Christian Reformed Churches in Grand Rapids send letter on sexuality to Synod

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan – Sitting in the front pew of the empty nave, Neland Avenue CRC pastor Joel DeMoor recited a phrase he had memorized: “To be a community of hope where all experience and share the deep welcome of Christ.”

The catchy phrase – part of Neland Avenue’s mission statement – ​​also appears in a message to the 2024 Synod, which met Friday morning on the campus of Calvin University.

For a week, delegates from Christian Reformed churches across North America will pray, worship and make decisions on matters of faith, including same-sex relationships, which the denomination codified as a sin at the 2022 Synod and reaffirmed at the 2023 Synod.

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In response to these decisions on sexuality, several churches in Classis Grand Rapids East, including Neland Avenue, wrote a letter to the 2024 Synod asking delegates to “hear these cries of the heart.”

“Our message is – from our church’s perspective – an appeal,” said DeMoor. “Please listen and take note of us all.”

READ MORE: Synod 2023 rejects appeal of Neland Avenue CRC

The letter, known as Communication 26, primarily calls on the faith community to allow ministers – pastors, elders and deacons – to remain in office even if they disagree with or have difficulty with parts of the established doctrine of the faith. This is a concept developed by the Congregation for the Rights of the Child known as “Confessional Difficulty Gravamen” (CDG).

“We continue to be blessed with members who hold a variety of views on marriage and sexuality,” the Neland Avenue council wrote, claiming that banning or inhibiting the gravamen process “would, unfortunately, mean that we may close ourselves off to participation in this denomination.”

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In addition to Neland Avenue, Boston Square, Eastern Avenue, Fuller Avenue, Grace and Woodlawn Christian Reformed Churches also contributed to the communication, which was adopted by the class in February.

“Put some of our hopes for the synod and some of our pains into words,” said Kelsi Jones, pastor of Grace Church. “Room for all of us. The Kingdom of God will be so much more diverse than we can imagine.”

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Grace “openly” contradicts the CRC’s stance on sexuality and believes that it should not have been elevated to the status of a denomination: “Since the Wittenberg Door, our tradition has always created space for the expression and exploration of positions that do not correspond to the majority opinion,” the letter states.

However, the majority report for the 2023 Synod called for the gravamen process to be “time-bound and time-sensitive” because, according to church order, “no one is free to decide for himself or for the church what is and what is not a doctrine known in the standards.”

The report goes on to say that denominational difficulties are not “a call for a congregation to tolerate the firm conviction of a follower that a doctrine … is false,” but rather a means of “resolving” doubts.

While the majority report recommended that those suffering from sexually-related unchastity issues – “the definition of unchastity” – join the denomination by the end of the year, leave it or face suspension, the 2023 Synod ran out of time to debate this measure, so it was postponed until the 2024 Synod.

“We are Reformed Christians through and through,” said Michael Van Denend, a member of Neland Avenue who attended the 2023 Synod as a delegate. “But we cannot take a stance that would exclude some of our members.”

Van Denend calls his congregation his “faith family” and does not want to have to choose between his brothers and sisters in Christ on Neland Avenue and the denomination he has long been a member of.

“We are not trying to make any statement,” he said.

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At Grace Church, it is a similar story: some want to leave the CRC, others want to stay after serving and fighting there for years.

READ MORE: All One Body sings on Calvin’s campus as Synod 2023 delegates discuss sexuality and sin

“At Grace, I have so much peace that God will be with us,” said Emily Helder, church employee. “When I am in affirming spaces, I experience a lot of hope and it feels like a foretaste of God’s kingdom.”

As the faith community resumes discussion of sexuality this month, DeMoor prays that the 2024 Synod will listen carefully to the churches it serves: “Walk this path together as we feel the Spirit here.”

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