NEWS AND EVENTS

INSTALLATION OF JOHN DEN HOED

On September 4,1985 Classis Midwest convened at Corsica, South Dakota where Candidate John Den Hoed successfully completed his final examination. By the time of this printing, the Lord willing, he will already have been installed into the ministry by his instructor, Rev. A.M. Den Boer in Rock Valley, Iowa.

On behalf of our ministers and congregations, we warmly wish Brother Den Hoed Cod’s indispensable blessing upon this solemn, yet joyful, occasion. May the Lord bless his ministry to the conversion of many, to the solidification of His people upon the Rock of their salvation, and, above all, to the glory of His great Name. May God remember him together with his wife and family in His staggering grace which knows no bounds in Christ Jesus. May he be blessed and be a blessing (Gen. 12), particularly in the midst of the Rock Valley congregation whom the Lord has entrusted to him.

In a future issue, summaries will be provided of the installation and inaugural services.

1985 FAR-WEST YOUTH CONFERENCE

On Tuesday, July 30, approximately seventy young people and ten chap-erones from our congregations in Port Alberni, Chilliwack, Fort McLeod, and Lethbridge met together for our 1985 Far-West Youth Conference.

Our first speaker on Wednesday morning was Elder F. VanEe from Fort McLeod. He spoke to us on Pollution: A Concern of Our Time. God created man and placed him in the responsible position of dominion over His earthly creation. Man was to use, but not

misuse, God’s creation. Since our deep fall what poor gardeners and rulers we have become! Selfishly we have poisoned and polluted our environment. Further, what terrible “moral pollution” has been promoted in our society which poisons our minds and souls. This is evident in modern songs, language, books, films and magazines. As young people, pray for and use God’s means of grace to seek God’s cleansing. After this informative topic, Mr. VanEe answered several questions which were submitted.

Wednesday evening Elder J. Beeke spoke to us on the topic, My Baptism — What Does it Mean? Baptism, church membership, and our relationship to the Covenant of Grace have both an inward and outward aspect. Entrance into the inward and deepest meaning of baptism—the washing away of our sin, into the true (invisible) church, and into an unbreakable and eternal relationship to the Covenant of Grace is only possible through regeneration, by being born again spiritually. Outward baptism, while it is not saving, is yet a great blessing, for it places us under God’s Word and gospel, it includes us in the prayers of the church, and it places God’s mark of separation upon us, just as the Israelites were separated from all others in the Old Testament by the mark of circumcision. These great blessings bring great responsibilities. Are we despising our birthright and selling it for a “mess of pottage” as Esau did, or are we pleading upon God’s promise submitted in baptism and diligently using His Word? God has promised to be with His church and to bless His Word even to the end of the world. Several questions regarding baptism were submitted and answered after this instructive presentation.

Thursday morning Mr. Beeke again addressed us, speaking on the topic: What Does it Mean to be Created Human? Man was the crown of God’s earthly creation. He was created above the animals in physical, mental, emotional, and especially in spiritual ways — for man was created with a never-dying soul. Man was also created in the image of God, both in its narrower and wider sense. Since our deep fall, however, we have lost the true knowledge, righteousness, and holiness we had in Paradise. Our hearts, emotions, thoughts, and actions are now directed to love and serve self, sin, world, and Satan rather than God and our neighbor. By nature, we are more concerned if our name is misused than God’s, and more upset over a minor personal difficulty than the severe calamities of others. We were earnestly warned and encouraged to seek God for true conversion, for only in knowing, loving, and serving God will we fulfill the purpose for which we were created and find true rest and contentment. After this presentation, Mr. Beeke answered many questions on different subjects which were submitted during a “free question period.”

In Memoriam: Cornelius Bush

On August 6,1985 it pleased the Lord to take away Cornelius J. Bush at the age of 62 years. He died of Hodgkin’s disease. He leaves behind a mourning widow of 56 years, two sons, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. He had faithfully served the congregation of Clifton as deacon for nine years, and performed extensive work as secretary of the Macedonia Mission Society. In these capacities, he will be sorely missed.

