Synod has us on our knees

“In your relationships with one another,” Paul wrote (from prison!), “have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). That’s the verse chosen as the theme of the Christian Reformed Church’s (CRC) Synod 2023, taking place this week in Grand Rapids, Michigan – and its focus on relationships is a fitting one. That’s because members of the CRC denomination – like the ancient church in Philippi, perhaps – are having an increasingly difficult time living in ecclesiastical harmony. 

The most controversial topic remains the Human Sexuality Report (HSR), which upholds the CRC’s traditional stance on homosexual sex and which passed with a 74 percent majority at Synod in 2022. A decision to define unchastity as including homosexual sex in the Heidelberg Catechism, and to make that confessional, also passed with a majority last June. But the matter is far from resolved, as at least 30 overtures are on the table as part of this Synod’s Agenda relating to those two decisions.  

Meanwhile, four public groups have formed in relation to the HSR and its implications for members of the Christian Reformed Church: the Abide Project, All One Body, Better Together and the Hesed Project. All have been active in the months leading up to Synod, releasing videos, sending out newsletters and calling for specific items of prayer. 

Four advocacy groups

The Abide Project promotes a “Biblical, confessional and historical understanding of human sexuality” in the CRC. As it did last year, Abide is posting videos during Synod commenting on the proceedings. In their first video, West Michigan CRC pastors Tyler Wagenmaker and Cedric Parsels begin by saying that Synod 2023 will “affect peoples’ lives and the lives of congregations.” They agree that “a lot is going to happen, and we’re looking forward to listening and talking about it. We encourage people to be much in prayer.” Items on the prayer list for Abide are “for implementation of the HSR with all its ramifications, for biblical fidelity, orthodoxy and discipline for the CRCNA, and for God to be glorified through Synod 2023.” 

All One Body will also be active during Synod, with plans to gather outside the buildings where deliberations take place. Since 2011, All One Body has advocated for “unrestricted participation in all areas of church life by all members who confess Christ as Savior and Lord without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity.” Last year it organized two demonstrations protesting HSR-related decisions. Its website looks beyond the CRC, quoting John 17 in the context of Jesus praying for all believers: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20-21). 

Better Together, a group which just began this year, offers a “third way” for those “sick of picking sides.” According to its website, it’s “committed to creating space for disagreement on ethical issues that do not determine our salvation in service to maintain the prioritization of the mission of the gospel and protect the unity of the church.” The group started in the U.S. and  now has a Canadian equivalent. It’s set up a 10 day Prayer Vigil during Synod, inviting people to pray in 30-minute time slots “so that all of Synod will be bathed in prayer.” (The CRC has facilitated a similar prayer schedule here.) The focus of Better Together’s prayer efforts is “unity in Christ for the sake of the Gospel mission.” 

The Hesed Project has taken a different approach, releasing two reports in the weeks before Synod – one that outlines the harm caused by Synod 2022 and a second with four requests for delegates: “to respect those holding different perspectives on human sexuality; to clarify options for conscientious dissent; to reduce harm for LGBTQ+ members; and to address the ways in which the HSR debates are symptomatic of greater division within the CRC.” Many of the personal stories published by Hesed are exemplified by these lines in “Matthew Deroo’s” story: “I write for one reason only: for the [LGBTQ] kids in church today who are struggling like I did. My only prayer is that my words can somehow, in some way, ease their suffering and maybe prevent that suffering in the first place.”

Struggling with the implications

Is the unity of the Christian Reformed Church at stake? “As a commissioned Pastor who is affirming,” one anonymous respondent to Hesed’s survey said, “I feel my ordination is in jeopardy. I’ve been a life-long member of the CRC. I have served the denomination as a youth pastor, as a missionary, and as a pastor.”  

In their first video update for Abide, Wagenmaker and Parcels addressed potential schism from the outcome of Synod: “Sometimes you have to part ways; it doesn’t have to be acrimonious. There’s an opportunity to bless and release others and to say we understand your vision and go and do that vision but there are better homes, better denominations where you can do that. We’ll support and encourage that.” 

Whatever happens, the next year will not be easy for CRC churches. “Regardless of the decisions made in June,” Better Together’s website states, “so many of our local congregations and beyond will continue to struggle with a binary polarization influenced by our culture. […] Continue to join us in praying for the Holy Spirit’s clear leading.”

The CRC itself led 40 days of prayer in the run up to Synod. Its Prayer Guide prompted church members to ask God that delegates may have “meaningful and grace-filled dialogue, [seeking]  God’s guidance in all decisions made.” 
To that, I think all would say “Amen.”