The Consistory
Canadian Reformed Church of Abbotsford, B.C.
P.O. Box 66
Abbotsford, B.C.
V2S 4N7
Esteemed Brothers:
Re: Response of Consistory dated May 23, 2006 to our letter dated April 12, 2006
We continue to address Consistory regarding the extension of a relationship of Ecclesiastical Fellowship with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) as it was initially entered into by General Synod Neerlandia 2001 and maintained by General Synod Chatham 2004.
It continues to be our position that the response by Consistory dated February 4, 2006 does not interact with a significant portion of the considerations and requests contained in our letter dated October 4, 2005 and the "Appeal to Consistory of the Canadian Reformed Church of Abbotsford" which was attached to this letter.
It is not clear to us how your "wholistic manner" of response can be construed as seriously interacting with the above-mentioned considerations and requests. It should be clear that while we did not request a "line-by-line response" to our requests, anything less than a serious interaction with each of our requests renders your "wholistic" response incomplete and therefore inadequate. Hence it is premature for you to insist that further dialogue be dependent on our interacting with your February 4, 2006 letter. In doing so you implicitly require us to accept your response as satisfactory, and for the above reasons we cannot do so. We therefore request that consistory deal with those portions of the considerations and requests contained in our letter of October 4, 2005, with the attached appeal, that were not addressed in your February 4 and May 23, 2006 letters.
However, in the interest of "engagement" with your response, and in regard to the assertions made in points 5 and 7 of your February 4, 2006 letter that the OPC is a true church, we request that Consistory give consideration to the following:
a) We attach a discussion paper prepared by Br. J. Vantil detailing the history of contact with the OPC from 1965 to 1989 and showing how the General Synods of the Canadian Reformed Churches failed to properly "test the spirits" (I John 4:1), before answering the question whether the OPC is a true church of our Lord Jesus Christ, and when dealing with the material presented after 1977.
b) We attach a copy of the press release of Classis Ontario South held December 9, 1987 which provided grounds for the statement it made that "the Tri-County Reformed Church has rightfully separated herself from the OPC." (see for reference Articles 28 and 29 of the Belgic Confession). It is clear that this statement calls into question the recognition of the OPC as a true church in accordance with our confession.
c) It is also clear that the Committee for Contact with the OPC which reported to Synod 1989 did not take account of this decision of Classis Ontario South, even though it had the mandate to do so. The consequent failure on the part of Synod 1989 to take account of the above Classis decision has placed the federation of Canadian / American Reformed Churches on "the horns of a dilemma which cannot be accepted" (see for reference Acts of General Synod 1968, Article 154, Consideration 7).
On the basis of the above material, we hereby request the following:
a) That the consistory determine that the Synod 1977 decision to recognize the OPC as a true church of our Lord Jesus Christ was both premature and ill-founded;
b) That the consistory determine that the Synod 1980 decision to deny appeals of the above recognition was incorrect;
c) That the consistory determine that the failure of Synod 1989 to take account of the decision of Classis Ontario South, that "the Tri-County Reformed Church has rightfully separated herself from the OPC," compromised the recognition of the OPC as a true church; and
d) On the basis of the information provided above, as well as our earlier submissions, to reconsider the consistory responses dated February 4, 2006 and May 23, 2006 and response to us in writing.
In the event that you do not agree with the above considerations and requests, we would appreciate receiving a detailed written response based on Scripture, Confession and Church Order.
Brothers, we continue to be concerned that God's Word, summarized in the confessions, and the Scriptural principles we agreed to in the Church Order, are no longer being maintained by the Canadian Reformed Church of Abbotsford. We sincerely hope and pray that these very serious concerns will be resolved to the benefit of His Church. We wish you the Lord's blessing upon your deliberations.
Yours in His service,
F.M. Flokstra M. Thalen
J. VanLaar J. Vantil