Monday, October 18, 2021

The Reformed Church in America Moves toward Restructuring, Prepares for Departures


The decisions follow decades of debate over LGBTQ ordination and same-sex marriage.

The Reformed Church in America’s 214th General Synod, taking place in Tucson, Arizona, voted Saturday (Oct. 16) to appoint a team to develop a restructuring plan for the nearly 400-year-old denomination as it divides over LGBTQ ordination and same-sex marriage. The convention also adopted regulations for churches that have chosen to leave the RCA to retain their assets and buildings.

The restructuring team and the regulations for exiting churches, recommended in a report to the convention called Vision 2020, passed by wide margins.

Saturday’s votes come after several conservative splinter groups have already broken off to form independent church networks, with other churches promising to follow. According to their website, one of the networks has already had more than 125 churches express interest in joining — a blow to a denomination with fewer than 1,000 churches. Read More

Image Credit: Screenshot/RNS

No comments: