Christian Reformed Church
OF COURSE IT all started right around 2016.
That year, the Christian Reformed Church in North America’s synod—an annual meeting of representatives from across regional subdivisions of the denomination in the U.S. and Canada—commissioned a document known as the Human Sexuality Report with the stated goal to “articulate a foundation-laying biblical theology of sexuality” over the course of the next five years. One hot-button issue was same-sex relationships. Up until this point, the CRC had been operating under the guidance established at the synod of 1973, which was that while same-sex attraction shouldn’t be considered sinful, acting on that attraction was.
THE COLD STUNG my skin, even though I’d rubbed a protective layer of balm on my cheeks. Our breath mingled and condensed in a cloud of vapor. Doug and I grabbed hands and ran across the parking lot. He opened the driver’s door, and I scooted across the bench seat as quickly as I could. My long wool coat did not slide well. Doug climbed in after me and cranked the ignition, which caught immediately. His mustard-colored Volare was dilapidated, but a good starter. Who cared if the passenger door no longer opened? This was January in Minnesota.
Wordlessly, we listened to the engine rumble. Time was running out, and yet another church had failed to meet our hopes. The sermon had been lackluster. There’d been zero women in leadership. Nothing had clicked. We wanted more than a wedding venue; we wanted a church home.
Love, justice, and the radical challenge raised by the untamed Christ.