For Rienstra, the decision means more uncertainty for Calvin faculty and students. University administrators held a town hall meeting for faculty earlier this week.
“I came away trusting that the university leadership and the board of trustees want to continue to carve out a place and a way for Calvin University to be the kind of institution it’s always been,” said Jamie Smith, professor of philosophy at Calvin, after the meeting.
The synod instructed Calvin’s board to bring a progress report on the confessional-difficulty gravamen process to next year’s denominational meeting.
“We don’t expect any immediate impact on faculty or students in 2024-2025,” Provost Noah Toly said. “I’m encouraged that there’s a path forward in which we build on the policies and procedures we already have in place.”
The authority to decide next steps for the university rests with the 31-member board of trustees, which was charged to present a progress report to next year’s synod. Some board members are chosen directly by the synod, and all board members must be approved by the synod.
Calvin has a reputation of rigorous intellectual inquiry. Elizabeth Koning, a deacon delegate to the synod and a recent alumna of Calvin, said, “The things that I experienced at Calvin are different than what people get at a lot of other Christian schools,” noting that “people here talk about evolution as something that our understanding of is glorifying to God.”
Smith attends Sherman Street CRC, which has been moving to disaffiliate from the denomination over its LGBTQ+-affirming stance. His lament for his church mirrors his worry for the university.
“I worry that Calvin University, like some of our congregations, are going to have to face the possibility that you can either be CRC or you can be Reformed,” Smith said. “To be Reformed is to be always reforming … It means a spirit of intellectual and deep theological inquiry and wrestling with the ongoing work of the Spirit to discern what it means to be faithful now.”
(A version of this story appeared in the Calvin University Chimes on June 26, 2024.)
This article originally appeared here.
