RCA and CRC Synods Meet Again, in Spirit of Accord

More than 135 years ago, tensions rose among members of what are now the Reformed Church in America and Christian Reformed Church congregations in Holland, Mich.

Things got so bad that elders of Pillar Church, then an RCA congregation, chained the doors shut while another elder brandished an ax to chase away those who came to attend a meeting at the church.

Although they didn’t own the building, members of Pillar Church who wanted to affiliate with the CRC were the ones who decided to take control of the church structure.

For years, the rift caused pain in the lives of many people in both denominations across North America. But the difficulties have been addressed, and today Pillar is a dually affiliated congregation in the CRC and RCA, meaning it is fully incorporated as a church with membership in both denominations.

Now symbolizing the ways in which the two denominations have begun collaborating, Pillar Church, housed in a stately Greek-revival building in downtown Holland, will be the convening church for the Christian Reformed Church synod meeting jointly with the RCA general synod in early June on the campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“We are honored to be included and have hopes for what this can mean for both denominations,” said Rev. Jon Brown, who is a copastor of Pillar Church and will serve as president pro-tem of the CRC synod till it meets and elects its officers.

“We sincerely believe that the unity of the church matters to God. We want to be witnesses to God’s heart for greater unity,” said Brown.

As a convening church for synod, Pillar Church will host the joint opening worship for the thesynods at 7 p.m., Thurs., June 7, in the Calvin College Chapel. Synod 2018 is scheduled to run through Thurs., June 14, at 3:30 p.m. The RCA General Assembly begins on June 7 and runs through June 12.

Brown, an RCA pastor, will preach on Ephesians 4 with Jenna Brandsen, a CRC pastor who also serves as a copastor of Pillar Church.

“We will speak on how we as a church are called to worship ‘one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all,’” said Brown.

Dee Recker, director of the Synodical Services office of the CRC, said the denominations have been working on this joint meeting since 2016 — and it arises from the “Pella Accord” that came out of the denominations’ joint sessions at their concurrent meetings in Pella, Iowa, in 2014. A joint resolution (nicknamed the “Pella Accord”) adopted at those meetings calls for the churches to work together wherever possible.

“This will be a joint celebration of our shared ministries, and we will have integrated sessions woven throughout the days of synod,” said Recker. “We are happy to have Pillar Church involved. It is a unique congregation, sharing membership in both the RCA and CRC.”

Some of the joint activities include a Friday-night joint session highlighting areas of CRC/RCA collaborative work, including church multiplication, joint ministry in disaster relief, refugee resettlement, global missions, and women’s leadership.

On Saturday morning, a total of 27 advisory groups of 20 delegates/advisers each, led by a moderator (each a delegate to one of the synods) will address one of four topics: collaboration, new creation, congregational renewal and transformation initiative, and interfaith engagement.

 “A volunteer recorder will submit written notes to the team of moderators,” said Recker.
“Moderators will convene Sunday afternoon to prepare a written summary for each of the four topics for presentation to the joint meeting on Monday morning.”

Joint worship services, advisory committees, workshops, and other gatherings will take place while the CRC and RCA synods are meeting concurrently.

“What are we hoping will come out of the concurrent synods?” asked Steve Timmermans, executive director of the CRC. “We hope to continue to receive guidance on how we live out the Pella Accord together.”

For continuous coverage of synod, including the live webcast, news, video recordings, photos, reports, liveblog, social media links, and more, visit www.crcna.org/synod.

The Agenda for Synod 2018 has been mailed to all CRC churches. The Agenda Supplement and Financial and Business Supplement, now complete, are available in digital format. Past reports and Acts of Synod and much more can be found on the CRC’s Synod Resources page and annual synod page.

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