WRF Board member Dr. Robert Geehan, an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ (UCC), currently serving a congregation of the Reformed Church in America (RCA) in Poughkeepsie, New York, has provided this summary of recent actions of the Reformed Church in America regarding homosexual relationships. 

Dr. Geehan first provides a summary of the actions taken by the RCA General Synod in 2012 in order to provide a context for the actions taken by the RCA General Synod in 2013.

Dr. Geehan may be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

 

SUMMARY

June 2012

GS2012 Delegates Affirm RCA stance on Homosexuality

Following more than three hours of discussion and debate, the General Synod on Monday approved a substitute recommendation (R-59 below) that affirmed an official position that homosexual behavior is a sin according to Scripture.

 

The recommendation also called for the creation of a committee to provide practical recommendations that “present a way forward” without revisiting the RCA's official stance.  Here is that recommendation:

 

R-56 SUBSTITUTE AS APPROVED  (later re-numbered R-28)

"While compassion, patience, and loving support should be shown to all those who struggle with same-sex desires, the General Synod reaffirms our official position that homosexual behavior is a sin according to the Holy Scriptures, therefore any person, congregation, or assembly which advocates homosexual behavior or provides leadership for a service of same-sex marriage or a similar celebration has committed a disciplinable offense; and further,

 

"that the General Synod Council shall oversee the creation of an eight member committee made up of representatives appointed by each of the regional synods to pray and work together to present a way forward for our denomination given the disagreement in our body relative to homosexuality. The purpose of the committee is not to revisit our stated position, but shall operate with the understanding expressed earlier in this recommendation and issue a report with practical recommendations to the General Synod of 2013."

 

After the synod voted to adopt the substitute recommendation, RCA general secretary Tom De Vries addressed the synod with a pastoral word that included reference to 1 John 4:18ff.

 

"First John says, ‘There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment…If anyone says, I love God, yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his sister and brother.'

 

"We're going to be challenged in how we live this out together," De Vries said. "My call would be for us to say, how do we begin to take steps of love? Steps forward, steps toward each other, and steps that declare that we love God, but we also love each other and others."

 

 

SUMMARY

June 2013

GS 2013 Delegates Vote on "Way Forward" Recommendations

 

General Synod 2013 dealt with three recommendations from the "Way Forward Task Force." The eight-member task force, recommended by General Synod 2012, consisted of a representative appointed by each of the RCA's regional synods to work and pray together with the goal of presenting a way forward for the RCA, given the disagreement within the denomination relative to homosexuality.

 

The first task force recommendation was adopted, instructing the Commission on Church Order to provide a brief statement to clarify the authority and scope of General Synod statements and resolutions that have not been written into the Book of Church Order (BCO).

 

A second recommendation dealt with the authority of General Synod statements as well as constitutional changes that would enable congregations and ministers to separate from the RCA "without recriminations such as forfeiture of property." The advice of the Advisory Committee on Church Order and Governance was to deny the second recommendation, noting that the BCO already provides a means for leaving the RCA and preferring a focus on dialogue rather than an exit strategy. After several failed amendments during an hour of debate, the recommendation was denied.

 

The third recommendation--to identify resources for "grace-filled conversations among those holding varying understandings" and to help the RCA develop "strategies to preserve unity, purity, and peace" regarding homosexuality--was also approved.

 

In introducing their recommendations, members of the Way Forward Task Force asked that synod's conversation be guided by the three agreements that guided the task force:

 

--To live life consistent with God's Word as set forth in Scripture and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

--To humbly seek the truth in love (1 Cor. 13) as we acknowledge our differences in attempting to interpret God's Word faithfully.

--To have grace-filled, non-punitive conversations moving to loving action.

 

In keeping with this, recommendation R-83 was adopted.  It acknowledged the uncharitable atmosphere of GS 2012 and set aside the second half of the first paragraph of GS 2012’s R-56 (renumbered R-28) on the grounds that it  “usurped the constitutional authority reserved for the classes.”

 

R-83 AS APPROVED

"To acknowledge that in 2012 we, the General Synod, in the proceedings that led to the adoption of R-28, demonstrated a lack of decorum and civility, and a general atmosphere in which delegates were not always treating one another as sisters and brothers in Christ; and further,

 

"to acknowledge that in 2012 we, the General Synod, usurped the constitutional authority reserved for the classes when, in R-28, we stated that 'any person, congregation, or assembly which advocates homosexual behavior or provides leadership for a service of same-sex marriage or a similar celebration has committed a disciplinable offense.'"