When a church is affiliated with two or more denominations, the logistics can get confusing. For example, to which denomination is the pastor responsible? Which denomination owns the building if the church closes?
Seeking to allow for multi-affiliated churches and clarify such questions, Synod 2015 added a new provision and a new supplementary subsection to the Church Order of the Christian Reformed Church.
The supplementary information was submitted by Classis Holland, which includes Pillar Church in Holland, Mich., a dual-affiliated church since 2012 with both the CRC and the Reformed Church in America (RCA). Because the two denominations are working together on church planting, many new dual- or multi-affiliated churches are anticipated.
The Church Order will now specify matters affecting churches that affiliate with one or more denominations with which the CRC is in ecclesiastical fellowship—including church giving decisions, appeals against councils’ actions, pastoral discipline, pension plans, and procedures for closing churches.
Synod 2015 is meeting at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, from June 12-18. For continuous Banner coverage, please follow The Banner Magazine on Facebook or @crcbanner on Twitter. You can find more tweeting by following hashtag #crcsynod. News stories will be posted at thebanner.org several times daily. For CRC Communications releases, webcast, and live blogging, please visit crcna.org. Unless noted otherwise, all photographs are by Karen Huttenga.
About the Author
Roxanne VanFarowe is a freelance writer who claims both Canadian and American citizenship and grew up in the Christian Reformed Church. She is a member of Blacknall Presbyterian Church in Durham, North Carolina.
