NR #1995-098: Classis Grandville Refuses to Lift Deposition Status for Beverly Christian Reformed (Independent) Pastor Rev. Art Besteman Rejecting an overture from First CRC of Byron Center, Classis Grandville voted by about a two-thirds margin on September 21 not to lift a 1992 decision declaring Rev. Art Besteman to have the "status of one deposed from office" on the grounds of having "engaged in schismatic behavior" by continuing to serve as pastor of the majority of Beverly CRC in Wyoming after it voted to secede from the Christian Reformed denomination. NR #1995-098: For Immediate Release Classis Grandville Refuses to Lift Deposition Status for Beverly Christian Reformed (Independent) Pastor Rev. Art Besteman by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service WYOMING, Mich. (September 21, 1995) URNS - Rejecting an overture from First CRC of Byron Center, Classis Grandville voted by about a two-thirds margin on September 21 not to lift a 1992 decision declaring Rev. Art Besteman to have the "status of one deposed from office" on the grounds of having "engaged in schismatic behavior" by continuing to serve as pastor of the majority of Beverly CRC in Wyoming after it voted to secede from the Christian Reformed denomination. A second portion of the Byron Center overture met with a more favorable response. Prior to its secession in September, 1992, Beverly CRC held the credentials of four retired ministers, Revs. John Blankespoor, Ed Knott, Richard Veldman, and Peter Honderd. Blankespoor remained with a 35-member minority which continued as a Christian Reformed congregation, but the other three remained in the majority group of over 400 members which renamed itself Beverly CRC (Independent) and were subsequently "dismissed" by classis. The Byron Center consistory strenuously protested this action, noting that none of the men involved were on council at the time of the Beverly secession, that Honderd was in his nineties and in frail health, and that Veldman's dismissal occurred despite the fact that he was in a rest home and not mentally alert at the time of the secession. Classis refused to change Knott's status, but did vote to declare that Honderd and Veldman were "honorably released" from the Christian Reformed ministry. The action comes a bit late for Veldman, who died in March of 1994. Synod 1996 will now be placed in the anomalous position of approving a classical decision to change the official ministerial status of men who had left the denomination almost four years previously and doing so posthumously for one of them. Earlier in the day, Elder Ken Boelema of the continuing Beverly CRC reported that the last remaining members of the minority group which had remained in the denomination had disbanded on April 16 after receiving a financial settlement from the majority group. Boelema reported that a balance of $133,720 had been divided between 14 organizations, with each member also being permitted to designate $1000 for the support of any organization accredited for financial support by the Christian Reformed synod. While the decisions on the retired ministers were made in closed session, most of the classis debate focussed on Besteman and occurred in open session. Much of the debate focussed on Byron Center First CRC's contention that a decision to leave the CRC is not automatically sinful. "There was no ground given in October 1992 that said Besteman had done something that was worthy of discipline," said Byron Center First CRC pastor Rev. Tom Vanden Heuvel. "There was never a charge that said he was guilty of gross sin. He resigned, but that is not gross sin." Rev. Robert Bierenga, secretary of the classical interim committee, reminded classis that it had adopted the interim committee's recommendation declaring that Besteman and the Beverly CRC council had "engaged in schismatic behavior" by their decision to leave the denomination. "There was a lengthy debate that occurred that night and classis said they had engaged in schismatic activity," said Bierenga. "If we want to go along with the Byron Center overture, we would have to reopen all of that." Rev. Gerald Postema, pastor of Fellowship CRC in Grandville, said that Vanden Heuvel's repeated insistence that Besteman was a godly man was not sufficient grounds for overturning his deposition status. "I know Rev. Besteman is a godly man and has done many fine things, but I judge that this is not one of them," said Postema. Vanden Heuvel was not pleased by the argument