We have officiated at the funeral service from II Samuel 14:14, “For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth He devise means, that His banished be not expelled from Him.” At the cemetery interment, our thoughts were drawn from I Corinthians 15:26-27a, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death, for He hath put all things under His feet.”

May the Lord strengthen the mourning widow, and be her Husband in her time of widowhood. May He comfort the bereaved family, fill the empty place in the consistory with a man of his anointing, and impress upon us all the reality of death, the certainty of the judgment day, and the only way of hope for lost sinners through Christ Jesus in the face of eternity.

A barbeque was held that evening after which we closed the evening and sang several psalters. Friday morning we returned to Fort McLeod after breakfast. As young people in attendance, we wish to thank those who organized, chaperoned, and spoke to us at this conference, for we sincerely appreciated our time together and hope that the Lord may bless it to us.

MINISTERIAL CALL

To Rev. C. Harinck of Oostkapelle, the Netherlands, by the Grand Rapids, Michigan Congregation.

SCHOOL CONFERENCE REPORT

August 6, 7, & 8 were busy days in the area of Calvin Christian School, which serves the Lethbridge and Fort Macleod congregations. It was in those days that the teachers of our denominational schools gathered for their bi-annual conference. It was the first time they had met in this area, and therefore some were given their first view of the Rocky Mountains while on this trip. Accommodations for those attending the conference were made in the homes of the members of these congregations. Separated by many miles in daily life, it was an opportunity to become acquainted and to discuss the many mutual situations which each encounters.

The three-day conference was filled with activities, so that there were not many spare moments in those three days. It is hoped that the results may have been beneficial and that evidence of this may be seen, under the blessing of the Lord, in the classrooms of the various schools. For the benefit of our readers, we will present a brief overview of the conference events.

On Tuesday morning Rev. Heerschap opened with Scripture reading and prayer, and then spoke words of welcome, expressing his desire that these meetings might be with the favor of God and to the benefit of the rising generations. Each day’s program commenced with a general session which all attended and also adjourned with another general session. For these sessions an address was given of more general concern, but during the remainder of the day sectionals or workshops were held covering specific areas of instruction.

Principal James Beeke spoke at Tuesday morning’s general session, and his topic was “Christian Education — Taught or Caught?” He stressed the necessity of good example by teachers, since Christian values must not only be taught, but also practiced from day to day. It was noted that a departure from these teachings in the teacher’s actions was quickly observed by the students, and perhaps more quickly followed than the oral instructions given. At the afternoon session Rev. Vogelaar spoke on “Education and the Spirit of the Age,” focusing on the developments and trends which have taken place and continue to do so in the area of education, including our own school systems. That evening Rev. Vogelaar preached in Lethbridge, at which time many of the teachers were also present. His text was taken from I Corinthians 2:6-7, and there also mention and application was made upon the need of teachers in their tasks.

The program of the second day was opened by Rev. Verhoef with Scripture reading, prayer and brief comments, and afterward Principal Dick TenElshof presented his topic, “Teaching or Training.” Workshops were again held throughout the day and the afternoon was closed with an address by Principal David Lipsy to the general session on the subject, “What Are The Children Missing?” That evening there was a dinner for all conference participants and their spouses, and a number of school board members with their wives were also present. The after dinner speaker was Evangelist Bartel Elshout, and his topic was “Evangelism, a Divine Mandate.”

The last day of the conference was opened by Principal Dick TenElshof, after which Mr. Elshout presented another address, entitled “Evangelism and Christian Education.” The afternoon session of the third day was again addressed by Rev. Vogelaar with closing remarks and personal application to those present. Elder J. De Bruine, representing the Synodical Education

Committee, and Elder G. Feyter also spoke briefly, and the busy days of the conference came to an end. Afterwards, the principals, with Rev. Vogelaar, the Synodical Education Committee representatives, and a number of school board members, met for several more hours to hear and discuss the various committee reports regarding activities during the past year and their plans for the future, the Lord willing.

