Presidential Perrogative

Synod 2007 June 9th, 2007

As you may, or may not, have discerned from a previous post, new business brought up a concern regarding Rev. Lewis’ choice as a preacher for General Synod this year (due, presumably, to her stated position on homosexuality).  The concern was whether it was appropriate to be an invited preacher with a stated position different than the stated position of synod.  The policy, in case you were wondering, is that the Synod President chooses the speakers/preachers and that it is entirely up to him/her whom to choose (although, in this case, the president did consult others and there was no expectation for controversy).
In the past synod has had both preachers (and indeed executives!) with beliefs contrary to the stated positions of synod.  This is really no different, and that is reflected in the following statement (approved yesterday 79.2% to 20.8%):

To acknowledge the privilege of any General Synod president to choose the worship leaders for the General Synod, to express appreciation for the commitment to focus worshipers on the powerful biblical imperative about our multi-racial future; and further to recognize that a worship leader’s perspectives that deviate from the accepted positions of the General Synod are not indicative of a change in RCA positions; and further, to acknowledge the pain experienced in the first session of the General Synod meeting and encourage expressions of grace and forgiveness toward one another.

Hopefully this will help facilitate the healing of some of the intensely hurt feelings and caustic attitudes I’ve observed over the past couple of days!

Grace and Peace,

`tim

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