Synod 2024 Convenes: Confessional Renewal From the Pews Upward

“This is no coup. This is a beautiful reformation that is the result of many faithful members throughout the CRCNA building and multiplying and working for the good of this denomination for the past two decades. I’m thankful to be able to play some small role in all of this. I’m thankful that many of you have been working toward this. I would love to be able to recognize all of the faithful Christians who’ve been working toward this for the past two decades. Either way, this is where we are, and I’m thankful for it and I’m excited to see what God is going to do at this next Synod, and in the next phase of this Messy Reformation.” -Jason Ruis

Podcast Transcript

Well, Synod 2024 kicked off this past Wednesday night online. Really, not much happened in this meeting. Delegates learned how to use the voting system and the officers of Synod were elected. They decided to hold this meeting a few weeks before Synod in order to help things go more smoothly once delegates meet in-person. This helps the advisory committees get some of the “get to know you” things out of the way ahead of time so that they can get to work right away once they arrive at Synod. This also gives the officers of Synod a couple weeks to prepare and get ready for the task at hand. We did this in 2022 and it seemed to help out quite a bit. After the debacle of a Synod last year, where we didn’t get all of the work done, I think it was a good move to do it again this year. 

However, even with such a small agenda, I think this convening session sent a strong message to the denomination. Things are changing. Things are not the way they have been for the past decade. Something is happening and this has some people rejoicing, other people screaming, and other weeping. But things are changing nonetheless. 

It was the election of Synod officers that caused all of this. It started with the election for Synod president. There was a solid list of names on the ballot. Many of those names were familiar CRC names, people who’ve been involved in the institution for year. Some of the names just won big awards in the denomination and fund large portions of the denomination. Yet, Derek Buikema was elected as president of Synod 2024 on the first round of voting. That means that he received over 50% of the vote the first time around. On the one hand, this shows us how competent Derek is at this job. In 2022 he was vice-president and led the entire conversation surrounding the Human Sexuality Report and he did a phenomenal job. I was just speaking to a delegate from Synod 2022 and they said, “I’ve never seen someone lead a meeting that well in my life. He is extremely gifted and competent for the job.” By the way the intial voting went, it seems like many other people felt the same way. 

Then the vote moved on to Vice-President. This had to go to a second round of votes, but the role eventually went to Stephen Terpstra. Again, Stephen has been part of Synod a number of times. He has spoken well from the floor. He is extremely well versed in Reformed Church polity and our Church Order. He knows how Synod functions and he is also a very competent person. So, many people are thankful to see him in this position. 

When it came to First Clerk, the role went to Josh Christofels after two rounds of voting. The joke with Josh Christofels has been that he sleeps with a copy of the Church Order on one side and the Acts of Synod on the other side. This guy knows the Church Order forwards and backwards and he knows the history of Synod more than many people I know. If you want to know what happened at the Synod of 1920 or 1902, you can ask Josh and he will most likely be able to tell you. He’s the right person for the job and he has the administrative gifts to do an amazing job as First Clerk. 

I have a personal appreciation for who ended up being voted in for Second Clerk: Dan DeGraff. Anyone who has paid attentiono to The Messy Reformation should know that Dan DeGraff is on the team for The Messy Reformation. So, it’s exciting to see someone from our team being voted into this type of leadership role at Synod. Dan is attended Synod a number of times and has also represented himself well. I met Dan at Synod 2022 and heard him speak well and effectively and passionately from the floor. After talked to him more throughout Synod, I knew we needed his gifts and talents on our team. He’s played a massive roled on this team, much more than just writing the podcast summaries. He’s a very administrative guy, which makes him a great clerk. I’m thankful to see him in this position and believe we’ll eventually see him serving as first clerk in the future. 

So, we’ve got a great slate of officers for Synod 2024, but you know what that means, right? If I’m excited about the officers of Synod, you can be pretty certain that there are some people who are very unhappy with this. This is where the screaming and the tears come in.

