Synod seems light years away. Life goes on and so does the task of ministry within a church. I serve Bethany Reformed Church of Redlands, CA. With the exception of the few who read the Church Herald and one who stands adamantly opposed to the Belhar Confession, there was little impact of our General Synod at Bethany way out here in California. Instead, people are living their lives day to day and trying to get by. It is a blessing to serve a church like Bethany. With two exceptions, life goes on as usual here. One lost his job due to the economic slow down; another is furloughed by the state every other Friday. Beside that, the economic crunch that we are told we are experiencing, is not experienced here. Life goes on....

Yet, life is not going on without steps toward Christlikeness at Bethany. Our identity as followers of Christ gels each week in a blended service gathering that honors the best of many aspects of traditional and modern worship. Through prayer, singing, preaching, sharing, and reading the word, we grow closer to God and each other. The exciting part is how we are reaching out beyond ourselves to be Christlike in our city. We have fed the homeless at a local park each Friday evening since last January. I lead a worship service in the park for them on Sunday noon, and have for 3 months now. We will deliver meals to the Meals-on-wheels recipients on Thanksgiving Day, as we have for over 20 years (when the local organization is closed). And for the second year, our Christmas giving centers on the families of parolees through our local Step by Step program.

We have seen members of Bethany travel to Nepal, Vietnam, and Kenya to work in orphanges and schools and bring Bibles to churches who operate without even one copy among them - including the pastor! Others have traveled to New Orleans to work in Katrina relief. I love this church and I love my denomination. We have a real place in our community and in our world. Because as life goes on, we go on with it!

1. Worship can and does set the stage for how we think about things in this life. Marlin's imploring of us all had a decided effect and I believe our discussion and dialogue had civility to it and was done in a Christ-like way. Yes, there were widely varied views; some stayed exactly where they were dogmatically from the beginning of synod; others were convinced in their thinking to move positions; all came to the microphones with love for Jesus and for each other quite apparent. That is a direct result of having been before God's word and at the table together!

2. I remain uncomfortable with how the Church Herald decision was handled. I agree that the Herald has become fringe as a rule within the RCA. Many, many do not read it, therefore it is an exercise in futility. Having said that, I know that many, many do not read the church newsletter we put out at Bethany Reformed in Redlands - even with all the wisdom, information, and insight it provides. In some ways, I believe we cut off our nose to spite our face. I saw Christ in Chris and Terry's response. They must have wanted to attack, but chose to face their detractors with grace and style. I certainly hope they find work very soon and are able to go on doing what they love.

3. I am glad that the synod will meet next year. The benefit of coming together as a denomination has much more pluses than minuses. Chief among them is being family together, i.e. the family of God as the Reformed Church in America. Every family must talk and interact if it is to remain together. That is crucial and I'm glad we are doing it again next year. Finances are the only factor weighing against meeting. Some things money can't buy. Family is one of them.

4. I long for the day that women are equals in the church and see themselves as equals. Unfortunately, in my eyes, the reports received from the women's commissions come across as a bunch of angry feminists and the body of the synod reacts with great discomfort, while normally voting in favor of what they bring. It is a time of being ill-at-ease on the floor of synod. Maybe we males don't understand; maybe the reports and recommendations could be brought with more love, care, and sensitivity. Hopefully, this comment will become unnecessary in the future.

There is more; I love my church; I love our church; I love the church of Jesus Christ as we know it in the RCA. Praise be to God.

Five delegates were nominated for the position of Vice President. Four accepted and will be voted on during the final day. There are two senior pastors, both men, one from New York the other from Ohio; there is a professor, who is a scientist, from Oklahoma and an associate pastor, a woman, from Holland. I do not know any of them.

This synod wraps up Tuesday, with many minor (in my opinion) decisions to be made and one of consequence - what to do with the Church Herald and the communication process in the RCA. The recommendation on the floor will do away with the Church Herald in favor of using the RCAToday for a while, ultimately turning to electronic communication primarily in the future, at least as I see it.

Thanks for reading my blogs. I may write one more post-synod; not sure yet, but it has been fun. God bless you each.

Where did that come from?

It was like this...

