Delegates Hold Listening Session on Same-Sex Marriage

Delegates to Synod 2015 participated in a listening session to share ideas about how churches can respond pastorally in a variety of situations involving the issue of same-sex marriage.

Rev. Rolf Bouma, the chair of the synodically-appointed Committee to Provide Pastoral Guidance re: Same Sex Marriage, introduced the listening session by calling attention to the committee’s mandate, as well as the rapidly changing situation with regard to same sex marriage during the past decade in Canada and the United States.

Bouma told synod that there have been dramatic changes in the cultural and legal status of same-sex marriage in those two countries. Same-sex marriage is now legal in all of Canada and much of the U.S., he noted.

The committee’s mandate instructs it to “give guidance and clarification” to churches and clergy over the issue same-sex marriage.

Bouma emphasized that the committee was specifically instructed not to revisit the denominational stance on homosexuality, but to “address the cultural and legal aspects of same-sex marriage as they impact the church and its ministry.”

The committee will report its findings to Synod 2016, but is committed to a “shepherding model,” which engages the church in conversation while the committee completes its work.

Delegates were divided into small groups and presented with three topics for discussion. The first two were potential pastoral situations: the baptism of a child of a same-sex couple and the same-sex marriage of a child of a church leader. The third topic presented four views of the relationship between civil marriage and religious marriage, for the purpose of considering a Reformed perspective on such a relationship.

The committee has also held listening sessions with various classes (regional groups of churches) and other groups. It will gather the results of the small group discussions and include them in its deliberations.

For continuous coverage of Synod 2015 including the live webcast, news, video recordings, photos, liveblog, social media links, and more visit www.crcna.org/synod.