CRC Affirms Commitment to Infant Baptism

June 15, 2007— Synod voted today to “discourage the practice of infant dedication,” but asked a committee to guide churches that wrestle with the issue.

“The new situation in [Christian Reformed] churches is that there are many people asking for infant dedications,” said Rev. Art Verboon of Classis Alberta North. “We want advice on how to deal with this reality.”

Synod also voted to “affirm the church’s commitment to the practice of baptizing infants.”

“This sacrament is so fundamentally part of our DNA as Reformed people and is the sacrament of God’s sovereign grace,” said Rev. Terry Slachter, reporter for the committee advising synod on the issue.

“I think this was a good decision because it reaffirmed our practice of infant baptism and because we need to restudy the matter for pastoral reasons,” said Rev. Bert Slofstra of Classis B.C. Southeast.

The Faith Formation Committee, formed last year to respond to questions about children at the Lord’s Supper, will now address the infant dedication question as well.

Synod Repents of Racism

Synod 2007 opened its last day with a service of repentance for racism. Delegates and denominational leaders formed a large circle around the Calvin College Fine Arts Center Auditorium, sang, prayed, and listened to passages from the Belhar Confession and from “Our World Belongs to God: A Contemporary Testimony.”

Rev. Joel Nederhood of Classis Illiana led in prayer, saying: “We have set a little time aside to repent before you. We sin against our fellow man . . . and we sin against you, O God.” . . . You blessed our work in China but when we looked at the decision to go there we turned our back on a continent [Africa] because we considered them an inferior people. Racism is in our bones. Have mercy on us, O God . . . Forgive us.”

Rev. Gerard Dykstra, CRC executive director, echoed those words and asked forgiveness for the ways in which the Christian Reformed Church has injected its own culture into its sharing of the Gospel, hurting those to whom it sought to minister.

An Hour of Prayer

Synod took the occasion of the CRC’s 150th anniversary to urge the congregations and especially the leadership of local churches to begin and/or to participate in a weekly hour of prayer in their communities. Delegates were convinced of the need for joining hands and hearts with fellow Christians from their neighboring churches.

(Roxanne VanFarowe, Bob De Moor)

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