Or, maybe I should say thr conspiracy theories? Maybe both. 

The more I’ve thought about conspiracy theories over the years, I’ve come up with my own way of understanding them. I’ve come to believe that the vast majority of conspiracy theories are the result of things happening in ways contrary to what was expected OR, to say this another way, things happening contrary to the way in which you see the world. As a result, you cannot imagine that things could possibly be this way. Things must have been manipulated. Someone must have put their thumb on the scale. 

This is what we’re seeing coming out of this convening session of Synod. Of course there’s been a recurrance of what James Bratt so endearingly called us after Synod 2022—the Coup Boyz. Not that I’ve seen that explicitly said, but I have seen a lot of talk about how people assume that some form of coup is happening OR, the bigger accusation that I’ve seen being thrown out there is that we’re the schismatics. Of course, Abide get’s all of the “love” in these sorts of instances, but really this is being said about anyone who voted for these officers. You are being schismatic by simply voting for these particular people. 

What I find absolutely rediculous is the accusation that Abide is schismatic. The typical line of reasoning is that since we believe that some people should be allowed to be part of the CRCNA and others should not be part of the CRCNA, WE are the schismatic ones. Here’s what’s crazy about that line of reasoning. First, everyone draws lines somewhere. Everyone. Everyone believes that some people should be allowed to be part of a denomination and that other people should not be allowed to be part of a denomination or may possibly need to be removed from the denomination. Everyone beleives this. I guarantee you that if someone in the CRCNA created a group called Kinists United, there would be strong overtures being written to Synod to call these people to repentance or remove them from the denomination. Eveyrone draws lines. The question is where we draw the lines and who determines where those lines are drawn. Let’s make sure we’re very clear on this that All One Body and Hesed and Better Together ALSO have their own lines, they’re just not being open and clear about them. Abide is very clear: our lines are the confessions of the chruch and declarations made by Synod about those confessions and the vows we make in the Covenant for Officebearers regarding those confessions.

To get to my second pooint, I want to continue building on the previous analogy. Let’s imagine a world in which a group formed in the CRCNA called Kinists United and people were calling for them to repent or be removed form office. Which group would be considered schismatic? Would it be the people who have deviated from the doctrines of our denomination? OR would it be the people calling them to believe in the doctrines of our denomination? The answer is pretty clear isn’t it? The schismatics are the ones deviating from out doctrinal teachings. The divisive people are the ones who have wandered away. That is as clear as day and, to be honest, this is such an aggregiously false acusation, I’m tired of hearing it. It’s completely dishonest and needs to end. 

And, to be completely honest, I want to defend Abide a little bit. I want someone to give me clear evidence of where Abide is holding to teachings that are contrarty to anything our denomination believes. I want to see it. I don’t think you’ll find anything. And, to be honest, if you did find something, I’m certain Abide would retract it and repent of promoting a teaching that is contrary to the doctrines and confessions of the CRCNA. This is who Abide is. There’s actually nothing schismatic about what they’re doing. They are literally calling the denomination to act in accordance with our official teachings and our official church order. That’s it. It’s only because we haven’t been doing this for decades that anyone sees a problem with it. 

There has also been a lot of screaming and weeping over the lack of diversity amongst the officers. Of course the Banner had to tip it’s hat in this direction as well with the headline, “Four Midwestern Pastors elected as officers of Synod.” I’ve heard people frustrated that there are not women amongst the officers (just like last year). I’ve heard people frustrated that there were no people of color amongst the officers (just like last year). I’ve heard people frustrated that there are no Canadians amongst the officers, which isn’t actually true (but is just like two years ago). Stephen Terpstra IS Canadian and has pastored churches in Canada. He happens to be serving a church in the US right now. So, we’re told that he doens’t count as a Canadian. Okay. But, as you can tell from my recollection of the past couple years of Synod officers, this isn’t actually unussual. 