I worshipped at Trinity Reformed in Holland this morning. After church, I headed back to Hope College to get lunch. I arrived at 11:30, parked my car, and headed toward the dining room. As I approached the cafeteria, I saw a group of 7 or 8 black ladies congregating by the door. In all honesty, it was one of those moments when you feel a little uncomfortable, not scared, but uneasy. I, as a white male, am the stereotype of what African-Americans view as the oppressor. And now I was going to walk right past a gaggle of them. I sensed they were just as uncomfortable with me invading their space. (Don't know if that's true, but it felt like it to me.) The words of Dr. Skinner from the previous evening ran through my head and I decided not to walk by silently, ignoring their presence, hoping they would leave me to my own space and thoughts. Instead, I entered their space with a big smile, engaging them with a welcome to Holland and Hope College. The lady who later recognized my prowess as a preacher was sitting on the bench; the others standing around. I spoke to her, asking if they were part of synod. She responded that they had just arrived. They had traveled 14 hours by bus to be there this afternoon to see their minister installed as President of General Synod. I reached out my hand to her, she took mine, and I welcomed her and complimented her on their dedication to their minister.

I excused myself for lunch, but they informed me that the cafeteria wasn't open yet. So I decided to sit down and talk. I plopped myself down on the bench and began the conversation. They responded and I was introduced to each of them in turn. I found out which was the mother and the sister and which were friends. It was a fun interaction that was lively and full of jest. We kidded and shared. It was a delightful 10 or 12 minutes. Then I got up and went in for lunch. That was it. We didn't even talk about preaching.

I discovered that my willingness to smile, say "hi", and sit down for less than 15 minutes tore down a wall and built a bridge. Later that day, much to my amazement, that black lady from New York said with her words, "There's Leon, the best preacher in the RCA". What she really said with her heart was, "There's Leon, he took time to get to know me a little and I like him".

It takes so little to accomplish so much. I discovered that truth again on the campus of Hope College, on June 7, 2009 at 11:45 am right outside of the Maas Center. Amazing!

The first several years of information provided about the Belhar from the RCA to local churches found its way very quickly (a matter of seconds actually) into my "round" file. I knew nothing about the Belhar before I realized that a decision was going to be made with or without me, so I read it and began to look at it more closely. And I must admit, I looked at it with a jaundiced eye. This was just a weak attempt, veiled in racial tones, to get the issue of homosexuality before the synod once more. Therefore I looked very closely at what might be a loop hole or subversive method of grandfathering social concerns into RCA doctrine and practice. I drafted an overture to reject it and led my Consistory into adopting that overture. Even though my Classis rejected the overture, I still came to synod with an intention to vote against it and a strong bias against it.

I must admit, also, that most of the Belhar I agreed with. The "I believe" statements are strong words that reflect my Christian beliefs. However, a couple of the "I reject" statements left openings that might allow almost any interpretation into the future of our synod deliberations.

But, I chose to come to synod with an open mind. I prayed that God would show me what I should see and what I would hear from all the participants ideas which would clarify for me if my initial understanding was where God wanted me to be.

Every objection that I have had to the Belhar has been answered for me to my satisfaction - at this point of synod. Tomorrow there will be more discussion and I will continue to listen. The concern about "social concerns" being forced down the throat of unwilling RCAers was answered in that the issue of homosexuality was addressed in South Africa, as it was introduced using the Belhar to support it and their synod rejected the idea. What that told me was: THE BELHAR CAN NOT AND WILL NOT DO ANYTHING TO US THAT WE DO NOT LET IT DO! We have nothing to fear in the Belhar regarding future events. We will cross that bridge when we get there together and trust our collective minds and hearts to do the right thing then as we have in the past and do today.

Other considerations are that passing the Belhar will be a statement to the world church that we support racial reconcilliation, justice, and unity. That is not something that I can take lightly. Also, it will be a step for us in recognizing prejudice and bias and, yes, racism in ways that, at least, I fail to see because it is so subtle. I really, honestly don't know if I am offending minorities in what I say or how I act. If I do, I want to change it. If I offend, simply because I am white, there is not a thing I can do about that, and others will have to get used to the fact that I am white.

