Judy Parrhttp://heraldblog.squarespace.com/judy-parr/en-US2009-12-01T15:56:06ZSquarespace Site Server v5.8.3 (http://www.squarespace.com/)Perspectives on the RCAhttp://heraldblog.squarespace.com/judy-parr/2009/11/18/perspectives-on-the-rca.htmlJudy Parr2009-11-18T16:27:55ZThe November issue of Perspectives contains a pair of essays assessing the state and future of the Reformed Church in America.  Donald A. Luidens hears “The Mournful Sounds of Implosion.”  As counter-point, Bradley G. Lewis proposes “Using Historic Strength to Make New Glue.”

Mixing metaphors of sounds, glue and volleyball, I toss these essays as volleyballs to the Church Herald Blog.  Read them.  Question them.  Comment on them.  Let’s see whether we can keep the discussion on the content of the essays rather than lobbing the writers or each other.

Judy Parr

]]>Making Room for Allhttp://heraldblog.squarespace.com/judy-parr/2009/10/30/making-room-for-all.htmlJudy Parr2009-10-30T04:04:11ZWhen I confessed my faith this evening at a worship service at Central Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, I read with those gathered the answer to the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism with a new appreciation.  Surrounded by a larger than usual proportion of homosexuals to heterosexuals, I recited “I belong—body and soul, in life and in death—not to myself but to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ....”   In this worship service at a conference titled “Making Room for All,” I welcomed this continuing dialogue on homosexuality in the Reformed Church in America.  

Before the worship service, we heard a brief history of Room for All, an organization that grew out of a group of friends supportive of Norm Kansfield, who was deposed from the office of Professor of Theology at New Brunswick Seminary and suspended from the office of Minister of Word and Sacrament by the General Synod of 2005 for having presided over the marriage of his daughter Ann and his daughter-in-law Jennifer. 

The Rev. Louis Lotz urged churches to seriously engage the subject of homosexuality, to study what scripture says and does not say about homosexuality, and to use discernment and dialog, appreciating differences without tearing ourselves apart. 

Judy Parr

Holland, MI

]]>Death Knell for the Church Herald?http://heraldblog.squarespace.com/judy-parr/2009/6/9/death-knell-for-the-church-herald.htmlJudy Parr2009-06-09T04:36:23ZTwo years ago I was distressed to learn that the RCA Synod voted to drop the every-member subscription plan for the Church Herald. Shortly thereafter the quarterly RCA Today, using the Church Herald’s subscription list, began arriving in my mailbox. I couldn’t help but conclude that assessment-based funding formerly paying for the Church Herald was now funding its usurper.

The RCA Today publication is politely called a house organ by some and characterized in less polite terms by others. It lacks the modicum of editorial independence that the Church Herald has. That it was preferred by many Synod delegates over the Church Herald makes me wonder whether we can appreciate the difference between public relations and journalism.

For 180 years the Church Herald has been informing the Reformed Church about its strengths and weaknesses, about issues of religion and justice in the denomination and around the world, and about the activities of its missionaries and its congregations. More recently, it has informed our denomination about the Belhar Confession and informed our discussions about what it means to be Reformed and missional.

Except for this newly created Church Herald blog, the Church Herald’s publication of letters from readers is the only means for people to share their comments and ideas with the denomination. God may be the glue that holds the visible Church together, but for the RCA God has been using the Church Herald to be an active ingredient in that glue.

When I read tonight that the Report of the Advisory Committees on the RCA Dialogue on Communication and the Church Herald was recommending in R-68 “an orderly cessation of the publication of the Church Herald” with “appropriate severance for the Church Herald personnel" and was recommending in R-69 what I consider a eulogy for the Church Herald, I was appalled.

I hope that others too will be shocked into resuscitating this venerable voice.  I suggest the following:

a. Approve R-64.

b. Approve R-65 revised as follows [the blog editing software does not convey struck-through text, but a comparison of this blog's version with that of the handout can inform about what is deleted here]:

To instruct the General Synod Council to continue the print publication of the Church Herald and RCA Today with some editorial independence granted to the Church Herald and with RCA Today being a central section within the magazine, and this to be done on a three-publication-per-year basis during the transitional period from General Synod 2009 to General Synod 2011.

 c. Approve R-66.

 d. Approve R-67 revised as follows:

To instruct the communications staff to conduct a readership review of RCA Today, the Church Herald and the merged publication to determine how many people read each and which parts are read, and the levels of satisfaction with content and layout, in time to report to the General Synod of 2011.

e. Reject R-68.

f. Reject R-69.

Judy Parr

 

]]>My Second Day at Synodhttp://heraldblog.squarespace.com/judy-parr/2009/6/6/my-second-day-at-synod.htmlJudy Parr2009-06-06T02:41:07ZToday I met with my group of a dozen or so delegates to discuss the Communications/Church Herald issue. Within the small group we thoroughly discussed the pros and cons of the three proposals and suggested several variations. We gave all members opportunities to express their views and listened with respect.

