ICS cuts ties with the CRCNA

Perhaps it was inevitable, and a long time coming. To many Institute for Christian Studies (ICS) supporters, perhaps it does not come as a great surprise.

On February 18, ICS President Dr. Ron Kuipers and Chair of the ICS Board of Trustees Daniel Beerens wrote a letter to the Synod Secretariat of the Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA) stating that “the ICS Board of Trustees voted to discontinue ICS’s status as a Denominationally-Related Educational Institution of the CRCNA.”

Kuipers indicates that ICS has been troubled with the developments of the last several Synods regarding the Human Sexuality Report (HSR). The graduate-level Reformed philosophical and theological school in Toronto, Ontario, was concerned with the decision of Synod 2023 that gave the HSR confessional status, and even more by the Synod of 2024 that imposed a year of “limited suspension” on churches opposed to that decision. Over the past few years, students, faculty, senators, Board members and community members of ICS began raising concerns that “affiliation with the CRCNA implied that ICS endorsed the HSR.” ICS’s long-term relationship with the CRCNA now appeared to cloud ICS’s long history of academic freedom, its non-discrimination policy, and its decision not to require faculty, staff and students to sign “lifestyle statements.” After consultation with various stakeholders, the ICS Board, with “sadness and lament,” made the decision on January 15 to disaffiliate from the CRCNA.

Neo-Calvinist scholarship

Discussions surrounding this matter unfolded much in line with ICS’s history of dealing with difficult matters. Graduate students and life-long learners at ICS expect a safe, open and supportive environment where robust, engaging conversations can be held respectfully in a spirit of communal fellowship and solidarity, and where disagreements can take place “without being catechized.” One student conveyed to the Board that ICS is a space where one can ask tough questions that cannot be raised elsewhere without being judged.

There is a growing sense, echoed by many, that in our current culture there is a loss of curiosity, compassion and humility when it comes to deep questions, combined with an unwillingness to enter robust conversations about them. Society is drifting into an “us versus them” polarization, where the objective is to win, not gain deeper understanding of complex issues. One Board member wondered whether “the CRCNA had begun to follow a similar path.”

The decision to disaffiliate has not been easy, not least for those who have had their faith nourished in the CRC, as is the case with some ICS faculty and Board members. Disaffiliation causes grief and sadness, and feels like a rupture from an ecclesiastical tradition that inspired in them a love for reformational Christianity. It was from that very tradition that, beginning in the late 1950s, many of its pastors and others sought to create a “University for the People,” one that would “impart a living reformational philosophical tradition as a gift and a call to every person.”  That neo-Calvinism continues to ground ICS’s scholarship, and “teaches that God in Christ is busy restoring a broken creation originally made good, and that, as humans, we are invited to participate in these healing and transformational efforts,” as stated in the Board’s February 18 letter.  

What comes next?

The ICS Board realizes that its decision will have an impact. It may well distance supporters who wish to remain in the CRCNA. It may result in financial hardship, a reality for a small school that regularly faces the challenge to raise sufficient revenue to cover expenses. Yet the Board did not want to “chase the money,” as one Board member put it, by carefully positioning itself within the CRCNA to ensure a steady revenue stream.

Rather, in its decision, ICS sought “to speak with a prophetic voice, one that is not always easy,” as stated by Beerens, who wondered whether its position might end up garnering increased support – from individuals who feel disenfranchised or from churches which have disaffiliated or are considering disaffiliation. ICS also sought, as mentioned in the Board’s letter, “to honour the image of God in LGBTQ+ persons,” believing that in so doing it both “helps to end the needless harm inflicted on persecuted sexual minorities and affirms the blessings these persons bring to the Church and wider society.” It went on to state that “including sexual minorities is part and parcel of the healing and transformation God calls us to enact.” The letter also pointed out that “Scripture gives many examples of God’s people dramatically reforming traditional positions in their efforts to be faithful to this same ethical call.” The history of the CRCNA itself reveals traditional positions that have changed over time, one prime example being that of the leadership role of women in the church. 

ICS does not seek to end its role in serving the reformed community. According to Kuipers, it plans to expand its “lifelong learning offerings to serve those who seek a safe place to wrestle with their most pressing moral and spiritual questions.” In that vein, Gideon Straus, ICS’s Academic Dean, encourages all to consider what the Lordship of Jesus might mean in doing so, concluding that “the questions may be hard, and the world not simple, but Jesus is not confusing.”