Borgdorff Tells Story About the Belhar

Rev. Peter Borgdorff recently told attendees of the annual Black & Reformed Conference of the Christian Reformed Church that he was among those who attended the meeting in South Africa on Oct. 13, 2011, when Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) delegates intensely debated and then voted on the Belhar Confession.

The DRC, which was one of the supporters of the former policy of apartheid, the official separation of races in South Africa, has more than one million members. It was asked last October to make the Belhar the fourth confession of the South African denomination,  putting it on a par with the Heidelberg Catechism, the Canons of Dort, and the Belgic Confession.

When it meets in June on the campus of Redeemer College in Ancaster, Ontario, the CRC’s Synod 2012 is being asked to to take a similar action and vote on making the Belhar Confession the fourth confession of the CRC.

The Behar was written in 1982 by members of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) as a confessional statement on racial harmony and the unity of God’s kingdom.

The DRMC subsequently asked Reformed churches around the world, including elsewhere in South Africa and in North America, to adopt the Belhar as a confession.

Borgdorff, deputy executive director of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC), attended the meeting in South Africa on behalf of the CRC as an ecumenical observer.

“The Belhar was the main issue of their five-day session. So, it was just about the only thing people were talking about,”  said Borgorff last Thursday, April 26, during a keynote address at the conference.

Hosted by Coit Community Church, the Black & Reformed Conference opened Thursday evening on the campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.

After several sessions, speeches, workshops and a town-hall meeting, the conference ended at Coit on Saturday morning. During the concluding worship service, Rev. Harry Weidenaar, a retired CRC pastor, gave his testimony about his journey in race relations, and Rev. Sheila Holmes, pastor of Northside Community Church in Paterson, N.J., preached.

Borgdorff said many speakers came to the microphone on that day when the DRC took its vote on the Belhar.

“We heard every one of the arguments, and at times I had a sense of hostility among the speakers,” said Borgdorff.

Opponents said the Belhar  makes important points, but that it doesn’t theologically meet the same high standard set by the church’s three other confessions.

Some said the acceptance of the Belhar would open the doors of the church to other issues, such as acceptance of gay marriage, and could lead the church away from God.

Still others said that the Belhar promotes a politically motivated theology that could undermine governments and other institutions.

But there were other voices as well. “We heard from those who had suffered terrible consequences as the result of the policy of apartheid,” said Borgdorff.

People spoke of how they believed the confession addresses the sin of racism in a way in which the other Reformed confessions don’t.

Others said adopting the Belhar, especially on the part of the DRC that approved of  apartheid, would help to start a long-needed healing process.

Others said the Belhar Confession, although the source of much discussion and controversy, had the guiding hand of God behind it.

Emotions ran high for hours, said Borgdorff, even though the vote would not entirely end the matter, since local and regional DRC church bodies would have the chance to fully accept whatever decision the general assembly made.

Still, long lines snaked through the assembly hall and a kind of electricity seemed to crackle in the air as delegates, one by one, stepped to a microphone.

But then finally, the moderator banged his gavel, closing debate, and called for the vote.

Given the nature of the lengthy and heated debate, no one seemed to have any idea which way the vote would go, said Borgdorff.

As he sat in the assembly hall, along with visitors from other denominations and many media representatives, Borgdorff said he thought of how momentous this was.

Everyone’s attention fixed on the delegates, waiting to see the cards raised. The DRC votes by use of raising cards of one color or another. After a brief pause, the moderator said simply: “All in favor raise your orange card and those opposed the blue card.”

There were a few moments of hesitation in the room, and then the hands went up, displaying the cards -- as it turns out, showing a sea of orange cards.

The room, although it had been quiet before, grew deathly silent, probably for more than a minute, as everyone took in what happened, said Borgdorff.

A white delegate then stood and went to the microphone. He said that in 1998 the DRC general assembly had made a formal apology to the world at its annual meeting, publically repenting for having supported apartheid. 

“Today,” the delegate said, according to Borgdorff, “we have decided to believe our own apology and to relieve a burden we have carried for years.”

Things were anticlimatic from there. After a range of reactions to the decision and the conducting of other business, last year’s general assembly ended and Borgdorff went home.

On Friday morning, the day after speaking to the Black & Reformed Conference,  Borgdorff attended a “Stand Against Racism” gathering at the Grand Rapids office of the CRC.

Taking a “Stand Against Racism” is an annual event sponsored by the YWCA. About 40 people gathered on the lawn of the CRC office, in front of the denominational office sign, for readings and then the final prayer.

Borgdorff was asked to give the concluding prayer. This time, he didn’t tell a story. But the message of his prayer was one that could have been inspired by the DRC decision he had talked about the night before.

Borgdorff started out by asking God to come into the hearts of everyone there so that they can help to bring reunion and reconciliation between people in the world and that their lives can be a model of the unity the church has in Christ. 

He ended by praying: “God, give us the courage to say what needs to be said and to be able to stand up for what is right.”