At Hope Church my views are pretty much in consensus with at least a sizable minority of the congregation on a variety of issues. However, in this small group, a microcosm of Synod, I discovered that at times I was a minority of one. Nevertheless, I was encouraged to state my views. I appreciated the spirit of dialogue.

Judy Parr

 

]]>My First Day of Synodhttp://heraldblog.squarespace.com/judy-parr/2009/6/5/my-first-day-of-synod.htmlJudy Parr2009-06-05T02:58:12ZHaving returned to my computer after my first day of Synod, I think Synod is like going to Camp Geneva again for a week in the summer, going to Hope College again as a freshman, and--after the convocation service--experiencing a bit of heaven.

A sentence I heard early in the day from Earl James in the “Understanding Racism” seminar sticks with me. In introducing a scripture passage from John 17:20-23, Earl James said, “We get sifted when we know death is near.” I don’t recall ever hearing the phrase “We get sifted” before. I suppose it is like winnowing wheat from chaff. Maybe that’s part of what Synod will do.

Judy Parr

]]>Additional Perspectives on the Belhar Confessionhttp://heraldblog.squarespace.com/judy-parr/2009/5/31/additional-perspectives-on-the-belhar-confession.htmlJudy Parr2009-05-31T22:11:44ZI found the essays appended to the “Report of the Commission on Christian Unity” (pages 198a-l of the Synod Workbook) to be helpful. In addition, I recommend Cynthia Holder Rich’s "Seeking a Contextual 'Cry from the Heart of Faith:' The Belhar Confession and Race in the U.S." Cynthia Holder Rich is Associate Professor of Continuing Theological Education at Western Theological Seminary.

From our sister denomination, the Christian Reformed Church, I also recommend the "Belhar Report from the Black and Reformed Conference." This report comes from the Tenth Annual Black and Reformed Conference, supported by Christian Reformed Home Missions, which was held at Sherman Street Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, MI, in April 2009.

Highlights from the “Belhar Report from the Black and Reformed Conference” that I find particularly compelling are these:

  • “This open letter is written to announce publicly our zealous support of the Belhar as a fourth confession, and to urge word and deed praxis of Belhar principles in the CRCNA. We don’t want the Belhar to stagnate as mere reflection upon reflection. We call for praxis: reciprocating reflection and action that applies Belhar principles in the CRCNA.”
  • “The Reformed world-and–life-view affirms that every square inch belongs to God, yet there is a tendency to withdraw in social and cultural isolation; ‘in isolation is our strength’ may still be the slogan for some in the CRC. Isolation can function as ‘apartheid’, especially in the context of defacto segregation.”
  • “We want to see the race discussion include race and class so that a critique of Reformed theology can bring to the surface tacit assumptions about wealth and poverty.”
  • “Apartheid and segregation is collective sin that estranges races and classes of people for whom Christ died, and wants to include in the covenant community.”
  • “We believe that the Belhar is a ‘kairos’ moment for the CRC and RCA denominations. God hears the cries for help and decides to come down. He sends His Spirit across racial and cultural barriers to Advocate for the poor and oppressed. God hears the cries of the unloved and unwanted and comes down just at the right time breaking into time and space to redeem us.”

Judy Parr

]]>Introduction from a first-time delegate to Synodhttp://heraldblog.squarespace.com/judy-parr/2009/5/25/introduction-from-a-first-time-delegate-to-synod.htmlJudy Parr2009-05-25T14:41:05ZHaving grown up in an RCA congregation that still does not fully recognize women’s gifts as deacons, elders, and ministers of Word and sacrament, I left the RCA in the 1970s. My husband and I became Southern Presbyterians when he was stationed at Ft. Bragg. When we moved to Ohio, we became United Methodists, in part because that denomination affirmed women’s gifts and balanced heart and mind. In the early 1990s we became members of a PCUSA church.

When we came to Holland, MI, to retire, I came back full-circle to my RCA roots, but not to the congregation of my childhood. We sought a congregation that affirmed women’s gifts and was not afraid to express its Christian faith in actions of social justice. At Hope Church I am pursuing my passion for adult education. Deeply honored to have been ordained as elder, I volunteered to become a member of Holland Classis and now to serve as delegate to Synod. I attended an evening session of Synod last year, but this is my first time as a delegate.

I’ve attended two helpful meetings that Holland Classis organized for delegates. I’ve read the Synod Workbook and am becoming reacquainted with the Book of Church Order. In addition to praying, maintaining my health, and discussing Synod agenda items with church members and friends, are there other ways I can prepare for Synod 2009?

 

Judy Parr

 

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