Disaffiliation Resources

Overview of Disaffiliation

Book of Church Order: Article 38f

Article 38-f.

Supplement, Article 38-f

Additional Considerations:

Create a Timeline

Address credentialed ministers

Unity is key

For Emerging Congregations

Overview of Disaffiliation

The formal process requires a few months, beginning and ending with a Classis meeting. Since Classis normally meets only a few times a year, those dates are the key touchpoints for planning a timeline.

Briefly, a council notifies their Classis (with grounds) of their intent, the Classis sends visitors, the congregation votes the first time, and after at least a month the congregation votes again, and then finally Classis acknowledges the disaffiliation.

But note, while you have to navigate these steps to disaffiliate, the key factors are really A) “How fast do you want out?” and more critically, B) “Do you have a plan for landing when it's over?”

Book of Church Order: Article 38f

Article 38-f.

When a council decides to disaffiliate from the denomination, the set process for disaffiliation adopted by synod shall be followed. —Cf. Supplement, Article 38-f

Supplement, Article 38-f

A local congregation may disaffiliate from the denomination only according to the following procedure:

a. A church council which adopts a resolution to disaffiliate from the denomination shall inform its classis of its actions, ordinarily at the next scheduled meeting of classis. The council shall provide written grounds for its intention to withdraw.

b. Classis shall appoint representatives to meet with the council to attempt to dissuade the council from such action. Representatives of classis shall have the opportunity to meet in person with the council and to present written rebuttal to the council’s grounds. Meetings between the council and classical representatives shall continue no longer than two months unless both parties agree to a continuation.

c. If the council is not dissuaded by the classical representatives and wishes to continue the disaffiliation process, the council shall issue a call for a congregational meeting. It will present together with this call its written grounds for disaffiliation and any written rebuttal presented by the classical representatives.

d. Representatives of classis shall be informed of the time and location of congregational meetings at which a congregation’s withdrawal from the denomination is being considered and shall be given opportunity to persuade the congregation to remain within the denomination.

e. At the congregational meeting a preliminary vote may be taken following the discussion. If a majority favors withdrawal, a second meeting to confirm this decision shall be scheduled no earlier than one month and no later than one year following.

f. If the second congregational vote favors disaffiliation and the council follows through on its decision to disaffiliate, classis shall provide for the pastoral care of those members who wish to remain within the denomination.

g. If the congregation wishes to disaffiliate from the denomination, classis (and synod upon appeal) shall settle any disputes between differing factions within the disaffiliating congregation. The separation will be complete when classis (or synod upon appeal) declares it acquiesces in the decision of the congregation to disaffiliate from the denomination.

(cf. Acts of Synod 1997, pp. 613-14)

SAMPLE RESOLUTIONS TO DISAFFILIATE

2024-04-20_SSCRC_Resolution_to_Disaffiliate.pdf

Sherman Street CRC

2024-08-14 Loop CRC resolution to disaffiliate.pdf

Loop CRC

2024-08-28 First Toronto Final Disaffiliation Letter.docx.pdf

First Toronto CRC

2024-08-12_GraceCRC_DisaffiliationResolution.pdf

Grace CRC (GR)

Additional Considerations:

Create a Timeline

Begin by identifying the date (i.e. Synod year) your congregation desires to disaffiliate by. Identify when your local classis will meet in order to draft a timeline for the process your congregation will need to follow according to Article 38-f.

Address credentialed ministers

In order to avoid a gap in minster ordination credentials, prioritize the process of transferring ministerial credentials in the disaffiliation process. See Minister Resources for more information.

Unity is key

Congregations that have significant disagreement among their members regarding disaffiliation will have the greatest difficulty navigating the process. Note that:

Classis provides for members who wish to remain in the CRC.
Classis settles any disputes between different factions (or Synod upon appeal).
A member or group of members may appeal council’s decision, keeping in mind that appeals should only come in response to a lack of following the proper process itself.
A member or group of members may also appeal classis’ decision to acquiesce in the disaffiliation.
Your Articles of Incorporation may define what should happen to property in case of an internal schism. Often the traditional language has been that any group that wishes to remain with the CRCNA can claim all property, and dissenters may simply leave.

For Emerging Congregations

An emerging congregation does not have a council, so, as an organization, it does not have to follow Church Order Art. 38-f about a council of a church deciding to disaffiliate and then needing classis approval. It’s more a severing of relationship with the supervising council. So the emerging church should communicate with their supervising council about their plan to disaffiliate, and classis should be informed, even though it does not have to approve.

If any members of the emerging church want to remain in the CRC, their memberships would be held by the supervising church.

If the supervising council holds the emerging church's minister's credentials, the supervising council would have to ask classis to release the minister by Art. 14-b, if s/he wished to leave the CRC with their emerging church.

If the emerging church is led by a commissioned pastor, that person would be released by Art. 24-d, and classis concurrence is needed, as well as a declaration similar to those required in Art. 14-b for ministers.

If the classis or the supervising congregation is providing funding for the emerging church, there may be some considerations that would have to be sorted out when the emerging church left the CRC.

If the emerging church is legally incorporated, it would need to amend its articles of incorporation--but most emerging churches are not legally incorporated, unless they own their own property.

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