Covenant Must Be Affirmed At Every Classis Meeting

Synod 2025 decided that the Covenant for Officebears—the form the Christian Reformed Church uses to affirm subscription to the church’s creeds and confessions—must be reaffirmed at every classis meeting, by any means a classis chooses—raising a hand, standing, or any other observable sign.

The decision came in response to a request that Synod 2025 rescind a decision requiring officebearers to re-sign the Covenant for Officebearers at one classis meeting every year, saying that signing once is sufficient and commitment can be reaffirmed subsequently.

Delegates were divided as to whether regular affirmation is a cause for celebration or if it is an instruction that grew out of the context of low trust.

K.C. Vande Streek, Classis Grand Rapids South, said it is a good thing to regularly reaffirm. “The affirmation is a celebration of that which unites us and can be observed as an act of worship,” he said.

Rob Toornstra, Classis Columbia, appreciated that the affirmation will become part of the regular rhythm of classis.

Brandon Seaver, Classis Georgetown, appreciated affirming at every classis meetings since elders and deacons are often new at each meeting.

Aaron Thompson, Classis Eastern Canada, wanted to see a regular affirming of the Covenant at classis but said that synod was taking the wrong approach in requiring this at every meeting. “In our current moment of lower trust, I could not agree that we need to ‘instruct’ classis to do this because we say so,” he said. “This may be seen by some as a heavy hand. Posture matters. Tone matters. Let’s keep the regularity we instructed last year. Let's ‘invite’ classes to do it at every classis meeting.”

First-time delegates to classis will continue to sign the Covenant for Officebearers, as has been typical practice, to provide a written record.

Synod 2025, the annual general assembly of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, is meeting June 13-19 on the campus of Redeemer University in Ancaster, Ont. Find daily coverage from The Banner at TheBanner.org/synod. Visit crcna.org/synod for the agenda, advisory reports, recordings of plenary sessions, and to subscribe to the daily Synod News email.