Tomorrow is a watershed day. I am leaning toward voting in favor of the Belhar, which I would not have believed three days ago, but I am trusting God to continue to give me discernment on this issue. I remain open and will listen to every word offered, both pro and con.

Just want to share two more things about today. I attended the Advisory Committee on Leadership. We had a couple of "minor" things to deal with about recommendations coming to the floor, which we took care of, but the "extra" thrown in for us was the diamond in the rough. Ken Eriks and Ellen Rathmeyer (not sure I spelled that right) shared a newly developing training process for Consistories that highlights leading a mission-minded or missional church. It was GREAT stuff and should be brought to every consistory in the denomination and as soon as possible. They say they have a few things to fine tune about it yet, but I couldn't imagine it being much better. If you read this, insist that your consistory contact Ken or Ellen and schedule a time to have them in your area.

The second item regards the celebration of 30 years of women in ordained ministry in the RCA. The Celebration was extremely well done and honored ground breaking pioneers, as well as blessed the many ordained women of the RCA, both now and in the future. The evening concluded with a sermon from Barbara Skinner. Her wit and wisdom came through and her challenging words hit their mark in the hearts of delegates and guests all around DeVos fieldhouse.

We will be ready to reengage come tomorrow afternoon, I am sure!

Oh, I have a P.S. There was a motion made for us to reconsider the elimination of Synod next year. That will be done with new business on the last day.

Marlin shared the importance of making decisions at synod, as in life, that benefit and bless the children. They suffer when we mess up. He assured us, even as he affirmed us that we all love Jesus and come to the decision-making table to better the church of Jesus Christ and his kingdom in this world. "So," he chided, "put down your swords...put them down!" If you can't you don't know your neighbor well enough, or maybe you don't know Jesus well enough.

His forceful delivery concluded with the singular statement, "You know I'm right!" And he was right. But, let me add a personal note. I've known Marlin (PeeWee in those days) for over 42 years. And Marlin has always been right--just ask him. The difference, Marlin has always been right in a cocky (and funloving) way. Today, he spoke in sincere, Christ-like humility, and HE WAS RIGHT! And we all knew it too. Thank you, Marlin, for a great gift.

Then we passed by a 120-100 margin a resolution to skip the 2010 synod, in favor of saving the money it costs to put a synod on. This will not be effective, unless 2/3 of the classes vote to ratify the decision. I hope they don't do it. We will save, by their admission, about $1 per member in assessments over the next two years by doing this and will lose the time spent together being a family of God in this place and time. We'll see.

Our second Advisory group meeting in the afternoon provided a little insight into the struggle I believe we will have later in dealing with the Church Herald situation. There is a desire by the CH to be again the recipient of Assessment funds to pay for the magazine for everyone. I sense a big resistance to that idea, yet there is no common consensus to know what to do. It could be a big free for all.

Tonight, Wes gave his General Secretary's message. It was wonderfully presented and encouraged the church in what has been going on in the RCA. Our Call is being implemented with new churches being established all over the USA and Canada. 188 church plants are currently under way with several others to follow.

Lastly, we celebrated the careers and tenure of RCA staff, rejoiced with over 55 RCA churches who are above and beyond faithful in their mission giving, and united with the brand new Dominican Reformed Church, founded two weeks ago under the tutelage of the RCA. Pictures were shown of the 21 ordinations, dozens of baptisms, and several churches founded in the Dominican Republic on the May 24 weekend. It was a great night of celebration.

I am excited about what we will do and what we will accomplish to lead the Reformed Church in America forward. It was and will be a fun and challenging journey.

Also, got to greet and hug Mary Kay Schoon after worship (she was in the combined choir). We had tears in our eyes as we reminisced about Jon Mark, her husband. Hopefully, we can get together for lunch when my wife, Harriet, arrives on Monday. Also ran into to Ripon boys - Glen Spyksma and Jim De Hoog. It was fun to catch up on their lives too.

Until later, may you know the peace of God deep within your soul!

Oh, one other thing.... The other person leading worship is Janelle Koolhaas (sorry, Janelle, I don't remember your married name right off the top). Anyway, Janelle's grandfather was one of my parishioners the first 7 or 8 years I was in Redlands. He was a great man who left a great legacy. Janelle is part of that legacy!!