Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 06:19:06 +0000 From: Darrell Todd Maurina <Darrell128@aol.com> Reply-To: Darrell128@aol.com Organization: Christian Renewal/United Reformed News Service Subject: NR 99082: Swagman Situation Leads to Synodical Fight Over Authority of Synodical Board of Trustees to Eliminate Agency Staff Posts NR #1999-082: Swagman Situation Leads to Synodical Fight Over Authority of Synodical Board of Trustees to Eliminate Agency Staff Posts One year after release of a shocking report arguing that almost a quarter of the Christian Reformed Church has suffered from abuse, Synod 1994 of the Christian Reformed Church agreed to create a full-time director of abuse prevention. As part of an agency restructuring, this office was combined a year later with the offices of chaplaincy ministries, disability concerns, pastor-church relations, and race relations to form a new "Pastoral Ministries" agency, and the new abuse prevention director, Beth Swagman, became the CRC's first female agency head, devoting 20% of her working time to the agency headship and 80% to the abuse prevention work. Synod 1994 made the decision to hire an abuse prevention coordinator against the backdrop of a multimillion dollar lawsuit involving a Canadian CRC minister who was deposed by Classis Toronto. All of that work was thrown into an uproar by an unexpected vote of the pastoral ministries agency to disband and to recommend the elimination of the positions of Swagman and of disability concerns director Dr. James Vander Laan. Coming in late April, a month after the deadline for the synodical agenda and too late even for the agendas of many classes which had May meetings, the matters which didn't receive extended discussion at the regional level became major topics for debate at the synodical level. In the end, synod affirmed the authority of the synodical board of trustees to decide how its ministries should be staffed and to report its findings to Synod 2000. NR #1999-082: For Immediate Release: Swagman Situation Leads to Synodical Fight Over Authority of Synodical Board of Trustees to Eliminate Agency Staff Posts by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service ANCASTER, ONTARIO (June 15, 1999) URNS -- One year after release of a shocking report arguing that almost a quarter of the Christian Reformed Church has suffered from abuse, Synod 1994 of the Christian Reformed Church agreed to create a full-time director of abuse prevention. As part of an agency restructuring, this office was combined a year later with the offices of chaplaincy ministries, disability concerns, pastor-church relations, and race relations to form a new "Pastoral Ministries" agency, and the new abuse prevention director, Beth Swagman, became the CRC's first female agency head, devoting 20% of her working time to the agency headship and 80% to the abuse prevention work. Synod 1994 made the decision to hire an abuse prevention coordinator against the backdrop of a multimillion dollar lawsuit involving a Canadian CRC minister who was deposed by Classis Toronto. Despite the deposition, an alleged victim of abuse by the pastor had sued the denomination in a case that was terminated prior to synod. "We have come within a hairbreadth of a civil lawsuit that would have made $72,000 pale in comparison," said Rev. Henry Jonker of Classis British Columbia Northwest at that year's synod, defending the amount of money used to create the denominational position. After assuming her new post, Swagman began an intensive process of standardizing procedures for reporting and prosecuting abuse cases throughout the Christian Reformed Church. A key part of her work involved helping Christian Reformed churches draft formal written policies on dealing with allegations of abuse and helping classes create and train abuse response teams. All of that work was thrown into an uproar by an unexpected vote of the pastoral ministries agency to disband and to recommend the elimination of the positions of Swagman and of disability concerns director Dr. James Vander Laan. Coming in late April, a month after the deadline for the synodical agenda and too late even for the agendas of many classes which had May meetings, the matters which didn't receive extended discussion at the regional level became major topics for debate at the synodical level. Much of the concern focused on whether the synodical board of trustees has the right to eliminate entire divisions of agencies without prior synodical approval. "I'm concerned that this has been presented as a done deal," said Rev. David Weemhoff of Ellsworth (MI) CRC. "If these agencies were produced by synod, it seems to me that synod should made decisions about eliminating them." Still others argued that the decision to eliminate Swagman's position sent a bad message. "The board of trustees does not seem to understand what a symbol Beth has become to the 25% of the people in our denomination who suffer from abuse," said Rev. Bert Slofstra of First CRC in Abbotsford, British Columbia. "How will the board of trustees inform and reassure our community, especially the women and the abused community, how are you going to follow this process?" In response, CRC executive director of ministries Dr. Peter Borgdorff argued that those who think the board of trustees overstepped its authority misunderstand the ongoing process of denominational restructuring. According to Borgdorff, while synod creates and modifies the mandates for agencies, the board of trustees is responsible on a day-to-day basis for hiring and firing of staff and for deciding how many full and part-time staff positions are required to fulfill a synodically-drafted mandate. Others noted that specific problems within the Pastoral Ministries agency required immediate attention. "We