Belhar Confession Petition

The 2009 Synod of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) placed on the agenda of all its congregations, office-bearers and members a proposal to adopt the Belhar Confession as a fourth confession next to the Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, and Canons of Dort. Final approval—which the Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee of the CRCNA is proposing to Synod 2012 – would require all office-bearers to formally subscribe to the Belhar Confession as a rule for life and doctrine.A number of CRCNA office-bearers across the denomination have carefully examined the Belhar and come to the conclusion that they cannot in good conscience make this subscription. In addition to the formal ecclesiastical route of overture we wish to make our concerns public and to invite other office-bearers to indicate their agreement. Signatures for this petition will be collected until June 1, 2012 and the petition will be presented to the advisory committee of Synod 2012 that is assigned the responsibility of making a recommendation to Synod itself. Recognizing that different people will have different reasons for making their declaration of conscience we have not included a set of grounds in our petition but chose to invite signatories to state reasons in the comments section, if they so wish. This is entirely optional.To facilitate informed consent or dissent we are providing access to a number of key articles or essays as well as information about overtures that are in process at www.rootsandrenewal.blogspot.com. You are also invited to pass along the link to this petition to other office-bearers in the CRC. If a paper copy is needed, please feel free to print this petition, sign (and print) name and fill in the information. Those completed petition can be mailed to CRC Belhar Petition, P.O. Box 2071, Holland, MI 49422-2071.WE, AS OFFICE-BEARERS IN THE CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA – ALTHOUGH WE AFFIRM AND COMMIT OURSELVES TO THE THEMES OF CHRIST-CENTERED UNITY, CROSS-ORIENTED RECONCILIATION AND BIBLICAL JUSTICE – STATE THAT WE CANNOT IN GOOD CONSCIENCE SIGN THE “FORM OF SUBSCRIPTION” (or “Covenant of Office-Bearers,” if that is adopted by Synod 2012) SHOULD THE “BELHAR CONFESSION” BE ADDED AS A CONFESSION OF THE CRC.(By signing, each individual states that they are or have been an office-bearer in the CRCNA. Please indicate your "office" as one of the following: Elder, Deacon, Minister, Ministry Associate, Former-Elder, Former-Deacon or Retired Minister)Sincerely,