FRCA Synod 2015 (6)
Free Reformed Church of Baldivis
The Synod finished up on Wednesday evening and all the draft Acts are now available. For today, we’ll just have a look at developments on Tuesday. I’m summarizing from the Acts that can be found here.
There were two noteworthy items. One is a bit baffling to an outsider. Articles 106 and 109 deal with an appeal from the church at Busselton. This is baffling because there’s no background provided in the Acts. If you don’t know the background, the decision doesn’t mean very much. All I can say is that it looks like it had something to do with labour union membership.
The other item worthy of note has to do with one of the church federations made up of brothers and sisters who’ve left the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated). Their Dutch name is De Gereformeerde Kerken (Hersteld), translated as The Reformed Churches (Restored), usually abbreviated as DGK. Their website can be found here. The FRCA have been in contact with these churches. One of the complicating factors with the DGK is their official relationship with a group of schismatics calling themselves the Liberated Reformed Church at Abbotsford. This group broke away from the Canadian Reformed Churches some years ago over concerns of “increasing corruption.” Synod Baldivis decided to maintain some contact with the DGK and with another group of churches known as Gereformeerde Kerken Nederland (made up also of those who left the RCN). The Australian churches will continue to monitor developments in the Netherlands and the deputies will also liaise with their Canadian Reformed counterparts. Will one or both of these Dutch churches some day be in a sister church relationship with the FRCA? Time will tell…