have an unworkable situation, we can't go on like this for another year," said Rev. Roger Kok of Shawnee Park CRC in Grand Rapids. "I have no question that the present staffing arrangement is unworkable, and I'm sympathetic to the concerns about the need for staffing," said Pastor George Vander Weit of North Hills CRC in Troy, Michigan. "What I want to know is whether the Board of Trustees has the authority to do this on its own. It seems to me that whether or not to hire a full-time director of abuse prevention is a policy decision, and policy decisions need to be made by synod." "I don't think any of us thought us this as a prerogative, we viewed this as something we were given the authority to do by synod," Borgdorff responded. Rev. John Hoogland of Midland Park (NJ) CRC noted that supporters of abuse prevention and disability concerns weren't the only ones upset by the proposed structure changes which would place each of the current pastoral ministry divisions under other denominational agencies. "There are very few chaplains here, they just don't get delegated to synod, but there is a huge block of ministers who are chaplains," said Hoogland, noting that he spent three decades in the military chaplaincy before returning to parish ministry. "I've just got to say that there are 95 chaplains out there who are not happy with this shotgun marriage between chaplaincy ministries and home missions. Those two agencies really have very little in common." The concerns over the positions of Swagman and Vander Laan led to a series of motions that would ensure the continuation of their positions until at least the year 2000 while the board of trustees studies how the mandates of their offices should be fulfilled. "I think it's important to restore confidence in certain sectors of our church," said Slofstra. That wasn't enough for other delegates to pass motions placing synodical restrictions on the board of trustees in how they handle the Pastoral Ministries matter. "Not knowing the history of this matter, I do not understand the need to tie the hands of the board of trustees in this way," said Rev. Gerry Zandstra of Seymour CRC in Grand Rapids. "If there is a reason someone can give me why we should do this, I'll be happy to hear it, but unless someone can tell me a reason, I'll be voting against this." Borgdorff noted that the motions might create major problems and could result in the denomination being unable to remove Swagman and Vander Laan even if they did something totally unrelated to the Pastoral Ministries agency which made them worthy of discipline. In the end, synod affirmed the authority of the synodical board of trustees to decide how its ministries should be staffed and to report its findings to Synod 2000. Cross-References to Related Articles: #1994-032: Blue Ribbon Panel Discusses Women in Office at CRC Synod; Abuse Prevention Coordinator Position Created; Retiring General Secretary, Financial Coordinator Honored #1994-037: Of Garages, Houses, and Women: Synod Keeps "Expounders" and Appoints Committee to Decide What "Expounding" Means; Synod Cites Legal Concerns in Modifying Abuse Committee Report; "Reaffirmation" of Past Decisions on Inerrancy, Creation, Homosexuality Declared Unnecessary by Synod #1995-064: "The Church Needs to be Cleansed": Synod Approves Guidelines for Abuse Allegations Against Church Leaders #1996-083: Synod Provisionally Adopts Guidelines on Handling Abuse Contact List: TO CONTACT SYNOD DURING SESSION: June 12-19, 1999 Synodical News Office Redeemer College, 777 Garner Rd. East, Ancaster, ON L9K 1J4 O: (877) 799-0913 * E-mail: press@redeemer.on.ca Rev. Wayne Brouwer, President, Synod 1999 of the Christian Reformed Church 1627 West Lakewood Blvd., Holland, MI 49424 O: (616) 399-9190 * H: (616) 399-4645 * FAX: (616) 399-8808 * E-mail: brouwer@triton.net Dr. David Engelhard, General Secretary, Christian Reformed Church in North America 2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49560 O: (616) 224-0744 * H: (616) 243-2418 * FAX: (616) 224-5895 * E-mail: engelhad@crcna.org Dr. Peter Borgdorff, Executive Director of Ministries, Christian Reformed Church 2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49560 O: (616) 246-0832 * H: (616) 957-3288 * E-mail: borgdorp@crcna.org ____ Rev. Roger Kok, Pastor, Shawnee Park Christian Reformed Church 2255 Tecumseh Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506 O: (616) 452-6971 * H: (616) 285-6150 * FAX: (616) 452-6292 Rev. John Hoogland, Assistant Pastor, Midland Park Christian Reformed Church 183 Godwin Ave., Midland Park, NJ 07432 O: (201) 445-4260 * H: (732) 222-0075 * FAX: (201) 445-6424 Rev. Bert Slofstra, Pastor, First Christian Reformed Church PO Box 485, Abbotsford, BC V2S 5Z5 O: (604) 750-9017 * H: (604) 852-2899 * E-mail: abby1crc@uniserve.com Ms. Beth Swagman, Abuse-Prevention Director, Christian Reformed Church in North America 2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49560 O: (616) 246-0735 * FAX: (616) 246-0834 Dr. James Vander Laan, Disability Concerns Director 3690 - 92nd St. SE, Caledonia, MI 49316 O: (616) 224-0801 * H: (616) 891-0475 * FAX: (616) 224-0803 * E-mail: vanderli@crcna.org Pastor George Vander Weit, North Hills Christian Reformed Church 3150 North Adams Rd., Troy, MI 48084 O: (810) 645-1990 * H: (810) 649-5388 * FAX: (248) 645-1991 * E-mail: gvanderweit@juno.com Rev. David Weemhoff, Pastor, Ellsworth Christian Reformed Church PO Box 217, Ellsworth, MI 49729 O: (616) 588-7805 * H: (616) 588-2264 * E-mail: dweemhoff@juno.com Rev. Gerald Zandstra, Pastor, Seymour Christian Reformed Church 840 Alger St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49507 O: (616) 245-8726 * E-mail: BSQG78E@prodigy.com ---------------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/reformed/archive99: nr99-082.txt .