NR #1995-111: Alliance Minority Declines to Join Federation; Meeting Convened by Interim Committee Chair Gathers Fifteen Percent of Delegates to Continue as Alliance of Reformed Churches Not everyone at the Alliance of Reformed Churches thought that federating was a good idea. Echoing earlier concerns, 21 of the Alliance's 135 delegates assembled on the evening of November 15 for a meeting of those committed to continuing the Alliance apart from a synodical structure. Convened by Interim Committee chairman Elder Pete Elzinga, the minority held an informal meeting at which no decisions were made. General consensus, however, called for seeking good relations with the federated majority. NR #1995-111: For Immediate Release Alliance Minority Declines to Join Federation; Meeting Convened by Interim Committee Chair Gathers Fifteen Percent of Delegates to Continue as Alliance of Reformed Churches by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service LYNWOOD, Ill. (November 25, 1995) URNS - Not everyone at the November 14 to 16 meeting of the Alliance of Reformed Churches thought federating was a good idea. Echoing earlier concerns, 21 of the Alliance's 135 delegates assembled for a meeting of those committed to continuing the Alliance of Reformed Churches apart from a synodical structure. Convened by Elder Pete Elzinga, chairman of the ARC interim committee, the 21 delegates in the Lynwood CRC (Indep.) consistory room met to discuss how to continue as non-federated churches while the majority of the Alliance delegates were meeting in the main sanctuary of the church to discuss how to federate. "What this meeting is for is to discuss in embryo what we will do," said Elzinga. "We will do everything we can do to continue the Alliance; I will contact the remaining churches of the Alliance, inform them that we intend to continue the Alliance, and get feedback." Elzinga emphasized that he wanted to maintain good relations with the federated churches of the Alliance and with the other denominations which had sent fraternal delegates to the Alliance in past years. "We want to continue to maintain the best relationship with all the federations we have been in contact with," said Elzinga. "I will try to operate as constitutionally and as properly as I can under the circumstances." Although no formal decisions were made at the continuing Alliance meeting, much of the discussion at the continuing Alliance meeting focussed on concerns that the Alliance majority had failed to cite Scripture in its church order proposals or to conduct a thorough evaluation of whether Scripture requires federation at all. "We need to be looking at Scriptural principles to see what Scripture says about church structures," said Rev. Jim Graveling of Salem (OR) Independent Reformed Church. "Let's get down to the nitty-gritty of Scriptural principles first." Elder Bob Knaack of Messiah's Independent Reformed Church of Holland, Michigan, told the delegates that much of this work had already been done by the authors of the Cambridge Platform, the historic church order of the New England Puritans, and by the Belgic Confession. Noting that the men of his church had conducted an extended study of the latter document, Knaack urged all present to study existing documents giving Scriptural principles of church polity and to test them against the Scriptures themselves. Several delegates warned the delegates that if they wanted to adopt a non-synodical form of polity they needed to be prepared to do some very hard work in each local church rather than simply leaving things to those in higher positions. "If you want to make Congregationalism work as a system, you have to make it work through having the ministers really work together, not just sit back and throw stones," said Rev. Ray Lanning of Cutlerville (MI) Independent Reformed Church. "If you're interested in Congregationalism, you have to look back at its more vibrant periods, and you will see that the churches came together for weekly and monthly teaching, fasting, and prayer." Since many of those present at the continuing Alliance meeting were from the Dutch Reformed heartland of West Michigan, a large part of the discussion centered on what to do about the existing Lake Michigan Regional Fellowship. "Are those people next door going to say the Lake Michigan Regional Fellowship is their classis, and if so, what are we going to do about it?" asked Rev. Duane Vedders of Immanuel Fellowship Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Vedders didn't receive any concrete answers to his question, but he did receive assurances that he wasn't alone in his concerns. "I'm going to use a nasty word: are we going to be hijacked?" asked Elzinga. "We want to be prepared so that if it goes in pieces, a big piece of it goes our way." However, everyone present at the continuing Alliance meeting realized that their time is very limited. "Unless there is a real big breakthrough in the next twelve months and we establish a new goal, there is no reason left to meet," said Lanning. "We've already had a year of grace and we need to decide whether there is any reason left to meet." Cross-References to Related Articles: #1995-107: Trumpeting, Families, and Federating Headline Michigander Meeting of Independent Reformed Churches #1995-110: Former Christian Reformed Congregations Federate to Form "Fellowship of Uniting Reformed Churches" [See related article list at crossreferences] Contact List: Peter De Jong, Pastor Emeritus, Dutton Independent Reformed Church 4985 Sequoia Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49512 * H: (616) 698-6267 Elder Pete Elzinga, Interim Committee Chairman, Alliance of Reformed Churches 3984 North 168th Ave., Holland, MI 49423 * O: (616) 399-1009 Rev. Jim Graveling, Pastor, Salem Independent Reformed Church PO Box 3106, Salem, OR 97306 * (503) 581-6764 Rev. Jerome Julien, Stated Clerk, Alliance of Reformed Churches 3646 - 193rd Pl., Lansing, IL 60438 * H/O: (708) 418-5321 Elder Bob Knaack, Messiah's Independent Reformed Church A6472 - 140th Ave., Holland, MI 49423 * H/O: (616) 335-5516 Elder Fred Kolenbrander, Independent Christian Reformed Church of Ancaster Brant School Rd, RR 1, Brantford, ON N3T 5L4 * H: (519) 758-5037 Rev. Ray Lanning, Pastor, Independent Reformed Church of Cutlerville 1088 Harvester Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49508 * H/O: (616) 554-0001 Elder Peter Moen, Chairman, 1993 Alliance of Reformed Churches 159 Jacksonville Rd., Pequannock, NJ 07440 * H: (201) 694-7118 Rev. Duane Vedders, Pastor, Immanuel Fellowship Church 4430 West "F", Kalamazoo, MI 49009 * O: (616) 343-5357 * H: (616) 375-4012 Rev. Martin Vogel, Pastor, Independent Christian Reformed Church of Ancaster 630 Lyons Club Rd., Dundas, ON L9H 5E3 * O: (905) 304-1608 ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr95-111.txt .