The vote to “affirm that unchastity in the Heidelberg Catechism encompasses adultery, premarital sex, extra-marital sex, polyamory, pornography and homosexual sex, all of which violate the seventh commandment,” passed 123 to 53, with two voting to abstain. Delegates voted to not add a footnote to Q&A 108 of the Heidelberg Catechism, a confession of faith written as a series of questions and answers that the CRC affirms.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Christian Reformed Church of America on Wednesday voted to make its stance on LGBTQ relationships a core belief.

It also told Neland Avenue CRC, located on Neland Avenue near Martin Luther King Park in Grand Rapids, to end the term of a deacon who is in a LGBTQ marriage.

The 2022 CRC Synod has been meeting throughout the week at Calvin University in Grand Rapids. Delegates on Tuesday voted to recommend a Human Sexuality Report to churches “as providing a useful summary of biblical teaching regarding human sexuality.”

Synod continued its discussion Wednesday, voting to make the denomination’s stance on human sexuality, first set in 1973, a confessional issue, or a core belief.

The vote to “affirm that unchastity in the Heidelberg Catechism encompasses adultery, premarital sex, extra-marital sex, polyamory, pornography and homosexual sex, all of which violate the seventh commandment,” passed 123 to 53, with two voting to abstain.

Delegates voted to not add a footnote to Q&A 108 of the Heidelberg Catechism, a confession of faith written as a series of questions and answers that the CRC affirms.

Some say the issue could cause people to leave the church. Dozens gathered on Calvin’s campus to rally in support of the LGBTQ community on Tuesday.

“The report has been somewhat upsetting to many of us who are in the LGBTQ community and who are their family members and allies, because it is so negative and we think there are many, many flaws in the report,” CRC member Tom Hoeksema told News 8 on Tuesday.

Many in the group were concerned about what the changes will mean for leaders within the church who are part of the LGBTQ community.

In a 134-44 vote, synod on Wednesday voted that Neland Avenue CRC must end the term of a LGBTQ deacon.

It instructed “Neland Ave. CRC to immediately rescind its decision to ordain a deacon in a same sex marriage, thus nullifying this deacon’s current term.”

CRC Synod votes to recommend Human Sexuality Report

Read: CRC Human Sexuality Report

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