I have to say, it makes sense that the officers of Synod will never tick off everyone diversity boxes. Think about it moment. You have a large group of delegates from the US and Canada voting for who they think is best in these positions—I think there were 170 or 180 on Wedensday night. What do you think is going to happen? Do you think a group that large, all voting according to what they think is best, are going to magically create a slate of officers that tick off all of the diversity boxes? It’s not going to happen. In reality, the only way that IS going to happen is if someone puts their hand on the scale and manipulates the system in order to tick those boxes off. To be completley honest, if we would have had a slate of officers that ticked every box perfectly, I would immediately be suspicious of someone manipulating the system. 

Besides all of that, I wonder what actual diversity looks like. I mean, I was talking to someone from Iowa recently and they said—and I haven’t confirmed this yet—that nobody from Iowa has led Synod for decades. If that’s true, that’s nuts. I mean, Iowa is like the secondary mecca of the CRC apart from Grand Rapids. Where’s the outcry about lack of representation from Iowa? I spent some time this week looking a the list of every officer of Synod for the past 40 years, the only name from Wisconsin that I recognized was Les Kuiper, who served twice. Two times in forty years. Where’s the outcry about lack of representation from Wisconsin? If we want to go down this rabbit hole, I’m sure we could and we could probably find classes that have NEVER been represented amongst the officers of Synod. Where’s the outcry? 

To be completely honest, I think people are tired of the whole DEI, diversity thing. I think people are tired of trying to keep up with ticking all of the right boxes and manipulating the system in order to tick the right boxes. Instead they just want to focus on getting the right people into the right positions. They want people who are going to do their job well and lead well. It doesn’t matter if they’re from Canada, the Midwest, if their white, black, native american, or whatever. The only thing that matter is that we get the best people in these positions who will lead us well throughout the week so that we don’t have another debacle like last year. 

Along these same lines, I heard a great comment/rebuke from one of my missionary friends. He was looking in on this entire conversation from a distance and was seriously baffeled. He wondered why people think you need to be from a particular region or have a particular skin color in order to be represented at Synod. In fact, he pushed back and said he didn’t believe many people actually felt that way. He said, "What if people want officers who will represent their theology rather than representing their skin color?” Take a moment to think about that. That’s true. 

And I think that better represents what we see throughout Scripture when it comes to what we’re looking for when we choose leaders. I’m thinking of Acts 6. Now, this isn’t going to be a deep dive into a passage, but I think it’s important to look at it. A complaint came up that the Hellenists were being neglected in the daily distribution. So, in some ways, this was a cultural issue—or at least an issue that related to differing people groups. So, what types of leaders do they look to handle this situation? We read, “Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.” (Acts 6:3, ESV). Three qualifications or characteristics were being looked for: good reputation, full of the Spirit, and full of wisdom. THAT is what they were looking for. Now, I know that there have been scholars and people over the years who have analyzed the names of the people chosen and have found there to be a diversity of names in the list of leaders. From this they have concluded that they sought a diverse group of leaders to handle this culturally diverse situation. But that’s not what the text says. It may be what happened, but it’s not wht the text says. We don’t read the Apostles saying, “This is a culturally delicate situation, so we need make sure we have a culturally diverse group of leaders.” Nope. Instead they say, “We need leaders who have a good reputation, who are full of the Spirit, and who are full of wisdom.” That’s it. That’s what they were looking for. 

(And on a side note, I can testify the the officers of Synod 2024 meet these qulifications. They all have a good reputation, they are all full of the Spirit, and they are all full of wisdom. We chose wisely.)

I mean, you can also look at 1 Timothy 3 or Titus 1 and see the same thing. These were all diverse places with diverse people and we never hear anything about that in the list of quilifications for leaders. The only qualification is that they are the right type of people with the right gifts to get the job done. There are no DEI boxes that need to be checked. We are to judge people by the content of their character and not the color of their skin, or lack thereof. 

