Report on Disciplining Officebearers Available

Synod 2024 requested that a group be appointed to “develop Church Order procedures to discipline officebearers, including disaffiliation of a council or classis initiated by a major assembly” (Acts of Synod 2024, pp. 929-31; see Agenda for Synod 2024, pp. 408-10). 

The report of the Task Force to
Develop Church Order Procedures
to Discipline Officebearers has been available online since Oct. 29, and executive summaries of the report are provided in English, Spanish, and Korean. These documents can be found at crcna.org/SynodResources. The report will be presented to Synod 2026 next June for discussion and decision. In the meantime, Christian Reformed churches and classes have received the document for their review.

The task force met several times over the past 18 months and considered their assignment based on five areas of study: 

• Biblical: What scriptural principles can be discerned about major assemblies disciplining minor assemblies?
• Theological: What have Reformed theologians said about this topic?
• Historical: How has the Christian Reformed Church acted in the past when situations have arisen?
• Church Order: What do our documents currently say, and how has that been explained and interpreted by Church Order experts?
• Other denominations: How have other churches chosen to address the relationships between major and minor assemblies? 

The task force recommendations to Synod 2026 include the following:

•  That synod affirm that although Synod 2024 made decisions regarding “limited suspension” (Acts of Synod 2024, pp. 891-93), that precedent should not be deemed to create a new category of discipline (“limited suspension”) in addition to the already established categories of suspension and deposition.
• That synod amend the Supplement to Church Order Article 27-b by adding new paragraphs stating that “when necessary for the well-being of the churches, classes, or the denomination at large, classes and synod may guide procedures of discipline at the levels of local councils and classes, respectively, even if not requested by the minor assembly.”
• That synod amend Church Order Article 83 and Supplement, Articles 82-84 to reflect that these actions may take place in exceptional circumstances.

The full report is available online. Synodical task force reports like this are distributed to all churches in order to give church councils and classes time to review and discuss them. 

If councils or classes have an opinion about how Synod 2026 should respond to the report, they are invited to send their suggestions to next June’s meeting by means of an overture or communication by Mar. 15, 2026.