First Christian Reformed Church chose its name for a reason. It’s the oldest Christian Reformed Church (CRC) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and one of the original four congregations formed by Dutch immigrants at the founding of the influential Calvinist denomination in America in 1857.
Now, nearly 168 years later, First Church is also preparing to be one of the first to leave in a split over the denomination’s stance on LGBTQ inclusion.
“As a leading voice for the use of women’s gifts, for ethnic diversity and justice issues, and for rigorous debate, First Church insists that faithfulness requires them to separate from the denomination that has reflected them and nurtured them,” Thomas Hoeksema, a regional representative of the CRC, told Christianity Today in an email. “They are clearly grieving.”
The CRC is the latest in a line of American churches riven by debates over homosexuality, from the Episcopal Church USA, to the Mennonite Church USA, to the Church of the Brethren, to United Methodist Church. Typically, it has been those on the traditionalist side of the debate who have felt forced to leave. The CRC, however, codified its opposition to homosexual sex in 2022, and in 2024 it instructed all congregations to either come into full alignment or separate.
Twenty three of the CRC’s nearly 1,000 congregations have officially notified the denomination of their intent to disaffiliate, but still more are having crucial conversations before taking any official action. In Classis Grand Rapids East, 10 churches are in the process of disaffiliating. Some, like First Church, once thought they had found a way to navigate doctrinal differences without disrupting denominational unity.
The historic Grand Rapids congregation began discussing sexuality in 2018, according to David Jacobs, chair of First Church’s leadership council, which is made up of its ministers, elders, and deacons. There were many different views, and the council sought to find some unity while allowing a lot of latitude.
Ultimately, First Church articulated its position like this:
“Recognizing the differences of Biblical interpretations regarding same-sex marriage and acknowledging that we are in a place of uncertainty, we move to invite all members of First Church to full participation in the life and ministry of the congregation. Neither sexual identity nor being in a same-sex relationship will impact a person’s membership or ability to fully participate at First Church.”
According to Jacobs, this was not an affirmation of same-sex relationships.
“We interpreted this as an inclusive but not affirming stand,” he told CT. “We never said that we interpret Scripture to say that God affirms same-sex marriages. We said that we wanted to operate in a way that includes everyone in the life and ministry of the church.”
Some members of First Church did feel compelled to leave because of the statement, Jacobs acknowledges. And the denomination did not find the compromise acceptable either.
According to a large majority of delegates to the CRC’s synod, the denomination needs to be clear on its teaching about sexual morality. It isn’t acceptable to allow some to offer caveats and give themselves congregational exemptions.
“We are a confessionally Reformed denomination, and we want to embrace that. We want to pursue that,” said Cedric Parsels, reporting from the synod for the Abide Project, a group that upholds the CRC’s historic view on sexuality.
The CRC does not claim ownership of individual church buildings through a trust clause, so the division of the denomination will probably not entail the same legal struggles seen in other splits. But people on both sides of the CRC division said they feel great sadness as they prepare to part ways.
Hoeksema served as a church visitor in Classis Grand Rapids East, representing the denomination to congregations that announced plans to leave the CRC.
According to denominational procedure, the purpose of the visit is, in part, to dissuade churches from disaffiliating. Hoeksema said there wasn’t much arguing, though.
“We are there to listen, to empathize with the difficulty of staying faithful to their discernment of God’s call, and to share what we know of the larger picture of what churches are doing,” he said. “We do not see our job as persuading churches to stay. We sometimes offer things to think about that haven’t been considered yet, and we ask probing questions to help church council members be clear in their thinking.”
First Church voted 143–16 in favor of disaffiliation.
Congregations staying in the denomination feel hurt by the separation too.
Darrin Compagner, the pastor of Shawnee Park CRC, which is just about three miles from First Church, described the disaffiliation as similar to Velcro pulling apart.
“We have family, friends, colleagues, neighbors in the disaffiliating churches,” Compagner said. “The statements they make, the decisions they make all impact us.”
The historic importance of First Church adds to the pain too. Many other congregations have looked to First Church as an example. It led the fight to welcome women into leadership and was out front on social justice issues.
But at some point, the disconnect was just too great, Compagner said.
“They thought they were taking the lead and the denomination would come around,” he told CT. “They presumed it would go like women in ordained office, and they were shocked when it didn’t.”
The 2022 synod vote was 123–53 for codifying the traditional views of sexual immorality. The 2024 vote was 134–50 against allowing congregational variance.
CRC general secretary Zachary King said he knows some people think that the denomination is forcing out First Church and others with different views on LGBTQ inclusion, but that’s just not true. Those congregations have moved out of alignment with CRC beliefs.
“We think we have stood on the position the church has had for the past 2,000 years, and at least on paper we have tried to do that in a gracious way,” King said.
The founding CRC congregation has not decided where it will go after finalizing its disaffiliation this spring. The church is considering several options, Jacobs said. It could become independent. It could join the Presbyterian Church (USA), a mainline denomination with a similar commitment to Calvinism. It could join the United Church of Christ, which includes many historic Reformed churches but has a congregationalist form of government.
First Church could also join the Reformed Church in America, the denomination it left in 1857 to found the CRC.
“But we are not going to make our decision on sentimental grounds,” Jacobs said.
The final vote will take place on Sunday, March 2. Later that month, the church has planned an event called Night of Remembering. Jacobs said the planning team envisions it “as a time of storytelling and remembering all the good things about our 168 years in the Christian Reformed Church.”
