Status: U Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 11:29:44 -0400 From: Darrell Todd Maurina <Darrell128@aol.com> Reply-To: Darrell128@aol.com Organization: Christian Renewal/United Reformed News Service Subject: NR 98095: Hills CRC Joins URC's Classis Central United States NR #1998-095: Hills Christian Reformed Church in Minnesota Joins Classis Central United States of the United Reformed Churches Classis Central United States of the United Reformed Churches received a new member church at its October 2 meeting at Lynwood (IL) URC: Hills Christian Reformed Church of Minnesota, now renamed Hills United Reformed Church. This secession avoided the rancor of some other CRC splits, largely due to the caution of Classis Minnkota, formerly Classis Minnesota South. "They tried very hard to have keep the congregation together because they knew if they split half and half neither one would have a chance to survive," said Classis Minnkota stated clerk Rev. John Kroon. "We decided we would not make a really strong effort to bring them back because it could produce the split they were fearing. It's either one church or no church there." Classical church visitor Rev. David Den Haan concurred and added additional reasons, noting that other nearby classes have taken quite different approaches to dealing with secessions. "The issues in Northwest Iowa are still so fresh in people's minds that we didn't want to cause that here," said Den Haan. "We've had more than enough animosity in our area to last a lifetime." The Hills church agreed that they didn't want unnecessary problems with classis, and understood that leaving the CRC to join the URC wouldn't solve everything. "I feel that they are Christians just as well as we are, though there are some in Minnesota South who agree with the direction the Christian Reformed Church is going," said Elder Wayne Van Wyhe. "We realize that we are in a denomination that is not perfect." Hills URC's new pastor is Rev. Keith Davis, a CRC member who was ordained under a special URC church order provision allowing members of other denominations to seek the sponsorship of a URC consistory for ordination. Davis said his membership is currently in the process of being transferred from First CRC of South Holland to the Hills URC. NR #1998-095: For Immediate Release: Hills Christian Reformed Church in Minnesota Joins Classis Central United States of the United Reformed Churches by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service LYNWOOD, ILL. (October 12, 1998) URNS - Classis Central United States of the United Reformed Churches received a new member church at its October 2 meeting at Lynwood (IL) URC: Hills Christian Reformed Church of Minnesota, now renamed Hills United Reformed Church. The 1998 yearbook reports 124 members in 26 families - a midsize church by the standards of Classis Minnesota South, now renamed Classis Minnkota, but small by national Christian Reformed standards. Size was at least part of what led classis to take a soft approach to dealing with the secession. "They tried very hard to have keep the congregation together because they knew if they split half and half neither one would have a chance to survive," said classical stated clerk Rev. John Kroon. "We decided we would not make a really strong effort to bring them back because it could produce the split they were fearing. It's either one church or no church there." Classical church visitor Rev. David Den Haan concurred and added additional reasons, noting that other nearby classes have taken quite different approaches to dealing with secessions. "The issues in Northwest Iowa are still so fresh in people's minds that we didn't want to cause that here," said Den Haan. "We've had more than enough animosity in our area to last a lifetime." In the nearby Classis of the Heartland, closely related to Classis Minnesota South by both geography and a number of family ties, several ministers were declared to have the status of one deposed from office after bitter secessions and church splits. "We didn't want to make this into an explosive situation because some of us in our classis are sympathetic to the concerns of the church though not with how far they have pursued those concerns," said Den Haan. The Hills church agreed that they didn't want unnecessary problems with classis, and understood that leaving the CRC to join the URC wouldn't solve everything. "I feel that they are Christians just as well as we are, though there are some in Minnesota South who agree with the direction the Christian Reformed Church is going," said Elder Wayne Van Wyhe. "We realize that we are in a denomination that is not