Sorting Out the Agenda for Synod 2020
In the wake of Synod 2020 being canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Program Committee of Synod (officers of Synod 2019) met late last week to review which elements of the Agenda for Synod 2020 need to be addressed this June in a special meeting of the Council of Delegates (COD).
The committee is setting aside a large portion of the material in the 335-page agenda and passing it along for consideration at Synod 2021. The matters from the Agenda for Synod 2020 to be addressed in the special COD meeting include the following:
- COD Report sections:
COD nominations (pp. 30-33) and Recommendations D-G (p. 52);
recognition of the ordination of women (p. 37);
Recommendation L (pp. 52-53) and Appendix B (pp. 59-61; see also Overture 8 below);
ministry presentations at synod (p. 38; reports/videos will be sent to classes);
Judicial Code Committee membership (pp. 38-39) and Recommendations P-R (p. 55);
ministry evaluation (p. 47);
Recommendation U (p. 56) and Appendices G and H (pp. 81-103);
Reimagining Ministry Shares update (p. 51); Recommendation Y (p. 57) and Appendix J (pp. 107-109). - Calvin University sections:
board membership (p. 141) and Recommendation C (p. 142); faculty reappointments in Recommendation B (pp. 141-42). - Christian Reformed Church Loan Fund, Inc., U.S. section:
board of directors (p. 151) and Recommendation B (p. 152) - Pensions and Insurance sections:
board matters (p. 159); housing allowance in Recommendation B (pp. 162-63) - World Renew section:
board nominations, reappointments, and term completions (pp. 219-20) and Recommendations B and C (p. 222). - Calvin Theological Seminary section:
board of trustees (pp. 228-29) and Recommendation B (p. 230). - Candidacy Committee section:
committee membership (p. 237) and Recommendation B (p. 240). - Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee section:
nominations for membership (pp. 248-49) and Recommendations C and D (p. 254). - Historical Committee section:
Introduction (p. 255) and Recommendation B (p. 266). - Overture 8: Do Not Adopt the Proposal to Recognize the 25th Anniversary of the Ordination of Women (pp. 314-15)
Earlier this month, the Program Committee, together with the COD executive committee and others, decided to cancel Synod 2020 in light of many restrictions related to travel and public gatherings that have come as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The group considered several options ranging from holding synod as usual to attempting to hold the meeting via video conference. But the nature of synod as a deliberative body, with work being done both in advisory committees and as a full group, means a virtual meeting is not a viable option.
After weighing several options, the group made a recommendation that was then forwarded to the full Council of Delegates to decide by electronic vote.
The full COD, in turn, voted to approve “that Synod 2020 be canceled due to the current COVID-19 crisis, and that the COD hold a special meeting (virtually) to address any matters that cannot wait until Synod 2021.”
“This is the first time in the CRC’s more than 160-year history that synod has been canceled,” said Colin Watson, the CRC’s acting executive director.
“While this is disappointing news and joins with other losses that we grieve in the wake of COVID-19, we remember that God’s church will and does go on. We do not need to have a denomination-wide meeting in order for God’s kingdom work to continue,” said Watson in an earlier story.
The original Agenda for Synod 2020 is posted at crcna.org/SynodResources. Churches may still respond to the agenda by way of overture or communication to matters in the Agenda for Synod 2020, and those responses will be forwarded to Synod 2021 in connection with items that will be dealt with then.
The CRCNA will print a small number of copies of the full (original) Agenda for Synod 2020 for people and libraries that want to maintain a historical record. Faith Alive Christian Resources will take orders when the print copy is available.
