What Else We Confess

(from Kevin DeYoung)

So the Belhar Confession passed the General Synod and is on its way to the Classes. It will have a harder time getting approved in 31 Classes than getting a majority at Synod, but I think it probably will make it. If that is the case, though I have my reservations with the Belhar, I will be thankful for the themes of unity, justice, and reconciliation and pray that they are understood and applied correctly.

I also hope that our confession of the Belhar will precipitate a more robust confession of our current Standards...Read more.

Healing Rain

(from Kent Landhuis)

Monday morning's worship included a moving presentation of the song "Healing Rain". In my opinion General Synod could use more healing rain. And I find it ironic that in a year when we talked so much about unity, reconciliation and justice that I left Synod feeling unclean in these three areas and in need of the healing rain of God's grace to fall from heaven.

My concern does not lie in the decisions made but in how...Read more.

A Tale of Two Gifts (Why I abstained from voting on the Belhar)

(from Joe Veltman, guest blogger)

In a comment on my earlier blog entry, I have commented on the intellectual side of why I abstained from voting on the Belhar. This entry describes the emotional/spritual dimension of it for me.

By Monday morning, when we actually began debating the Belhar on the floor of Synod, I found my emotions were a bit raw. I kept tearing up...Read more.

Out of Context – for Good and for Bad

(from Tim Ten Clay)

As I began thinking about what I would do if given the opportunity to vote on the Belhar, I spent a lot of time thinking about what a “confession” is. Of course, there are a lot of ways to define a confession, and I wasn't a delegate at Synod, so however I would have voted is entirely irrelevant. However, the question I kept coming back to was the question of context.

It sounds awful, but bear with me. One of the beautiful things about the scriptures is that they can be used outside of their original context...Read more.

Walking Wounded

(from Joe Veltman, guest blogger)

What a sad, disturbing, and painful Synod this was. I thought the processes and the outcomes were often wounding. Some on the blogs are tired already of hearing the Belhar invoked. But there does seem to be some question as to how the Belhar was relevant to this Synod's actions. Bear with me as I make the tie-in's I see.

The RCA Synod of 2009, it seems to me, painfully told our Church Herald staff that their gifts were no longer needed...Read more.

Reflections on the Communications Actions

(from Paul Janssen)

Riding home on the airplane, I began thinking over some of the dynamics of the General Synod’s decision regarding communication. The RCA’s web page says that “Synod requested that the General Synod Council facilitate the orderly cessation of publication of the Church Herald and that GSC and the Church Herald Editorial Council work together to determine a denominational communication plan that preserves the best of the Herald and RCA Today magazines and moves gradually to an electronic medium.” That isn’t an exact transcription of the recommendations...Read more.

My Top Ten Favorite Things from Synod

(from Jim Brownson)

1. Approval of the Belhar Confession and its commendation to the classes for ratification

2. Great fellowship

3. Good worship

4. A fresh focus on worship, coming from the President's report...Read more.

Tired and Sad

(from Scott DeBlock)

The Church Herald is no more. It is a sad day...

God's will was done. Don Poest will make a fine vice-president!

It's time to go home...Read more.

We Need the Church Herald

(from Pete Paulsen)

I now serve in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (PCUSA) but I do so not out of some conviction that the mainstream Presbyterians have something that the Reformed Church in America (RCA) does not have. Too many of my friends over the years have jumped from the RCA to the PCUSA hollering as they left that they were glad to get out of the (you supply the adjective) RCA...Read more.

The End of the Church Herald

(from Jim Brownson)

Synod voted late this morning (among other things relative to the Church Herald and communications in general) "to instruct the General Synod Council, in its capacity as the executive committee of the General Synod, in cooperation with the Church Herald editorial council, to facilitate an orderly cessation of publication of the Church Herald." I think everyone left the room with heaviness of heart...Read more.