Growing up as a Texas Baptist (long ago) I was predestined to know next to nothing about what some have called the great “northern kingdom” of American evangelicalism. Yes, we can debate whether “evangelical” is an accurate description of the Calvinist world based in Grand Rapids, Mich., and other cities and towns in the Midwest.
I had to learn some of this lingo when I moved to Central Illinois and then when I broke into religion-beat work in Charlotte, N.C., a city with every imaginable form of Presbyterian and Reformed church life.
As I mentioned in this week’s “Crossroads” podcast (CLICK HERE to listen), I quickly learned that the Reformed Church in America was a rather centrist flock, while the Christian Reformed Church was much more conservative, in terms of doctrine and culture. I would not have called either of these bodies a “Mainline Protestant” denomination.
Things change. Eventually, the RCA started arguing about the familiar subjects that have divided so many religious bodies — biblical authority and sex. This leads us to a Religion News Service report: “Reformed Church in America splits as conservative churches form new denomination.” Here is the overture:
(RNS) — On New Year’s Day, 43 congregations of the Reformed Church in America split from the national denomination, one of the oldest Protestant bodies in the United States, in part over theological differences regarding same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy.
The departure of the theologically conservative congregations to the new group, the Alliance of Reformed Churches, leaves some who remain in the RCA concerned for the denomination’s survival. Before the split, the nearly 400-year-old denomination had fewer than 200,000 members and 1,000 churches.
At least 125 churches from various denominations are in conversation with ARC leaders about joining.
“Various denominations?” Hold that thought.
Membership in the RCA has been in free fall since the mid-1960s, at a rate even higher than some of America’s the more famous doctrinally liberal denominations (think “Seven Sisters”), such as the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Check out these numbers from a “fact-checked” post at The Gospel Coalition (“Are All Christian Denominations in Decline?”) by former GetReligionista Joe Carter. This is from 2015, but I guarantee that these trends haven’t changed and the numbers may have moved further into the red. At the top of the decline list we see:
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) -- In 1965, the CC(DoC) had 1,918,471 members. In 2012, the membership was 625,252, a decline of 67 percent.
Reformed Church in America -- In 1967, the RCA had 384,751 members. In 2014, the membership was 145,466, a decline of 62 percent.
That’s even worse that the statistics in the RNS piece. And it would have been good to have known more about the financial and statistical clout of those theologically conservative congregations that are leaving and, readers are told, putting the very survival of the RCA in doubt. In the comments on that story, a reader claimed that: “Those 43 congregations have 23,000 members, more than 10% of the denomination.”
Frankly, this RNS pieces needed more commentary and input from voices on the left side of the RCA, offering their take on the future and the key fault lines in this split. Were church polity issues in play, as well as the usual debates about sex and the Bible?
Meanwhile, it’s logical to ask this question: It the RCA is so small, why does this story matter?
Here’s the paragraph that jumped out at me:
Other conservative-leaning churches in the RCA, as well as those in the Presbyterian Church in Canada, Christian Reformed Church in North America and Presbyterian Church in America, are also discerning whether to join the ARC, according to Vink.
Wait a minute. This new evangelical alliance may draw some congregations away from the CRC and the PCA? That’s a bit of a stunner, at least to me.
Now, I know about the fights over LGBTQ issues at the flagship Calvin University in Grand Rapids. Those tensions have been growing for decade, even as the campus FAQ on LGBT+ issues states:
As the university of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC), Calvin holds to the position of the CRC on human sexuality, articulated in 1973 and 2002. That is to say, we believe that homosexual orientation is not a sin, and we strive to love our gay, lesbian, and bisexual students as ourselves, as God expects of us. We also affirm that physical sexual intimacy has its proper place in the context of heterosexual marriage.
The word “of” is crucial, as in: “As the university of the Christian Reformed Church …”
To be blunt, if open wars over sexual morality — and the ordination of women — have reached the CRC and the PCA, then there’s a story linked to the formation of the Alliance of Reformed Churches that is way, way bigger than the tiny RCA.
For example, see this 2020 story from The Chimes, the student newspaper at Calvin:
Neland Avenue Christian Reformed Church appointed a congregant who is in a same-sex marriage as deacon this past summer. According to Council President Larry Louters, they are the only congregation in the denomination with a SSM member in church office….
According to Louters, the deacon in question was elected to the council three times prior to her marriage, including a term as chair of deacons. Each deacon elected received at least 87% of the vote.
In a letter sent out to congregants, Neland Avenue denied “getting out ahead of Synod” and emphasized its commitment to the CRC, Calvin University and the ministries of the CRC.
See also:
A 2016 survey of the Neland Avenue CRC found that the congregation was split on the issue of SSM. 40% surveyed held to the CRC’s current stance on marriage, 40% surveyed believed that SSM should be affirmed by the denomination and 20% were undecided.
Now, if you know anything about Grand Rapids, there’s another question that needs to be asked: How many Calvin University and Seminary faculty members claim Neland Avenue as their church home or frequently attend that congregation, even if they are on membership lists elsewhere?
All of this will sound familiar to religion-beat professionals who have covered old-line Protestant affairs for a decade or longer.
I am reminded of this famous quotation from the progressive Baptist ethicist David Gushee, who once taught at the conservative Union University before heading to Mercer, a base camp for moderate-liberal Baptists. This is drawn from a must-read RNS essay entitled, “On LGBT equality, middle ground is disappearing.”
It turns out that you are either for full and unequivocal social and legal equality for LGBT people, or you are against it, and your answer will at some point be revealed. This is true both for individuals and for institutions.
Neutrality is not an option. Neither is polite half-acceptance. Nor is avoiding the subject. Hide as you might, the issue will come and find you.
That’s the bottom line, right there. Ask leaders in the RCA and, maybe soon, the CRC.
For further background on RCA history, see this Associated Press feature: “Reformed Church in America charts a new course as 43 churches jump ship.” Consider this:
What’s notable about the RCA schism is the historic nature of the body as part of American history and the relatively small size of the denomination even before 43 churches began a process of separation.
The oldest of the RCA congregations, Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, traces its roots to 1628, four years after the founding of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, now known as New York. Marble Collegiate is one of four New York metro congregations collectively known as the Collegiate churches. …
Historically, [the denomination’s] two most high-profile pastors were Norman Vincent Peale (pastor at Marble Collegiate) and Robert Schuller (pastor at the Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, Calif.)
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FIRST IMAGE: Illustration with a Medium.com feature entitled “Recognizing The Symptoms of a Terminal Disease Called a ‘Church Split’.”