In one way, the issue is moot. The deacon, who asked not to be identified out of concern for her safety, completed her three-year term earlier this month. She and her wife are still members of the church, but she is no longer serving in the office of deacon.
“We will most definitely stay involved and engaged with Neland even though our official duties are finished for now,” the deacon said in an email. “Neland is our family and it’s so exciting to see many new people are joining our church because they see how supportive and welcoming the people there are.”
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The church currently has no LGBTQ members serving in an official leadership role.
But that doesn’t mean the synod will let the matter slide.
A recently finished renovation at Neland Avenue Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. Photo courtesy Otto Selles for Neland Avenue Christian Reformed Church
“If the conservative party prevails, the hammer must come down in some way, shape or form,” said James Bratt, professor emeritus at Calvin University, who has written widely on Dutch Calvinism. “In their terms, just because you stopped committing the sin doesn’t mean you don’t have to repent of the sin you did commit.”
Bratt is a member of another Christian Reformed Church that is also open to full inclusion of LBGTQ members — Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church.
About a dozen Christian Reformed churches in favor the full participation of LGBTQ members. At least one other church in Classis Grand Rapids East, a geographical grouping of 19 congregations, has baptized the child of a same-sex couple.
For that reason, one of the 76 overtures submitted to the synod asks to dissolve Classis Grand Rapids East and divide its churches among other, presumably more theologically conservative, classes. Some delegates to the synod are disturbed at the unwillingness of the classis to discipline Neland Avenue.
“What I think (Grand Rapids) East understands is that churches like mine (on the affirming side) aren’t just succumbing to the ‘gay agenda’ (whatever that means),” wrote Jen Holmes Curran, co-pastor of Sherman Street Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids in a blogpost for the website, Reformed Journal. “What happened for us is that we started to see the harm that we were causing by excluding certain people from full participation in the life of the church.”
Joel DeMoor, one of Neland Avenue’s two full-time pastors, wouldn’t speculate what would happen if the synod denied the church’s appeal and demanded it agree to never ordain a gay deacon.
He pointed to the church’s mission, listed on its website: “Neland Church seeks to be a community of hope where all will experience and extend the deep welcome of Christ.”
He added: “‘All’ is an important word for us. It transcends race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality and so on. We really believe the gospel does that, too.”
This article originally appeared here.
