Two or three times each year, Christian Reformed churches send representatives to their classis, a regional grouping of churches. Delegates at those meetings review and make decisions about shared ministries and practice mutual accountability for their congregations’ individual ministries. Here are the highlights of classis meetings of the past several months.
Entering Ordained Ministry in the CRC
Classes examined and approved the following candidates (seminary graduates):
Tara Foreman
Rafik Kamel
Hope Lee
Allen Pontarelli
Ricardo Tavarez
Mark Van Andel
Michelle VanDenBerg
Michael Westerveld
Brad Close was declared eligible for call.
Ministers entering CRC Ministry from another denomination:
Rev. Phil EuBank
Rev. Hong Youn “Daniel” Kim
Rev. YooJeung Kim
Rev. Obelto Cherubin
Ministers leaving a congregation:
When neither retirement nor discipline is involved, a minister can, for weighty reasons, be released from ministry in a specific congregation at the request of the pastor, the church council, or both. Classes released the following ministers from their congregations:
Rev. Andrew Zantingh, from The Journey CRC, Kitchener, Ont.
Rev. bc Cumings, release under Church Order Article 17a, approved October 2017, was not implemented by classis.
Leaving Ordained Ministry in the CRC
Classes may end the ordained ministry status of a pastor if the minister has voluntarily left the CRC for another denomination or has taken up a non-ministerial vocation, has resigned, or was deposed. A classis may also end ordained ministry status if a minister released from a congregation does not receive a call to another church within two years. Those whose status as an ordained minister in the CRC was ended include the following:
John Matias
Paul Hackett
Deposed: Tim DeVries
Commissioned Pastors
Commissioned pastors are elders called to a specific ministry and ordained to function within that classis. The following commissioned pastors were approved:
Ronnie Lopez (Classis Rocky Mountain)
Dena Nicolai (Classis British Columbia North-West)
Jacqui Mignault (Classis Alberta South/Saskatchewan)
Bart Eisen (Classis Huron)
Sara DeMoor (Classis Huron)
Caleb Dickson (Red Mesa)
Neeodoi (Ed) Thompson separated from Sunrise Community Church, Austin, Tex. (Classis Rocky Mountain)
New Ministries and Ministry Changes
An emerging church does not have its own council and is under the care of a council of a neighboring Christian Reformed church. An organized church has its own council. Changes to a congregation’s status as emerging or organized must be approved by the classis.
The following congregation was designated emerging status:
El Buen Samaritano CRC in Miami, Fla.
The following congregation was designated organized status:
Source Church in Pembroke Pines, Fla.
The following ministries were disbanded:
Immanuel CRC, Wyoming, Mich.; San Jose (Calif.) Ark Church; and Lakeside CRC, Ludington, Mich.
Leadership
Classis Ko-Am decided that female ministers wanting to transfer to Ko-Am from other classes will be accepted.
Synod 2018
Classis Georgetown: The Vision Team decided to offer an honorarium of $600 to the elder and deacon who will be the delegate to synod from Classis Georgetown.
Classis Pacific Northwest wants Synod 2018 to direct denominational leaders to call the entire denomination to intentional prayer for reconciled relationships, with a special focus toward those who have left the CRC for various reasons; produce resources addressing unresolved conflict and need for reconciliation, including at least one article in each printed issue of The Banner.
Full overtures will be included in the Agenda for Synod 2018.
