June 11, 2007, Grand Rapids. Mich. - Synod 2007 of the Christian Reformed Church reconvened this morning with delegates coming together for worship and a brief plenary session before spending most of the day in advisory committees.
Rev. Joel Nederhood, longtime voice of the English language arm of The Back to God Hour, opened the assembly reflecting on Jesus' prayer to his Father just before he went to the cross. Nederhood challenged delegates to remember Jesus' key request in that prayer for the unity of his followers.
One place where synod often expresses unity is in laughter. President Joel Boot appointed delegate Rev. Karl House from Classis Quinte as "sergeant-at-arms." His role is to exercise some church discipline on those who like to extend coffee breaks beyond the appointed times by calling the delegates back to the meeting.
To help in this challenging duty, Boot presented House with a shepherd's staff. House quipped that rather than sergeant-at-arms it would be more appropriate to call him "a shepherd with attitude."
After delegates voted on a number of denominationally related positions, they resumed meeting in advisory groups.
Looking ahead
Synod is scheduled to meet again in plenary session at 7 o'clock this evening.
Tomorrow morning, synod will meet the prospective candidates for ministry of the Word in the Christian Reformed Church.
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Contact: Henry Hess, Synod News Officer, 616-526-8654, mailto:hessh@crcna.ca <mailto:hessh@crcna.ca
To learn more about the Christian Reformed Church, please visit www.crcna.org