To be honest, I think this vote was probably more than just voting in leaders with a good reputation—which they have—and it’s more than voting in leaders full of the Spirit and wisdom—with they are—and it’s more than simply voting in leaders who are competen at their job—which they are. I strongly beleive this vote was also a vote agianst something. It was a vote against the establishment and the institutionalists. I think the average Joe in the CRCNA is tired of the way things have been run, they’re tired of the way the establishment leaders and the institutionalists have been leading things, so their voting new people in. None of these officers are institutional names. None of them. Rather, they are all faithful pastors, shepherding their local congregations, wanting to do something about what’s happening in the denomination. That’s what’s happening. The average Joe member of the CRCNA has lost their confidence in the establishment and has decided that they are going to vote in people they know and trust—typical, faithful pastors. 

I already mentioned earlier, that I spent some time looking over the officers from the past 40 years. Now, I didn’t do an in-depth analysis…yet…because I didn’t have time. But I can tell you that after looking at that list for a bit, you see a lot of familiar names, a lot of repeated names, and a lot of names that sould like establishement, institutional names. Also, you see a lot of names from people who are within an hour radius of Grand Rapids. The officers of Synod for the past 40 years have been very heavily stacked toward the Grand Rapids bubble and people are tired of it and haven’t like the way the Grand Rapids bubble has led them. So, they’re voting new people in whom they trust and believe will lead them well. 

Here’s what I really think is happening and has happened. It’s something I’ve been saying for years now and other people are also starting to take notice. Things are changing in the CRCNA. Someone posted, “I take the slate as pointing to a larger shift underway in the CRC, a reorientation, even a reformation.” Yes. That’s exactly what is happening. A reformation is happening, and it’s messy. These officers were elected not because of a coup or any form of political manipulation, but because a reformation is happening and things are changing in the CRCNA. 

This past week I’ve been working on a sermon that includes the well-known passage from Jeremiah 29, where God gives guidance to his people in exile, saying, “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:5–7, ESV). While in exile God’s people were told to build and multiply and work for the good of the city. They weren’t supposed to attempt an overthrow of the Babylonian government—no coup. They weren’t suppose to practice forms of political disobedience. They were supposed to do what God had called them to do, continue being faithful, building and multiplying and working for the good of the city because there is power in that—great power. 

I think that’s what’s been happening in the CRCNA. For the past two decades, maybe three, many of the conservatives in the CRCNA have felt like exiles in a foreign land. They have not felt at home in the CRCNA. Everything coming from the institution and the publications of the CRCNA felt like salt and sand being rubbed into an open wound. They were exiles in this denomination. Yet, they stayed and remained faithful. They stayed and they built and the multiplied and they worked for the good of the CRCNA. They got married, had kids, built homes, discipled their children, discipled their churches and multiplied. They literally multiplied by having children, but they also multiplied by passionately and joyfully embracing the theology and doctrines of the CRCNA, which drew other people into the CRC because they loved what we we loved. Through their faithful building and multiplying and working for the good of the CRCNA for the past two decades, the conservatives have spread slowly like leaven through a batch of dough. They spread and multiplied so slowly that people didn’t recognize it was happening and it caught them off guard. It sounds like Pharoah recognizing that Israel had multiplying: “But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”” (Exodus 1:7–10, ESV). That’s what happened in the CRCNA and is what is happening right now. 

This is no coup. This is a beautiful reformation that is the result of many faithful members throughout the CRCNA building and multiplying and working for the good of this denomination for the past two decades. I’m thankful to be able to play some small role in all of this. I’m thankful that many of you have been working toward this. I would love to be able to recognize all of the faithful Christians who’ve been working toward this for the past two decades. Either way, this is where we are, and I’m thankful for it and I’m excited to see what God is going to do at this next Synod, and in the next phase of this Messy Reformation.