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New Church Order Commentary Available

May 27, 2020

The current COVID-19 crisis may be an opportunity for CRCNA congregations to consider the Church Order in different and creative ways, said Henry DeMoor, Calvin Theological Seminary professor emeritus of church polity, whose second edition of the Christian Reformed Church Order Commentary has just been released.

The Church Order is solid, given that it is based in historic creeds, but that doesn’t mean the church can’t adapt to new and extreme circumstances, such as we are dealing with collectively today with the coronavirus crisis, said DeMoor.

“I am one who firmly believes that the Church Order we have reflects a Reformed ecclesiology so that in substance it will always remain the same,” he said.

“It is actually dictated by our creeds and confessions, especially the Belgic Confession, and synods are obliged to decide issues with that in mind. On the other hand, this does not bind us to a legalistic following of it.”

Speaking of the second edition of the Church Order Commentary, DeMoor said it is substantially the same as the first edition that came out a decade ago, except that “all the changes in the Church Order brought about by decisions of synods up to and including Synod 2019 are reflected in the articles and in the commentary that pertains to them when necessary.”

A good example, he said, “is that much of the material about what we once called ‘ministry associates’ has been changed to reflect the new terminology of ‘commissioned pastors.’”

Dee Recker, director of synodical services, said the new book, updated from the 2010 edition, reflects the many changes to the Church Orderadopted by Synods 2011-2019 and serves “as a valuable companion to the Manual of Christian Reformed Church Government,” which focuses on bottom-line procedures, activities, and practices that oversee and guide the work of the church.

The Christian Reformed Church Order Commentary is available free of charge to CRC members via the Faith Alive Digital Library. Print or digital versions of the Commentary are also available for purchase through Faith Alive Christian Resources.

“We are extremely grateful to Dr. DeMoor for sharing his wisdom of church polity garnered over his many years of teaching and advising on the subject,” said Recker.

Reflecting on how the Church Order of the CRCNA can speak to us today, DeMoor said he goes back to the six years when he was a member of the Dutch GKN denomination, now the PKN, and the final article of their Church Order, which stated “that in the event of national emergencies, departures from the prescriptions of the Church Order will be called for and in such cases do not need to be followed with scrupulous obedience.”

DeMoor interpreted that to mean churches and assemblies ought to adhere to their Church Order but can be creative when necessary.

“There's no doubt in my mind that what the Dutch synods had in mind was the Second World War. But I believe that our current catastrophe calls for the same thing,” he said.

“So I think our practices [like how we worship] may well be different for a while. When we [at the church he attends] live-streamed a communion service, members all took a piece of bread and a little bit of wine [or juice] to their computer stations and then celebrated the Lord's Supper together with those elements,” said DeMoor.

“That was different from our practice, but not from the substantive prescriptions of the Church Order.”

So the Church Order can serve us right now. Adaptations can be made. “But if there is to be any change in the Church Order,” said DeMoor, “that must come about only when we return to a new normal.”