I am happy to announce the publication of my first authored volume, Foundations of Reformed Church Polity: The Rhyme and Reason of the Order. The regulations within a church order are like geometric shapes, and their use depends on us using these pieces to make the same image. However, what happens when we are all … More Book announcement!
The Final final (maybe…?) report of the Vision 2020 Task Force was released. You can read it here. This series of posts will look deeper at the recommendations not just from a pragmatic lens, but also through a theological lens. While many have given up on the reality that the church order is theological, I … More RCA Vision 2020 Report: Generous Separation, Part 2: Rules and Regulations
The Final final (maybe…?) report of the Vision 2020 Task Force was released. You can read it here. This series of posts will look deeper at the recommendations not just from a pragmatic lens, but also through a theological lens. While many have given up on the reality that the church order is theological, I … More RCA Vision 2020 Report: New Mission Agency
The Final final (maybe…?) report of the Vision 2020 Task Force was released. You can read it here. This series of posts will look deeper at the recommendations not just from a pragmatic lens, but also through a theological lens. While many have given up on the reality that the church order is theological, I cannot … More RCA Vision 2020 Report: Affinity
The Final final (maybe…?) report of the Vision 2020 Task Force was released. You can read it here. This series of posts will look deeper at the recommendations not just from a pragmatic lens, but also through a theological lens. While many have given up on the reality that the church order is theological, I … More RCA Vision 2020 Report: Restructuring
The second part of the synodical plan that the General Synod Council decided without ever consulting the church is to call a special session of the General Synod in October. The section in question is this: The president of the General Synod shall call a special session of the synod at a place determined by … More Special meetings of the General Synod
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, communication came from the Stated Clerk of the General Synod that the 2020 session will be “postponed” until 2021, but that a special session will be called in October. The examples of 1933 and 1935 were cited as years in which there was no General Synod, which, as we … More Canceling sessions of the General Synod: Lessons from 1933
There has been a good deal of discussion lately in some segments of the Reformed Church in America over concerns about a supposed “disproportionate representation” stemming from the reality that classes are different sizes (in terms of both numbers of churches and size of churches) but they each register a single vote on constitutional amendments. … More Of Classes and Congressional Districts
In the previous post, I discussed the General Synod Council (GSC) and its function in the life of the Reformed Church, including what it is and what it is not, what it does and what it does not do. In this post, I am going to look at some of the troubling aspects of the … More Why It is Time to Disband the General Synod Council
The Rev. Joshua Bode is a guest blogger for this miniseries on the Reformed Church in America’s (RCA) present work to envision a future for itself in the midst of tension. Josh is an RCA minister who has served a church in upstate New York, been the stated clerk of his classis, and is a … More Seeing Clear in 2020? (Part III)
Church and Order 