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Eric Van Giessen no longer attends the Christian Reformed Church, but still calls himself a Christian. (Courtesy photo)

One queer former member’s take on the Christian Reformed Church’s vote

By Emma Prestwich

Hello, dear Broadview readers,

Some of you may have heard the alarming news out of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. The evangelical denomination, which has churches in both Canada and the United States, recently voted at its annual synod to codify its stance that homosexual sex is a sin in the denomination’s core doctrine.

While the denomination has always taught that sex is only for one man and one woman in marriage, congregations were previously given some space to discern how they wanted to minister to LGBTQ2S+ people, according to Religion News Service. Now, one congregation is weighing its options after the denomination insisted it revoke the ordination of its deacon, who is in a same-sex marriage.

Former member Eric Van Giessen, who grew up in the Christian Reformed Church, doesn’t think it’s possible to understate the harm that the vote will cause to openly queer members and those who are still “hidden in the pews.”

But during a month when many celebrate queerness, Van Giessen also shares where he finds “church” and joy now in his adult life.

You can read more of his reflections here.

Let me know what you think of Van Giessen’s reflection and the Christian Reformed Church’s decision in general. Should the United Church respond? Email me at e.prestwich@broadview.org. I’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas and stories. Chloe will be back next week on the newsletter.

Also, just a reminder: Broadview’s next National Online Reading Club is coming up on July 4 at 7 p.m. Eastern time. Stay tuned for more details early next week for details on guests and the link to register!

Happy Pride and take care! Thank you, as always, for reading Broadview.

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LETTERS

In last week’s newsletter, we featured a story about Kindred Works, a United Church-associated company that is helping churches transform their properties into rental housing.

We asked you what you thought of this idea, what you thought churches needed to do to survive, and what your church was doing.

Here are some of the responses we received.

Note: Emails are edited and condensed for clarity and length.

From Barry Rolston:

Using surplus church space for affordable housing is a good idea and should be encouraged.

The only caveat I have is that one of the big reasons we have so many food banks and lack of housing is because in the 1980s, many got on board with the ‘neoliberal’ economic ideas promoted by Milton Friedman. These ideas were picked up by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Regan among others and resulted in government funding for social housing and other social supports being dramatically reduced. This included lower business and personal taxes for the wealthy.

So it’s important that we do not use church equity to bail out governments for their inept stewardship over the last 35 years. Use our equity for social good for sure, but let’s not be a pawn for the neocons.

From Pam Byers:

When schools were needed, churches started schools. When hospitals were needed, churches started hospitals. I think it is a good time for churches to start providing affordable housing.

From Brenda Baker:

At Grosvenor Park United in Saskatoon, we took the opportunity of our church being closed for the pandemic to embark on a $350K renovation that would make our main floor more accessible to those with wheelchairs or other mobility devices, as well as creating a new performing arts space for Saskatoon.

It turned out beautifully and has given our small congregation new energy and a renewed sense of purpose. Some of the changes include:
- removing all pews and replacing them with pew chairs
- removing most of the carpeting and replacing with vinyl floors and low-profile carpet tiles
- increasing the size of the chancel so that we could install a lift; now everyone can access the worship leadership area (or stage, for performances)
- turning a small galley kitchen into a fully accessible family washroom
- turning a lounge into a combined kitchen and reading room — the kitchen has lower counters and lower sink to be accessible for those in wheelchairs

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