The report regards the behavior as “unnatural” but does not apply that category to the desire: “It is an exchange of the natural use of sex for the unnatural. Homosexualism is the penalty for man’s apostacy [sic] from the true worship of God resulting in the depravity of those who engage in it.” In a bizarre passage, the report argues that, for the homosexual, given his orientation, same-sex attraction is “natural” and heterosexual attraction is “unnatural.”

In 1973, in “Report 42,” a committee of the Christian Reformed Church wrote: “An important distinction that must be made is the difference between homosexuality as a condition of personal identity and homosexualism as explicit homosexual behavior.” On the basis of this distinction, the Christian Reformed Church adopted as a point of doctrine and morals, that homosexual desire is not sinful but homosexual practice is. This distinction, novel in the history of Reformed theology, has become irreformable doctrine which successive synods have affirmed. The report consistently describes homosexual desire as “disorder,” which it is but there is more to be said. The report says, “from the perspective of Scripture and the general conclusion of modern research, homosexuality is a disordered condition and a handicap comparable to other abnormal physical and psychological conditions.” The report regards the behavior as “unnatural” but does not apply that category to the desire: “It is an exchange of the natural use of sex for the unnatural. Homosexualism is the penalty for man’s apostacy [sic] from the true worship of God resulting in the depravity of those who engage in it.” In a bizarre passage, the report argues that, for the homosexual, given his orientation, same-sex attraction is “natural” and heterosexual attraction is “unnatural.”

Report 42 is relevant because recently some students set up a table at Calvin University, in Grand Rapids. Calvin is the denominational school of the CRC. This table, with the sign “LGBTQ is sin” provoked a protest that was covered by a local television station. One student called the sign and accompanying Bible verses “hate speech.” Another said that the students at the table had “gone too far.” The school has not said if the students who set up the table are facing discipline. The president of Calvin University  affirmed “sexual intimacy is a gift from God to be celebrated between a man and a woman.” He also affirmed the image of God in LGBTQ students and expressed the school’s wish for LGBTQ students to know that they are loved. In the wake of this event Jamie Smith, a well-known Calvin professor, posted a tweet to the same effect: “At @Calvin_Uni, ALL students are welcomed, affirmed, and loved. To our LGBTQ students always, but today especially: #YouAreLoved.” The administration released a statement invoking Report 42.

A Brief History Of The CRC

Before we dive into the issues, a little historical perspective will be useful. The Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC) was founded in 1857. It was composed of immigrants from the Netherlands, who came to the USA for religious and economic reasons. They were very conservative theologically and culturally. Dutch was the dominant language in the CRC until the 1930s. Synod minutes were not published completely in English until the 1930s and there was a heated debate in the 1920s as to whether it was wise for the CRC to speak English, lest the people become American evangelicals. When they first arrived, the folk who would form the CRC attended Reformed Church in America congregations but became dissatisfied when they discerned that the RCA was too American. RCA families sent their children to the public schools. They had members and elders who belonged to the Masonic Lodge and they sang hymns instead of the Psalms. Indeed, the CRC sang only Psalms until the early 1930s. When the split happened, the CRC was a small, determined band of confessionally Reformed Dutchmen located mainly in western Michigan. They adhered fiercely to the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort. They were a paragon of Reformed theology, piety, and practice. They still affirm the “Three Forms of Unity,” as they are known in the Dutch Reformed world, but things have changed in the CRC and at Calvin rather dramatically since then.

In the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, the CRC took a trajectory toward the mainline denominations (e.g., The Episcopal Church USA, the Presbyterian Church USA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church) and toward its older brother, the RCA. First they began to ordain female deacons (1979), then female elders and ministers (1995). The official position today says: “All congregations in the Christian Reformed Church in North America may allow women to serve in the office of minister, elder, deacon, or commissioned pastor.” I serve as a minister in the United Reformed Churches in North America, a federation of churches that was initially composed of congregations that withdrew from the CRC over 1) the authority of Scripture in the theology, piety, and practice of the church; 2) Synod’s decision in 1995 to open the offices of ruling elder and  minister to females in contradiction of the plain teaching of Holy Scripture (e.g., 1 Timothy 2:12).

Report 42: A Turning Point

One of the several turning points in the trajectory of the CRC was Report  42. The conclusions of the report are familiar to those who know the Revoice movement and its allies. It concluded that a homosexual orientation may be immutable and one of the ways in which the New Testament differs from the Old Testament is that the New Testament makes a place for celibate (i.e., non-practicing) homosexuals: “In Christ the unmarried, the heterosexual and homosexual are offered an alternative to the married state in the companionship provided by the redeemed community.”  They further explained, “From the viewpoint of the New Testament the inability of the homosexual to enter into a marriage relationship does not bar him from meaningful living in Christ, and the opportunity to be accepted as a person any less than that accorded the unmarried heterosexual…Within this fellowship of love the homosexual who has also been justified and sanctified by Christ (I Corinthians 6:11) must be accepted in his homosexuality, so that in the congregation he does not need to wear a mask and conduct himself like a hypocrite, living in constant fear of discovery and exposure.” The report did affirm that a homosexual may seek “healing” for his disorder: “Of course, the first responsibility for the homosexual is to exhaust the possibility of sexual reorientation through all available means.”

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