that order.
• 2.  The Board of Governors presents the following proposals regarding the Gover­nors (Finance and Property Committee):
  • a.   “To accept the resignations of Mr. Hessel Dantuma and Mr. John Medemblik as Governors, and pursuant to Section 5(2) of the Act and Section 3.04 of By-Law Number 1 (as amended);
  • b.   to appoint Anton L. VanderHout, Esq. (Hamilton) as Governor for a term from the date of his appointment  until the third General Synod held after the date of his appointment;
  • c.   to appoint Henk Kampen, Esq. (Toronto) and to reappoint C. M. Loopstra, LL.B. (Toronto) as Governors for a term from the date of  their  appointment or reappointment until the second General Synod held after the date of their appointment or reappointment:
  • d.   to reappoint Maas VanGrootheest, Esq. (Fergus) and Arie Hordijk, Esq. (Bur­ lington) as Governors for a term from the date of their  reappointment  until the next General Synod held after the date of their reappointment.”
• 3.  The Board of Governors presents the following recommendations regarding the Faculty of the Theological College:
  • a.   to direct the granting of tenure to Professor C. VanDam, M.Th. and the Rev. W.W.J . VanOene, M.Th. (both appointed by General Synod, 1980);
  • b.   to direct the Board of Governors to appoint a new Professor of Diaconiology;
  • c.   to direct the Board  to appoint  as Professor  of  Diaconiology  for  the period of six  years, namely, from May 1, 1984 until June 30, 1990, Dr. K. Deddens of Groningen, The Netherlands, authorizing the Board to make the appoint­ment on the stipulated financial conditions and relocation arrangements;
  • d.   to express appreciation for the faithful service of the Rev. G. VanDooren, M.Th., as lecturer in Diaconiology from the date the College was established until his retirement age and for the fact that after his retirement Rev . G. Van Dooren has made himself available to continue his teaching as temporary instructor until December 31, 1983.

C.  CONSIDERATIONS

• 1.  In accordance with By-Law 1 (Section 3.04) of the Theological College, the Gen­eral Synod shall appoint or reappoint six active ministers to the Board of Gover­nors.
• 2.  a. In accordance with By-Law 1 (Section 3.04) of the Theological College, the General Synod shall appoint or reappoint five brothers who are not ministers.
  • b. The retirement proposal submitted to Synod by the Board of Governors (Fi­nance and Property Committee) is in accordance with the decision of Synod 1980, Acts , Art. 44, Ill, C, 4. which reads “to take note of the fact that no retirement  schedule  exists for  the members of  the Board of  Trustees and to ask the Board of Trustees to consider such a schedule and to come with proposals to the next General Synod.”
• 3.   a. The proposal to grant tenure to Professor C. VanDam and the Rev . W.W.J. VanOene is based on the recommendation of the Board of Governors, who also state that “it is clear that the instruction is not only on a scholarly level, but also faithful to the Scriptures and confessionally sound.”
  • b. Synod Smithville 1980 decided “to charge the Board of Governors to ap­proach the next Synod with a recommendation regarding a fourth full-time professor, preferably a Professor of Diaconiology.” Acts, Art. 12, D, 7.
  • c. i The Board of Governors on the advice of the Senate have come to General Synod 1983 with a recommendation to direct the Board to appoint the Rev. Dr. K. Deddens of Groningen, The Netherlands.
    • ii  From the material presented by the Board of Governors it appears that Dr. K. Deddens is well-qualified in the field of Diaconiology and may be expected to maintain the scholarly level of training at the Theological College.
    • iii  Although in the event of his appointment and acceptance ” Dr. K. Ded­dens would remain a minister of Groningen-Zuid.” the arrangements pro­ posed by the Board of Governors give sufficient guarantees as to his position, salary and superannuation benefits.
    • iv  In view of his qualifications and length of service in the Reformed Church­es of The Netherlands, the Board of Governors is correct in proposing that he be paid a salary equivalent to a professor with tenure at the Theo­ logical College.
    • v The proposed appointment of six years is in keeping with Dr. Deddens’ own expressed desire to return to The Netherlands after his years of ser­vice at our College and also guarantees the Churches a reasonable num­ber of years of service.

D. RECOMMENDATIONS

Synod decides:

• 1.  to appoint as Governors of the Theological College the following active minis­ ters and their substitutes:
  • From Eastern Canada:
    • Rev. P. Kingma, Rev. Cl. Stam , Rev. J. Mulder.
    • (Substi­tutes: Rev. J. DeJong, Rev. M. Werkman, Rev. J. VanRietschoten, in that order);
  • From Western Canada:
    • Rev. J. Geertsema, Rev. M. VanBeveren, Rev. J. Vis­scher.
    • (Substitutes: Rev. M. VanderWel, Rev. B.J. Berends. Rev. C. Van­ Spronsen, in that order).
• 2.  to appoint as Governors of the Theological College the following brothers who are not ministers according to the retirement schedule as stipulated by the Board of Governors:
  • A. L. VanderHout (9 years); H. Kampen (6 years); C. M. Loopstra (6 years) ; M. VanGrootheest (3 years); A. Hordijk (3 years);
• 3.  to express our  sincere gratitude to the brothers H. Dantuma and J. Medemblik for their many years of faithful service as Trustees/Governors of the Theological College;
• 4.  to direct the Board of Governors to grant tenure to Professor  C. VanDam  and the Rev . W.W.J. VanOene ;
• 5.  to thank the Rev. G. VanDooren for his many years of faithful and fruitful work done as lecturer and temporary instructor at the College:
• 6.  to direct the Board of Governors to appoint the Rev. Dr . K. Deddens of Gronin­gen, The Netherlands, as professor of Diaconiology for a period of six years (May 1, 1984 to June 30. 1990) in accordance with the financial arrangements sub­mitted by the Board of Governors.

A motion duly seconded, that the Committee’s recommendation D, 6 (to appoint Dr. K. Deddens as professor of Diaconiology) be adopted by Synod is ADOPTED.

It is decided that the chairman will inform Dr. K. Deddens by telephone concerning his appointment.

Closed-restricted session is terminated.

Session is closed. The Advisory Committees meet.