I have been in prayer for all the affirming delegates this year. I experienced brutality of 2022 and the cynical politics of Abide firsthand. This is probably one of the hardest things that they have had to do in their lives. Rest well. You good and faithful servants.
For the rest of us it is the next day. What do we take away from it all?
As has been said: “Abide has lost ground.”
Abide had control of the synodical officers and thus the program committee in 2022. Now they do not.
The decision of 2022 regarding the “interpretation of the confession” stands. That wasn’t surprising but the confusing language of “confessional status” was cleaned up. Gravamina are not required for a synodical interpretation even if they are “settled and binding” until they can be demonstrated to be wrong by Scripture.
The numbers on Neland’s appeal are misleading. That decision was required by church order (whether our hearts wish otherwise). I would have had to vote for it too which is the place where many moderates and some progressives found themselves. Abide will surely flaunt that number as they try to spin their losses. They shouldn’t because…
The majority aren’t jerks. 8B recommendation B failed. Paul De Vries is no progressive but he understands the CRCNA better than most of us. The in loco committee’s failure was in its inception by Synod 2022. It came with a posture of punishment and that was only going to lead to a path of division. Abide wanted that division. The CRCNA does not.
The ball is now in Classis Grand Rapids East’s court. The same instructions were given from 2022. No new requirements were added. The difference is now in process. Abide is not in control of it. That doesn’t mean that GRE should abuse the process but should use it well to listen to Neland. Neland should offer an apology to the body for its church order violation but this process should also bear witness to the beautiful fruits of ministry that this very good church has seen over the past three years. The rule was broken but the evidence demonstrates that the rule was wrong.
The final moments of Synod demonstrated who Abide really is. They maintained party discipline as long as they could. They had the majority on committees 7 and 8. They had confidence in their votes on the floor. They attempted to weaponize “calling the question”. Lloyd avoided the microphone knowing that his input would lose votes. When it was clear that this Synod was not going to give them the power they wanted and that matters were going to be pushed to the next Synod the bitter partisanship came to the front.
On punting to the next Synod: Abide should consider it a small mercy. Given the results of 8B there was no indication that Synod was going to go along with any of it. If the punitive measures against Neland weren’t going to fly then reaching into Classes and Councils with unprecedented synodical overreach on the basis of whispers and shades was a complete non-starter.
Abide goes to its conference in August having completely failed in its objectives and with a membership that was promising to leave if this Synod didn’t move forward with their agenda. (They won’t. They’ve been clanging the “We’re leaving!” gong for 30 years. It’s just bluster and noise.)
The question that remains is what do we do with this?
I do have a few thoughts:
I’ve studied the experience of the other denominations who have split on this issue. Abide would have you believe that it is a natural conclusion of having two completely different worldviews. It’s not. It’s a result of falling into the same trap: that our solution is going to be a political solution. If we keep going back to Synods attempting to win power we’re all going to lose.
2024 isn’t going to be different from 2023. We’re going to be locked in stalemates for the next 10 years or we’ll fracture. If you’re a conservative you should be worried because demographics aren’t in your favour and cultural data shows that you will be overwhelmed. Every cultural upheaval in the past two centuries have demonstrated this.
The only way to “win” here is through mission. The church must grow. Fruits must be evident. As progressives we’ve got to demonstrate excellence in the Spirit. Stories of harm (and I acknowledge the real and lived harm of our LGBTQ+ friends, family and allies) will only result in stalemates. Stories of growth and fruit and success will compel others. Paul’s message to the early church was always about this: show the world our love, our faithfulness, our fruit. Rejoice and let your gentleness be evident to all. Proclaim the gospel of Jesus and those who accuse will have nothing left to say.
Conservatives: do the same thing. Forget Vanderklay’s confessional conversations. I’m proposing something radically different. Let’s have a confessional competition. Stop trying to tell me that your way is the right way: show me. One shiny Canadian nickel says that progressives can keep pace with you on mission. Stop trying to prune. It’s not your job. Plant. Stop wasting your time and energy on a 100+ year conflict that we’re never going to settle over 3 minute speeches. Focus on your own mission and let’s see what God does with it.