“The purpose of the committee is not to revisit our stated position, but shall operate with the understanding expressed earlier in this recommendation and issue a report with practical recommendations to the General Synod of 2013”

After a three hour discussion and debate, the Reformed Church in America’s General Synod approved a recommendation that affirms an official position that homosexual behavior is a sin according to Scripture.

The recommendation calls for the creation of committee to provide practical recommendations that “present a way forward” without revisiting the denomination’s official stance, the RCA said.

The debate came in response to overtures from several classes calling for officeholders who promote, celebrate, or bless homosexual behavior to be disciplined…
RCA General Secretary Tom De Vries referred to a passage in 1 John 4:18, where the writer speaks about loving God and one another and then asked how to take steps of love toward doing so.

“We’re going to be challenged in how we live this out together,” De Vries said. “My call would be for us to say, how do we begin to take steps of love? Steps forward, steps toward each other, and steps that declare that we love God, but we also love each other and others.”

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