that a man recognized as a godly minister should still be regarded as having the status of one deposed from office for the "sin" of leaving the CRC, noting that classis had dealt far more gently with a man accused of sexual misconduct. "Last Thursday we dealt with a man who committed sexual sin and we didn't depose him, we suspended him for a year and gave him pastoral care and counsel," said Vanden Heuvel. "We didn't do any of that with Rev. Besteman. I feel we did a gross injustice to him." Vanden Heuvel also contested the charge that Besteman had engaged in schismatic behavior, noting that Besteman did not vote on the proposal to leave the CRC and was only asked what he would do after the Beverly CRC council had already made its decision. "The classis can say he engaged in schismatic behavior. Name it!" challenged Vanden Heuvel. "You can't, because, you didn't ask before you voted." The information that Besteman had not voted for secession changed the minds of at least some delegates. "It seems to me it would be very difficult to rescind this, but it seems to me you will open up all kinds of other problems with those on the conservative side of the church who have stayed," said Rev. Tom Wolthuis of Pathway Ministries in Byron Center. "I would just like to advise the classis, whatever decision is made, that it be with an eye to reconciliation." Others also questioned the wisdom of disciplining a minister for the action of his church. "As I read between the lines here, I sense that there was a reaction at the time to what the church did by leaving," said Rev. John Gorter of Byron Center Second CRC. "We need to separate between what the church did and what the minister did." However, classical interim committee chairman Rev. Ken Havert carried the day with his repeated insistence that classis had acted carefully and properly in 1992. "We met for hours as a classis and we received little if any cooperation from that consistory," said Havert. "We used the language which has been used by other classes in similar situations: guilty of schism on the part of the minister, guilty on the part of the church." Classis Grandville's final vote in the Besteman case was decisive and clear: in a secret ballot, 20 delegates voted to reject the Byron Center overture and 13 voted in favor. Reached for comment at his home, Besteman said that Honderd - who is Besteman's father-in-law - had mixed reactions on the classis decision. "He and we along with him are pleased about the decision [to declare Honderd and Veldman to be 'honorably released'], but his health is fragile and he cannot talk on it," said Besteman. "We are grateful that the injustice has been rectified with regard to Rev. Honderd and Rev. Veldman, but we are grieved that it was not done with this others," said Besteman. "The members of classis will have to answer for that, some day." Cross-References to Related Articles: #1995-041: Beverly Christian Reformed Disbands After Receiving $125,000 Settlement from Beverly CRC (Independent) Contact List: Rev. Art Besteman, Pastor, Beverly Christian Reformed Church (Independent) 2420 Avon Ave. SW, Wyoming, MI 49509 * H/O: (616) 532-1708 Rev. Robert Bierenga, Secretary, Classis Grandville Interim Committee 3550 Raven SW, Wyoming, MI 49509 * H/O: (616) 538-5373 Rev. John Blankespoor 3913 Wedgewood Dr., Wyoming, MI 49509 * (616) 532-5305 Ken Boelema, Steering Committee Member, Beverly Christian Reformed Church (continuing) 2300 Sharon Ct. SW, Wyoming, MI 49509 * (616) 534-0794 Rev. Edward J. Knott 2759 Porter St. SW, Wyoming, MI 49509 * (616) 534-4683 Rev. John Gorter, Pastor, Second Christian Reformed Church 7588 Byron Center Ave., Byron Center, MI 49315 * O: (616) 878-1221 * H: (616) 878-1097 Rev. Ken Havert, Chairman, Classis Grandville Interim Committee 4036 Grandview Terrace, Grandville, MI 49418 * H: (616) 532-6824 * O: (616) 531-6483 Rev. Peter Honderd 725 Baldwin, #3021; Jenison, MI 49428; Home: (616) 457-7791 Rev. Gerald Postema, Pastor, Fellowship Christian Reformed Church 4175 Blackhawk Ct., Grandville, MI 49418 * O: (616) 530-4031 * H: (616) 530-2112 Rev. Thomas Vanden Heuvel, Pastor, First Christian Reformed Church 2475 - 85th St. SW, Byron Center, MI 49315 * H/O: (616) 878-9278 * F: (616) 878-3256 * E-Mail: TomLaur@aol.com Rev. Tom Wolthuis, Pastor, Pathway Ministries 2112 Ridgebluff Ct. SW, Byron Center, MI 49315 * O: (616) 878-3891 * H: (616) 878-4339 * FAX: (616) 878-1480 ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr95-098.txt .