24 Jul GS 2013 art 131

Posted at 16:50h in CanRC, GS 2013 by

GS 2013 Article 131 – CCU – Theological Education Subcommittee

1.         Material:

  • 1.1.      Report from the Theological Education Subcommittee of the Committee for Church Unity (8.2.6)
  • 1.2.      Letter from the church at Attercliffe (8.3.2.3)

2.         Observations:

  • 2.1.      Synod Burlington 2010 adopted the following recommendations in connection to the work of the Theological Education subcommittee of the CCU (Acts, Article 71, Recommendation 4):
    • [4.3]     To reappoint a theological education committee to re-examine and discuss with our brothers in the URCNA the possibilities of operating at least one theological seminary by and for the churches, to ensure that such a seminary is accountable to and properly governed by the churches. Further, that the committee promotes adequate funding for such an institution(s) by means of an assessment per communicant member.
    • [4.4]     To instruct the Theological Education Committee to encourage the brothers of the URCNA to examine and interact with the biblical, historical and practical reasons for operating one institution for the training for the ministry as described in Appendix 1 of the report of the Joint Committee, summarized in Lord’s Day 38 (Question and Answer 103) and regulated in Article 19 CO of the CanRC.
  • 2.2.      The committee notes that subsequent to Synod Burlington 2010, the URCNA Synod London 2010 decided to “declare that the Theological Education Committee’s mandate has been fulfilled and is at an end” (Article 53, Recommendation 2).
  • 2.3.      The committee reports, “Since we had no URCNA committee with whom to discuss our mandate, we never convened and can only report that there has been no progress in this matter.”
  • 2.4.      Attercliffe maintains that a theological school ought to be financed by federation-wide assessments.

3.         Considerations:

  • 3.1.      It is regrettable that the committee lacked counterparts from the URCNA and so were unable to make progress.
  • 3.2.      It is advisable to have a committee available to interact on this matter with the URCNA in the future.

4.         Recommendation:

That Synod decide to reappoint the Theological Education Subcommittee, should an upcoming URCNA synod re-appoint the corresponding committee and to continue with the mandate as given by Synod Burlington 2010.

ADOPTED

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