perfect." Nevertheless, Van Wyhe said broader denominational issues were enough to cause the Hills church to leave. "The main one was women in office, interpretation of the Bible," said Van Wyhe. "We wrote two different letters to the congregation, we had another meeting to discuss the situation with the congregation, and our council met with the church visitors." The Hills church has been vacant since February 1997 when its former pastor, Rev. Alan Camarigg, accepted a call to an Orthodox Christian Reformed Church in Lynden, Washington. Their new pastor is Rev. Keith Davis, a member of First CRC of South Holland, Illinois, who was ordained under a provision of the United Reformed church order allowing "a man who is not a member of a church of the federation who seeks candidacy" to "place himself under the supervision of a Consistory which shall make provision for his candidacy examination," pastored the Hills church at the time it joined the URC. "I appealed to Article 5 of the church order and said that as a member of another denomination I placed myself under the supervision of Bethany Covenant Reformed Church [also in South Holland, Illinois], they agreed to sponsor me," said Davis. "My credentials were submitted right along with the credentials of the other three candidates at the June meeting, and classis went ahead with no problem." Davis said his membership is currently in the process of being transferred from First CRC of South Holland to the Hills URC. Van Wyhe said the difficulty in obtaining a conservative Christian Reformed minister who would come to their church was one reason the congregation joined the URC. "I always felt we quit supporting Calvin many years back and we didn't want a student from there," said Van Wyhe. "After [Camarigg] left, the consistory began to think more about the situation of the Christian Reformed Church, how they were leading the denomination to the left," said Van Wyhe. "From there they began to look into leaving the Christian Reformed Church. In April 1997 we held a congregational meeting to discuss the situation of the Christian Reformed Church and it went forward from there, but we decided to stay with the Christian Reformed Church at that time." Davis concurred with the decision to leave the CRC and join the URC. "The URC is in essence what the CRC used to be," said Davis. "It's an exciting place to be in the sense that it is a young denomination. The churches that are there truly want to be there, and it's going to be a strong denomination for many years to come." Davis said he didn't mind coming to a small church. "Our church has a large number of young families; in a lot of ways we're starting like a new church," said Davis. "With a new ministry, a new minister, and a new denomination it's like starting fresh." Davis said the 124-member congregation currently has about 75 people in 16 families worshipping in the church; many of the others are attending nearby Christian Reformed congregations. "Our congregation is hoping and praying that the members who are not with us will come back," said Van Wyhe. Kroon said the classis was sorry the church felt it necessary to leave. "They had almost all of the congregation behind them," said Kroon. "We didn't like to see this happen but we saw it coming for several years. We didn't feel it was necessary." Despite leaving the classis, Kroon said he thought the Hills church would maintain fellowship on an informal level with nearby conservative Christian Refomed congregations. "I don't think we have strong ill feelings toward them as such," said Kroon. "I'm sure they will keep ties to us even though they're not at classis anymore. In addition to receiving the Hills church, the October 2 meeting of Classis Central US also approved the ordination of Candidate Todd Joling, a member of Immanuel's Reformed Church (URC) in Salem, Oregon. Joling will pastor Faith URC of Beecher, Illinois, formerly located in Grant Park, Illinois. Cross-References to Related Articles: [No related articles on file] Contact List: Rev. Keith Davis, Pastor, Hills United Reformed Church PO Box 485, Hills, MN 56138 O: (507) 962-3254 * H: (507) 962-3255 * E-Mail: KeithandLaura@Juno.com Rev. David Den Haan, Church Visitor, Classis Minnesota South 701 Mechanic Street, Edgerton, MN 56128 O/FAX: (507) 442-3063 * H: (507) 442-7201 * E-Mail: ddhaan@juno.com Rev. John Kroon, Stated Clerk, Classis Minnesota South 3809 East Oak Street, Sioux Falls, SD 57103-6352 H/O: (605) 371-2338 Elder Wayne Van Wyhe, Hills United Reformed Church PO Box 151, Lester, IA 51242 ---------------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/reformed/archive98: nr98-095.txt .