Survey of Church Union Negotiations 1996-1999

The church order trajectory

The TW process in the 1990s has been mainly characterized by establishing a set of church order regulations for the future united church. In 1993 a basic church order (some churches would probably say: constitution) was approved preliminarily, evaluating the ecclesiological and juridical outlines of the church to come. On that basis more specific laws (ordinances or by-laws, and in addition to that more detailed general regulations, rules for transition, etc.) have to be passed by the synods.

The joint assembly of synods of the NRC, RCN and ELC approved the ordinances for the future united church at the end of January 1997. All kinds of matters are regulated in these by-laws. To mention some examples: how congregations are formed, how office-bearers are elected, what the task of the church council is, how a marriage is consecrated, how the financial affairs in the congregation should be organized. The assembly was well prepared: the synod members had already studied the by-laws in mixed groups between September and December 1996. Their comments had been incorporated in a revised text by the church order working group of the joint churches. Thanks to these preparations a large number of by-laws could be approved without further discussion. One of the few exceptions to this was the text about the "consecration" of marriages and the "benediction" of other life relationships. There was a lengthy debate about this, discussing whether the same word could and should be used for the involvement of the church both in marriages and in other life relationships. The meeting decided (with over thirty dissenting votes) that the possibility of blessing (Dutch: zegenen) other life relationships will be incorporated in the by-laws, but a proposal to "bless" marriages too (instead of "solemnizing" -- Dutch: inzegenen) was not accepted. The majority of the NRC synod voted against it.

At the request of a number of synod members, the church order working group promised that civil law specialists would examine the text of the by-laws. The entire package of by-laws was eventually passed with dissenting votes to 18.

According to the current rules, the decisions still needed to be ratified by the separate synodical assemblies. This happened without further delay. Next, the texts were sent to the classical assemblies and church councils, so that they could give their opinions before the end of 1998. Not surprisingly, a large pile of letters with reactions from the regional and local level was received. The church order working group has to evaluate all these materials, in order to prepare a final discussion about them in the joint synod. The by-laws can then be given final approval. It is not yet clear when this will happen, since it will also depend on the outcome of the ongoing discussion about some aspects of the church order itself.

In June 1997, the NRC laid down in its own church order that at least two-thirds of the votes cast are required for the final decision to unite with the RCN and ELC. In 1995, this had already been decided in a first reading by a small majority of the synod. Until then the NRC church order included no specific "unification clause". A discussion about this question was triggered off by the TW crisis in early 1995 (see my report in the previous church union survey). The classical assemblies were then given the opportunity to react to the proposal. A large majority approved of it. The decision about the unification, and the decision about the joint church order, are two separate matters. The joint church order for the united church will be stipulated by a double synod, i.e. all the members and their substitutes together. At that point the question will be whether the church order is acceptable if the unification of the churches is realized. In the subsequent decision about unification the question will be whether the churches really wish to unite.