In its report to Synod 2009, the Ecumenical Relations Committee (ERC) said that it was beginning to talk about interfaith dialogue. The impetus for the conversation was the fact that through the Canadian Council of Churches, CRC people were serving on committees dialoguing with the Jewish community and with the Muslim community, and also on a CCC committee tasked to reflect as churches on how interfaith dialogue should be conducted within denominational structures.
To the surprise of the ERC, Synod said that Interfaith dialogue should be part of the Committee's mandate, and asked the committee to come up with rationale and grounds for this expanded set of responsibilities.
In the period between Synods 2009 and 2010, the ERC studied the issue in some depth. It concluded that while there were some surface similarities between ecumenical relations and interfaith dialogue (i.e., people of faith who do not agree on both significant and superficial points of doctrine and liturgical practice coming together to understand each other better, and where possible stand together on select issues), really they are very distinct. The ERC understands that ecumenical relations properly exist between people and churches who belong to Christ's family: that whatever their differences are, they concur on the basic tenets of the gospel. Interfaith dialogue is with those who belong to a "community of faith" but who do not confess Jesus as Lord.
For the CRC, this distinction is important. There are Christian churches which define the word ecumenical quite differently ("we have ecumenical relations with any community of faith: Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh..."). By being transparent on the position of the CRC and its Ecumenical Relations Committee, we hope to prevent confusion or alarm, and maintain our testimony to the world.
That's a major reason why the committee was renamed. Now it's the "Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee (EIRC)." The two dimensions of the mandates assigned by Synod are named, and not comingled.
The interfaith mandate of the EIRC is to:
- Compile resources for the Christian Reformed Church which will guide interfaith encounters.
- Monitor and facilitate the interfaith encounters that come through ecumenical activities and within the context of the ministries of the CRC.
- Provide advice and perspectives for the CRC as requested.
- When appropriate and opportune, represent the CRC in interfaith dialogues.
May we as a denomination grow in fellowship with believers and Christian Churches domestically and internationally, and grow in respectful understanding with our neighbors from other faith traditions.
