De Jager
Puritan Board Junior
I have it on good authority that the CRC in Blyth is, overall, a faithful church and one that holds more firmly to the historic understanding of what it means to be Reformed than do many congregations in the CRC (and also a church full of kind and godly people). I see no reason why you should feel you must leave, especially since you are not an officer. Staying is a legitimate option for you.
Picking a church is a matter of (1) choosing the best option available, plus (2) not church-hopping, so that once you've chosen a church it takes something more than just "that other church might be a bit better now" to get you to change. So I can see why, having landed somewhere pretty good, you are inclined to remain if you can.
The issue of potentially becoming an elder is one to consider, though. Within that denomination, your conscience might be tested in new ways if you were an elder. And the difficulty with having a pastor who believes in female elders, regardless of what the membership or consistory might think, is likely to continue as long as the congregation is CRC. There just aren't many complementarian guys who are willing to take a CRC pastorate, period. So if the church wants to stay complementarian, it is likely that it will always struggle to find a pastor who agrees.
I know what you mean. There are pockets of "holdouts" in the CRC, including one particular classis in Minnesota and North Dakota which holds to male-only leadership. Every year at synod they present an overture, calling on the church to recant and change their ways. The fact is that in my particular classis, womens ordination and eldership is allowed and some serve in prominent roles. If I was an elder, and I went to a classis meeting, and women were there presenting and discussing, I feel like my mind would always be saying something like "yes but why are you even here?" It just isn't right.
But anyways, thanks for the reply. I have to ask though, how on earth you know about my particular congregation? (you can PM me). We literally are a tiny church in the middle of nowhere.
Another note: One thing that I am not sure anyone here has answered, is what my obligation is to these people. This is where I am unsure. For example, I know that to truly obey God I must love my neighbours and do what is best for them; considering them above myself. If I sense in my conscience a spiritual gift of discernment, of Bible teaching, etc. and I see people in the congregation that really need that, how can I be fulfilling the "law of love", if I do not serve them in that capacity and "take off" to the nearest more conservative church that by all accounts doesn't need what I can give as much as the people in Blyth do?
Love does no harm to his neighbour.
Please understand, I am not trying to be liberal or difficult, but this is really bothering me and I am just seeking God's will.