Critics complained that (President) Zylstra failed to provide satisfactory defenses for charges that some Dordt (College) professors are deviating from historic views of a literal six-day creation of the world.

Concerns over further modernization of the Heidelberg Catechism, a new church visitation program, and future pastoral needs were among issues tackled by more than 80 delegates to the 264th Synod of the Reformed Church in the United States this week.

The synod met from Monday, May 17, through Thursday, May 20, at Ebenezer Reformed Church in Shafter, California, in the heart of the southern California Central Valley’s farming region. The denomination has some 43 congregations in 13 states, more than half of which are in California and South Dakota.

The Synod on Tuesday rejected a special committee’s recommendation to establish a new system of voluntary church visitation which supporters said was designed to create an atmosphere of interchurch harmony and accountability before crises arise which might require corrective actions. But skeptics said the denomination’s governing documents already provide mechanisms for interchurch relations and accountability and the proposed system contained too much opportunity for interchurch interference.

“Congregationalism dies hard,” commented one leader of the special committee.

Among the recommendations rejected by the Synod was one which proposed that “Synod request each Classis to set aside time during their Spring meetings to discuss any perceived impediments to such interchurch visitations.”

Supporters pointed out that nothing in that recommendation mandated interchurch supervision or examinations by Classes, sister congregations or consistories but only encouraged Classes to discuss whether visitations might be beneficial long-term by laying a groundwork of harmony that would ease tensions when crises might arise.

Also rejected was a recommendation that “each consistory report to its Classis any programs or practices which are particularly successful and profitable in their eyes but might not be usual among the congregations of the church.”

After considerable debate, the Synod adopted a long series of recommended changes to the existing modern translation of the Heidelberg Catechism, one of the denomination’s three historic doctrinal standards. The changes were intended primarily to make the language of the catechism conform to the language of the New King James Version of the Bible, the most commonly accepted modern translation of the scriptures used by the denomination. A number of delegates took the opportunity to emphasize their preference for an older translation of the catechism whose language conforms to that of the venerable King James Version.

Before approving the slate of editorial changes, the delegates rejected one proposal to retain language in the modern translation referring to “troubled life” in the answer to HC Question 26. The vote means that the term “valley of tears” would be used in the modern version as it is used in the traditional version, which states that God “will make whatever evils he sends upon me, in this valley of tears turn out to my advantage.” The delegates also rejected a proposal to use lower case letters in the words “Holy Gospel.”

Advocates said capitalizing those words confuses references to the general gospel of salvation with the proper nouns commonly used to designate the Four Gospels of the New Testament. Narrowly rejected was a proposal concerning Answer 92 of the catechism to separate the words of Exodus 20:2-3, “I am the Lord Your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage,” from the immediately following words of the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Advocates of the status quo argued that the introductory language should be considered part of the first commandment, while advocates of the change argued that this language contains no imperatives and therefore should not be considered part of the first commandment.

In his report on the state of the church, Synod President Vernon Pollema of Bakersfield, California, expressed considerable concern about what he said was a “critical need” for the denomination to produce more new ministers from within its own ranks. Rev. Pollema said the church cannot accept as normative its recent experience of filling vacant pulpits with men trained outside the denomination. Rev. Pollema said the denomination is grateful for those ministers who have come from outside but that the church has a vested interest in raising up men through the full spectrum of training and education which the church prefers for its own ministers.

“The … point [is] that we (ministers, elders, parents) must become proactive and diligent in encouraging our own young men to consider the Gospel ministry,” Rev. Pollema said. “This effort can only succeed if we begin by instilling in them a knowledge and love for the Reformed faith along with a zeal and the courage to defend and promote the same in the face of the false Arminian theology that surrounds us today.”

The Synod also evidenced that same concern when it approved an overture from the Western Classis, originating with the host church in Shafter. The overture instructs RCUS churches to set aside the second Sunday in January annually as a special day of prayer and fasting to implore God to raise up ministers of the gospel and to bless the seminaries which the denomination supports.

Elsewhere in his report, the president reported that “statistically and financially, we continue to hold our own. One notable statistic was the number of members (88) lost by erasure or discipline, an increase of 37 percent over the previous year.” He said the positive side of that “cause for sorrow” is that it reflects the fact that the churches are faithfully disciplining members, and he said there should also be a statistic showing how many delinquent members may have been restored.

On Wednesday, a number of delegates grilled Dordt College President Carl Zylstra about a number of concerns being raised concerning the Sioux Center, Iowa Reformed college, which the denomination has historically supported. Critics complained that Zylstra failed to provide satisfactory defenses for charges that some Dordt professors are deviating from historic views of a literal six-day creation of the world.

Under questioning, Dr. Zylstra also admitted that when the college hires a new chaplain soon, it will not include a requirement that the new chaplain be a male. He said the new “dean of chapel” would mostly like be a man because there is a requirement that the position be filled by an ordained clergy from a confessional Reformed church, most of which have male-only clergy requirements.

Several delegates confided privately that the RCUS Synod may be moving closer to a conclusion to end support for Dordt College as a recommended institution because of alleged liberal drift and an alleged increasingly soft view of homosexuality. The skeptics expressed growing impatience with what they perceived to be perpetual equivocation by Dr. Zylstra about key issues of concern to the conservative denomination.

We will post a followup article from the final day of the Synod as soon as possible.

(Editor’s Note: Sources for this report include input from those in attendance at the Synod meeting)