Sexual Abuse Within Small Reformed Denomination

Protestant Reformed Church in America commissioned report by Guidepost Solutions, then reversed decision

A small denomination headquartered near Grand Rapids, Michigan, is facing criticism over what appears to be decades of abuse and cover-ups.

The Protestant Reformed Church in America (PRCA) was founded in 1924 and consists of 33 churches and about 8,700 members.

During the denominational meeting (synod) in 2023, the church leaders voted to hire Guidepost Solutions to investigate the alleged sexual abuse and cover-ups, according to reporting by WOOD.

The nearly year-long investigation cost the denomination $358,000.

However, at the annual meeting in 2024, the leaders voted to adopt a position “declar[ing] that Synod 2023 erred by authorizing a secular organization to assist Christ’s church in an ecclesiastical work (investigating sin) that belongs exclusively to the church.”

The Synod 2024 report continued, “While synod declared it erred in hiring a secular organization to do church work, the proper perspective is that the focus must be on the much more serious matters of combatting the heinous sin and crime of child sexual abuse and of acknowledging and seeking to overcome the devastating sin of the improper response to child sexual abuse by consistories.”

While the synod did not mandate that a new organization be hired, the report suggested that a newly appointed committee may choose to hire “an appropriate organization that belongs to the church organic to investigate the sin of sexual abuse in the PRCA.”

PRCA pastor Rev. Clayton Spronk, who supported the third party investigation, told WOOD the synod reversal gives the appearance that the denomination would prefer to protect itself than the children who were allegedly victims.

“If you look at the decision carefully, we’re affirming the evil of the sin of child sexual abuse, we’re affirming the importance of investigating this sin, but then not proposing any way to actually investigate the sin,” he said. “We’re only shutting down the one investigation we have going.”

The allegations against the PRCA dates back as far as the 1970s. In one case, a man identified as Case No. 1 claimed to have been raped by a sixth grade teacher at Hope Protestant Reformed School in the mid ’70s.

Another alleged victim, Heidi Woldhuis, told WOOD the same teacher assaulted her in 1979.

Of the reversal by the Synod, Woldhuis said, “The idea that they would rather protect the name of the denomination than to help living, breathing human beings is just gutting to me.”

According to the Guidepost report WOOD obtained, there is a history of sexual abuse allegations in 29 of the church’s 33 congregations.

The report also mentioned that 43 people either abused children or mishandled allegations of abuse.

One of the alleged abusers was criminally charged — former pastor Ronald VanOverloop. In 2022, he served 45 days in county jail for inappropriately touching and kissing a teenage girl he was counseling at the parsonage.

According to a police report, VanOverloop’s inappropriate conduct occurred between 2009 and 2012, but wasn’t reported until 2021.

Victims were apparently reluctant to come forward because church leaders “have been very intentional about encouraging their constituents not to go to the authorities when physical or sexual abuse occurs within families or the church,” instead claiming the church would deal with the matters internally.

Guidepost’s report included similar conclusions. It said church leaders often failed to report allegations of sexual abuse as required by law. Instead, when faced with allegations, the church would point to Matthew 18:15, a verse instructing believers to go to a fellow believer privately and point out their fault.

Spronk said that in his experience talking to abuse survivors, what hurts them the most is the church’s mishandling of their cases.

In one case, former church elder Don Faber reportedly confessed to sexually molesting children. According to a police report obtained by WOOD, the statute of limitations had expired for any prosecution to take place.

James Slopsema, who was pastor at First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids in 1998 when Faber was first confronted about his sexual abuse, told WOOD that after church leaders learned of the allegations, “a public announcement was made to the church explaining Don’s sin of sexual abuse and his repentance.”

“Don took ownership of his sinful, criminal activity and was deeply sorrowful,” Slopsema wrote in an email.

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Faber is 88 and still a member in good standing of the PRCA, according to WOOD.

An online forum about the PRCA and instances of sexual abuse within it has been created.

Woldhuis is a member of the forum and says she knows of more than 100 victims of abuse within the PRCA. She is now an ordained minister and holds support meetings in her home.

“It’s not pretty inside my head sometimes, but it has been healing. It’s just been my healing to be there and support and to counsel and assist because I know how bad and how hard it was for me,” she said. “I will do anything I have to do to make sure eyes are on this church and somebody answers for the damage they have caused because there are so many of us.”

Abuse survivor Jean Bylsma doesn’t believe the church has done enough. She wants her alleged abuser, who is still a PRCA member, to confess and apologize.

Bylsma is still a member of the PRCA, which she says she loves. “I just…want to fix it. I want to have the hard discussions. I want to, even if it’s raising voice and the tears flow and we get frustrated, at least let’s talk about it. Because if we don’t talk about it, we’re never going to change, and in 10 years, we’re going to have a whole new batch of victims,” she said.

In a statement responding to the WOOD reporting, the PRCA issued a statement acknowledging abuse has been a “grievous plague” in the denomination.

“The exposure of this sin in our midst has deeply humbled us. Yet, it has also led us to better understand how to address this evil, protect against it, deal with abusers, and minister to those who have been harmed,” it said.

Main photo: Photo by Aaron Burden, Unsplash, Creative Commons / Insert PRCA logo

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