Christian Reformed Church Codifies Homosexual Sex as Sin in its Declaration of Faith
The Christian Reformed Church, a small evangelical denomination of U.S. and Canadian churches, voted Wednesday (June 15) at its annual synod to codify its opposition to homosexual sex by elevating it to the status of confession, or declaration of faith.
The 123-53 vote at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, caps a process begun in 2016 when a previous synod voted to form a study committee to bring a report on the biblical theology of sexuality.
The vote, following a long day of debate, approves a list of sexual immorality the denomination says it won’t tolerate, including “adultery, premarital sex, extra-marital sex, polyamory, pornography and homosexual sex.”
“The church must warn its members that those who refuse to repent of these sins — as well as of idolatry, greed, and other such sins — will not inherit the kingdom of God,” the report says. “It must discipline those who refuse to repent of such sins for the sake of their souls.”
But 190 delegates to the synod spent the preponderance of time debating same-sex relations, with many warning that passage of the so-called Human Sexuality Report and elevating its teachings to the status of confession would alienate LGBTQ people as well as younger generations of CRC members who have a different understanding of sexuality.
Synod members were unswayed. Delegates followed with another motion ordering Neland Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids to “immediately rescind its decision to ordain a deacon in a same sex marriage,” punishing one of its more liberal churches that two years ago pushed the boundaries of its traditional teaching.
Access to MinistryWatch content is free. However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts. To make a donation, click here.
Wednesday’s synod actions will also have profound consequences for its flagship university, Calvin. In December, one-third of Calvin faculty signed a letter expressing concerns about the Human Sexuality Report, and some are now expected to leave. Faculty at Calvin University must sign a document saying their beliefs align with the historical creeds and confessions of the Christian Reformed Church.
It was not clear what the status of the document might be moving forward.
“Many people are polishing their CVs, starting to look at what else is out there and preparing themselves to leave,” said Kristin Kobes Du Mez, a professor of history at Calvin University and one of its star faculty.
The university is known in the larger Christian higher education world for its supportive and pastoral approach to students who identify as LGBTQ. It allows a student group, the Sexuality and Gender Alliance, to function on campus and in the 2020-21 school year the university did not challenge an openly gay student body president.
But the university has a different standard for deviation from church teachings by faculty. This year it did not renew a professor’s two-year appointment after he agreed to officiate a same-sex wedding. That wedding also led the university to cut ties with its longtime research center, The Center for Social Research, where one of the marriage partners was working.
The denomination of 204,664 members with roots in the Dutch Reformed Church of the Netherlands has always taught that sex is reserved for one man and one woman in marriage.
But over the years, it has given its churches a degree of latitude in ministering to people who identify as LGBTQ. Its 1973 report on homosexuality distinguished between homosexual activity and homosexual orientation, noting that same-sex attraction, in and of itself, was not sinful and that people don’t have a choice in who they are attracted to.
Since then, many churches have begun to change their position on sexuality, with some even ordaining people who identify as LGBTQ to the position of deacon. A church in Toronto was one of the first, and in recent years, several churches in Grand Rapids and one in Akron, Ohio, have either added LGBTQ people to membership or ordained them to deacon roles.
At least 43 theologically conservative congregations in the Reformed Church in America, a close cousin to the Christian Reformed Church, split from the denomination this year over views on biblical sexuality.
Some have predicted the issue of LGBTQ will also tear apart the CRC, though not in the same way as the RCA. In the CRC, it may be more liberal churches that leave.
