Synod Concludes with Meditation on Unity

Synod 007 wrapped up its deliberations this afternoon.

In his closing remarks, President Joel Boot said: “I hope we’ve had a realization of what a privilege it is to serve here . . . to be a part of that transition from past to future.”

Boot led delegates in a brief meditation on Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17, the same passage with which Rev. Joel Nederhood had opened synod’s Monday morning session.

Boot focused on the word “one”—Jesus’ request of his Father that his followers might be one as he and the Father are one. “We have had the marvelous privilege not only of hearing those words but experiencing them, of actually being one,” Boot remarked. “Despite divergence of opinion . . . we were one in [Jesus’] love.

First clerk, Henry Baron told the delegates that he’d been asked: “Why do you want to go synod? That’s like spending a week in purgatory!”

Baron quipped that despite some purgatorial moments, “I want to tell those people: ‘You should have been here because you missed a taste of the Kingdom. You missed holy tears of emotion. You missed a taste of Kingdom people struggling for a clearer vision . . . and reaching across all the divisions of skin color, gender, and convictions in our common mission of bringing the good news in the world.’”

Synod concluded with the singing of “And Can It Be” [PsH. 267].

Ministry Associate Office Expanded

While those with special gifts but no theological education will still find the road to ordination difficult in the CRC, synod expanded the office of “ministry associate.”

Synod debated both the expense and the importance of academic training for its ministers. It finally decided that seminary training is still preferred, that giftedness is still a very difficult qualification for ordination and, especially, that the office of ministry associate should be emphasized and valued.

“The road to education is not paved the same for all people,” woman adviser Gloria Sanchez remarked. The ministry associate office is designed to be a highly accessible, highly specialized office for leaders to perform pastoral tasks without the normal educational requirements.

Ministry associates may remain as solo pastors in congregations where the partnering minister of the Word has left. They may even be called as solo pastors to congregations under certain circumstances.

“It’s a new world of church and culture and ministry,” said Rev. Matthew Ford of Classis Greater Los Angeles. “We face the reality that if we don’t have a category to call these folks ‘pastors’ we will lose and have no way to enfold a very vibrant, very real piece of who we are as a church.”

The new guidelines will also make it easier for congregations of lesser means and difficult circumstances to call ministry associates as their leaders.

(Bob De Moor & Dan Postma)