22 Jul GS 2013 art 27
GS 2013 Article 27 – Appeal of Br. R. Janssen
1. Material:
Letter of appeal from br. Janssen (8.5.15)
2. Observations:
- 2.1. Br. Janssen is appealing various decisions of General Synod Smithers 2007 regarding the Book of Praise (Articles 124-131, 133-135, 137-142, 148-149, 163 and 166)
- 2.2. He approached his consistory with his concerns but the consistory did not endorse them
- 2.3. Br. Janssen states that “every member has the right to appeal a wrong decision of General Synod directly to the next General Synod”.
3. Considerations:
- 3.1. General Synod Chatham 2004 considered that “… an individual member cannot forward his appeals regarding matters that concern the churches in common directly to a general synod… Individual members must follow the way of the Church Order by addressing their concerns to their local consistory who, should they concur with the concerns, direct an appeal to a general synod. Consistory, unlike individual members, has the right to deal directly with the matters that belong to the churches in common… If the local consistory does not take over the individual’s appeal, he can appeal the local consistory’s decision to classis and thus begin the appeal process in accordance with Article 31 of the Church Order” (Acts, Article 20, Consideration 4).
- 3.2. Br. Janssen gives no evidence that he has followed the process outlined above.
4. Recommendation:
That Synod decide that br. R. Janssen’s appeal is inadmissible.