Church Government

PRC Synod 2021 - Day 3 - Thursday June 10 (Updated with Report)

group sanctuary 1

After a busy night of committtee work, the delegates of the PRC Synod convened on Thursday morning at 8 a.m. in the sanctuary of Georgetown PRC.

First on the agenda is the final sections (4) of oral examination of Sem. Josiah Tan. This part of the exam is also be livestreamed on Georgetown PRC's website.

JT exam confessions DK
Prof.D. Kuiper examining Sem. Tan in knowledge of confessions.

JT exam BG CP
Prof. B.Gritters examining Sem. Tan in Church Polity and NT History. 

JT exam CG
Rev.C. Griess examining Sem. Tan in practica.

Pending the approval of synod, the graduation ceremony of Sem. J.Tan will take place this evening at 7:30 p.m. in the church.

Sem. J.Tan successfully sustained his exam, with the following reported in today's record: "The chairman, Rev. R. Kleyn, informs Mr. Tan that synod has unanimously approved his synodical examination and will inform the Session of the CERC that we judge him worthy to be declared eligible for a call. He reads Joshua 1:4-9. Synod sings the doxology. The delegates of synod are given opportunity to congratulate Mr. Tan and his wife."

We rejoice in this blessed provision of another candidate for the gospel ministry and pray that God will provide him a call that will lead to his ordination in the near future.

JT congrats RK
Sem. Tan and his wife Huiqi congratulated by the president of synod, Rev. R. Kleyn

JT congrats RC
Sem. Tan and his wife congratulated by Prof. R. Cammenga

JT congrats CG
Sem. Tan and his wife congratulated by Rev. C.Griess, under whom Sem. Tan did his internship

The rest of the day was taken up with deliberation on synod's committee reports. Here is the public report for this day:

Report of Day 3
Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America June 10, 2021

Synod continued its work this morning with the oral examination of senior seminarian, Josiah Tan. Prof. Kuiper examined Mr. Tan in Knowledge of Confessions (for 30 minutes), Prof. Gritters examined him in Church Order (for 30 minutes) and Knowledge of Scripture (for 30 minutes), and then Rev. Griess (who supervised Mr. Tan’s internship) examined him in Practica (for 20 minutes). The brother gave a very good account of himself, and synod unanimously approved his examination. May the Lord soon open up a place of labor for Josiah in his kingdom. We thank him for providing another faithful laborer in the harvest!

Believing missions to be one of the primary callings of the church, synod authorized the Domestic Mission Committee (DMC) to designate a new calling church for a home missionary from the West Michigan area. The desire is that this church call a missionary as soon as possible and work with the DMC in developing a new field of labor.

Synod dealt with the work of the Contact Committee (CC) in this past year. It approved the work of the CC with our sister church in Singapore, and approved discontinuing the calling of a minister-on-loan to serve there. Synod approved the CC’s work with our sister church in Northern Ireland. It approved the work with our sister church in the Philippines, and approved letters of encouragement to our sister church and our missionaries in light of recent struggles they have experienced. Synod approved the work of the CC with our contacts in Australia, Germany, and Namibia/South Africa, and received information regarding other contacts in South Korea and Mexico. Synod approved sending observers to NAPARC in 2021. A committee of three men reported on the work they did in the past year reviewing the doxologies and spiritual songs in the back of our Psalter, and sent this on to our denominational Review Committee for a final review.

Synod also began treating the material related to our Theological School Committee (TSC). One young man who aspires to the ministry in our churches was admitted to the seminary in the coming year. This is great cause for rejoicing as it means that, the Lord willing, next school year we will have four men studying for the ministry in our churches, as well as two other foreign students. Having served his initial four-year term, Prof. Kuiper was reappointed to another three-year term as professor of Church History and New Testament in our seminary. Synod also declared that Profs. Cammenga, Dykstra, and Gritters are capable to continue teaching in our seminary for another year, a decision demanded by the TSC Constitution on account of their being over 65 years old.

The delegates of Synod gathered tonight with the seminary faculty, members of the TSC, and supporters of our seminary to celebrate the graduation of Josiah Tan. Georgetown PRC’s choir treated the audience to two beautiful numbers, and Prof. Kuiper gave a fitting address on “Putting One’s Neck to the Work.”

In Christ’s Service,
Rev. Joshua Engelsma, Second Clerk of Synod 2021

1st clerk CS
Synod's first clerk - Rev. C. Spronk - busy at his post.

DWestra asst clerk 1
The PRC's assistant stated clerk, Mr. Dirk Westra, has made himself available with his digital resources for synod and her committees.

JT exam CG back view
Another important member of synod's "team": Jay A. Kuiper, Georgetown PRC's facility coordinator, janitor, livestream-controller, etc.

Candid RD BL RK

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Last modified on 10 June 2021

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