Synod 2007 instructed the denomination’s Board of Trustees to undertake an “orderly updating” of the Church Order of the Christian Reformed Church and its supplements. The Church Order contains the rules the churches have agreed to abide by.
“Constant changes over the years have created a document that in some cases is not integrated with itself,” explained Rev. Thomas Niehof, Classis Northcentral Iowa. He emphasized that the updating was simply to incorporate past decisions into cleaner, more coherent language.
Rev. Henry De Moor, faculty adviser to synod regarding the Church Order, was cautious about the proposal. “The last time we updated the Church Order, it took eight years: 1957 to 1965,” he noted. “A revision of the Church Order is a big deal—it can mean all sorts of things. I would like to see a little more reasoning behind it.”
Any changes made by the board would need to be approved by future synods.
About the Author
Dan Postma is an occasional reporter for The Banner.