The committees actively functioning throughout the school year to further develop the exchange of and improvements to materials and curriculum are: Conference Committee, Curriculum Publication Committee, Directory Committee, Educational Assistance Committee, Finance Committee, Mission Committee and School Journal Committee. Through these committees much work is done to assist all schools in the varied aspects of educating the rising generation.

Throughout the conference there were forty-two different sectionals or workshops, covering such subjects as language arts, mission week, home economics, computer science, counseling, creative writing, first aid, Bible studies, etc., etc. All of these were directed toward the development of teaching skills in a Christian school. Much discussion was possible in these workshops, and often additional materials were presented in printed form for further study and review after they returned home. It was an interesting and instructive conference, and it is hoped that all may have left with many ideas for improvements and additions for their classrooms and school activities. May the instructions have been with the Lord’s blessing, so that the teachers of the schools of our denomination may truly teach our children of the things pertaining to true wisdom.

RECENT COURT RULINGS

The trend of recent court rulings has been a mixed bag. Witness the following examples:

A Decatur, Iowa senior and her parents objected in June to having prayer offered at her graduation ceremony. The Iowa Civil Liberties Union (ICLU) supported her by filing suit on the issue. The result? U.S. District Judge Harold Vietor upheld the suit, barring Leon High School from including a prayer in its graduation ceremony on the grounds that prayer would constitute a government establishment of religion!

In a separate June case in Iowa, the ICLU was also successful in stopping the Gideons from distributing Bibles in Iowa’s public schools. The court-approved order was the first such statewide injunction of its kind in the United States.

The United States Supreme Court continued to affirm its principle of “neutrality” toward religion, striking down a Connecticut law that gave employees the right not to work on their Sabbath. “Neutrality,” of course, is the Court’s self-proclaimed misnomer; in practice, such neutrality spells hostility.

In contrast to these disappointments, we may be glad that the Arizona Supreme Court has recently ruled that a viable fetus is a person, but did not say when viability occurs. The decision, similar to rulings in thirty-two other states, asserts that parents of a viable fetus can bring action under the state’s wrongful death law, thereby overturning a 1974 state court of appeals ruling. Moreover, we may be grateful that the Reagan administration has approached the Supreme Court to request the nullification of the infamous 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which let open the floodgates of legalized abortion. May God grant success to their attempt to have this decision revoked.

—JRB

CHURCH OF ENGLAND VOTES TO ORDAIN WOMEN DEACONS

From the Religious News Service at London, this disappointing, but typical, message was sent:

The General Synod of the Church of England voted July 2 to ordain women as deacons. There was overwhelming approval for the controversial legislation, and only the formal endorsement of the House of Commons — still necessary for the state church — is awaited for the historic change in the ancient ministry to be set in motion. The first women are likely to be ordained deacons next year.

Once in force, the new legislation will put women in holy orders for the first time in the church of England’s history. Until now, the three traditional clerical offices — deacon, priest, and bishop — have been open only to men. The new legislation is one more step toward the ordination of women as priests.

Women deacons will be able to use the prefix “Reverend”; wear clerical collars; conduct marriage services; and operate within the governing synodical system as members of the House of Clergy. They will not, however, be allowed to celebrate Holy Communion, the most contentious ecclesiastical point.

The decision of the General Synod is bound to be seen by extreme Anglo-Catholics as one more instance of the Church of England’s violating its tradition. For some, it could be a breaking point and lead to an increase in the reported exodus to the Roman Catholic Church. One high church source has made it known that, whereas about six Anglicans a year were once counseled as they switched to Roman Catholicism, today’s number is running at one clergyman or lay person every week.

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