Date: Sat, 20 Feb 1999 14:28:47 -0500
From: Darrell Todd Maurina <Darrell128@aol.com>
Organization: Christian Renewal/United Reformed News Service
Subject: NR 99019: Classis Michigan (URC)'s Meeting to Focus on Housekeeping
Matters
NR #1999-019: Classis Michigan's Meeting to Focus on Housekeeping
Matters
Classis Michigan's March 16 meeting is expected to be quiet, but
two overtures on the agenda may have long-lasting consequences for
United Reformed ministers and a third may cut the time allotted for
examining ministerial candidates in half. Cornerstone URC of Hudsonville
has submitted two overtures to be forwarded to Synod 1999, both asking
the URC to investigate providing ministerial and church employee
insurance and ministerial pensions. In a second overture, Bethel URC of
Jenison asks Classis Michigan "to shorten the length of candidacy and
ordination exams." The overture, which applies only to Classis Michigan
and is not intended to be submitted to synod, notes that the church "is
not requesting that we eliminate areas of questioning, but that each
existing area take less time." Current exams run about five hours; the
restructured exam, if adopted, would run about two and a half hours.
NR #1999-019: For Immediate Release:
Classis Michigan's Meeting to Focus on Housekeeping Matters
by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer
United Reformed News Service
(February 20, 1999) URNS - Classis Michigan's March 16 meeting is
expected to be quiet, but two overtures on the agenda may have
long-lasting consequences for United Reformed ministers and a third may
cut the time allotted for examining ministerial candidates in half.
Cornerstone URC of Hudsonville has submitted two overtures to be
forwarded to Synod 1999, both dealing with ministerial insurance and
pension matters. In its first overture, Cornerstone URC asks classis to
overture synod to appoint a committee "to research the availability of
health insurance for employees of URC churches, including both Canadian
and US ministers according to their various needs." A second overture
asks classis to overture synod to appoint another committee "with the
specific mandate of investigating the possibility of retirement plans
for ordained ministers in both Canada and the United States."
According to the overtures, "requests for such insurance
coverage have been frequent," "the economic advantage of having group
coverage for those who need and desire such insurance is clear," "the
need [for retirement plans] is obvious, especially for our younger
ministers," and "such an optional plan would have distinct economic
advantages because of its group involvement."
Both overtures cite Article 10 of the United Reformed church
order, which provides that "each church is to provide adequately for the
minister of the Word and his family while he is serving that church, and
should contribute toward the retirement and disability needs of its
minister."
In a second overture, Bethel URC of Jenison asks Classis
Michigan "to shorten the length of candidacy and ordination exams." The
overture, which applies only to Classis Michigan and is not intended to
be submitted to synod, notes that the church "is not requesting that we
eliminate areas of questioning, but that each existing area take less
time."
The church proposes that the examination in "practica"
(ministerial practice) run 45 to 60 minutes, while the other areas take
"no more than 30 minutes."
As grounds for its overture, Bethel URC notes that "the
examinee's transcript of all seminary grades is given to each council
providing a good basis on which to judge his knowledge," that "since
this transcript does not include personal and practical information, the
practica section of the exam ought to be given more weight," and that
"in nearly every case a delegate is able to ascertain whether the
examinee is competent in any given area within 30 minutes of questioning
in that area." The church also notes that further inquiries may be made
of the person being examined by means of questions from the floor and
failure to adopt a motion to proceed to the next area of the
examination.
Bethel URC's final ground notes that "the URCNA guidelines for
these examinations do not forbid such action."
The details of ministerial examination procedures in the United
Reformed Churches are somewhat unclear, and the time allotted to the
exam varies from classis to classis. The church order states that
churches should urge competent men to study for the ordained ministry,
specifying that "a man who is a member of a church of the federation and
who aspires to the ministry must evidence genuine godliness to his
Consistory, which shall assume supervision of all aspects of his
training, including his licensure to exhort, and assure that he receives
a thoroughly reformed theological education," noting that "the council
of his church should ensure that his financial needs are met." The local
church licenses seminary students to exhort in the churches, and upon
completion of their seminary training, arranges for a candidacy
examination at the classis of which the seminarian's church is a member.
The church order specifies that "no one shall be declared a candidate
for the ministry until he has sustained an examination at a meeting of
this classis, in the presence of his Consistory, of his Christian faith
and experience, of his call to the ministry, of his knowledge of the
Holy Scriptures, both in the original languages and in English
translations, of the Three Forms of Unity, of Christian doctrine,
Christian ethics and church history; of the Church Order, and of his
knowledge and aptitude with regard to the particular duties and
responsibilities of the minister of the Word, especially the preparation
and preaching of sermons." In a set of "guidelines," the URC recommends
a number of detailed items in the areas of practica, Bible knowledge,
biblical exegesis, confessional knowledge, Reformed doctrine, church
history, and ethics. If the candidate accepts a call to a church in the
same classis, a subsequent ordination exam is normally waived, but if he
accepts a call in another classis, a second exam is held in the areas of
practica, confessional knowledge, church polity, Reformed doctrine, and
ethics.
Classis Michigan has never conducted an ordination exam, but did
conduct several candidacy exams. In the original Classis Midwest, which
Synod 1997 divided into four classes including Classis Michigan, two
ordination examinations for ministers which are now in Classis Michigan
were held. Exams in practica, church polity, confessional knowledge, and
ethics were scheduled to take 45 to 60 minutes, and an examination in
Reformed doctrine was scheduled to take 60 to 90 minutes. If the Bethel
URC overture passes, an exam that once ran between four hours and five
and a half hours would take about two and a half hours.
Since that exam in April 1997, no time frame for examinations
has been specified, but the Classis Michigan stated clerk said the total
was comparable to the original Classis Michigan rules.
"We've never had a time frame," said Rev. Wybren Oord. "We have
the procedure from the church order, but we don't have a time frame to
follow, and we've never done an ordination exam. Our exams, looking over
the minutes, have always been candidacy exams."
"I'd say they were pretty close to five and a half hours, and
after all but one, the ordination exam was waived," said Oord. "They've
filled up the morning and some afternoons. I think it's just a matter of
time in deciding how much time we should put in per section."
Cross-References to Related Articles:
[No related articles on file]
Contact List:
Rev. Wybren Oord, Stated Clerk, Classis Michigan (URC)
12191 Polk St., Holland, MI 49424
H/O: (616) 875-4654
Rev. Derrick Vander Meulen, Pastor, Bethel United Reformed Church
1950 Cedar Brook Dr., Jenison, MI 49428
O: (616) 457-4001 * H: (616) 457-9652 * E-mail:
derrickvm@juno.com
Rev. Jay Wesseling, Administrative Pastor, Cornerstone United Reformed
Church
6442 - 36th Ave., Hudsonville, MI 49426
O: (616) 669-2190 * H: (616) 662-2029 * FAX: (616) 669-4321
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