Category Archives: Uncategorized

A secret meeting took place right out in the open. Although after church that evening of November 15 I noticed the elders gathered together in the corner of the narthex, I didn’t think much of it. A few members of the congregation noticed too, with one of them commenting on the fact that the elders,Continue reading “Secrecy”

The work of the consistory was now characterized by disorder. It started when we passed a motion requiring Rev. Lanning to resign as editor. This was not a principled decision, as has been shown. One ground dredged up an old decision for the sake of expediency, and the other ground lied to the congregation aboutContinue reading “Disorder”

Did Rev. Lanning militate against his consistory? In the advice brought to Byron’s consistory, which advice Byron’s consistory adopted wholesale, the church visitors wrote, “Rev. Lanning militated against the settled and binding decision of his own consistory.” As evidence, they provided the following: a. The Byron Center consistory decided on November 11, 2020 that Rev.Continue reading “Good Order”

The decision taken by the Byron Center PRC consistory on November 10, 2020, to require Rev. Lanning to resign as editor from Sword & Shield was a bad decision. But it was more than just a bad decision. It was cruel. Comparisons are odious, but imagine that your boss calls you into his office andContinue reading “Deceit”

On Tuesday, November 10, 2020, the consistory of Byron Center PRC passed a motion to “require Rev. Lanning to resign as the editor of Sword & Shield.” (The committee’s recommendation is here. My protest against the decision, which lays out my principle objections to the motion, is found here.) The consistory had faced the questionContinue reading “Crossroads”

What will this blog do, and what will it not do? What this blog will not do is give a full history of the controversy. I disqualified myself from writing that history. I did that by behaving myself wickedly when the controversy first arose. Instead of reading the documents and trying to understand the issues,Continue reading “A Strait Betwixt Two – Introduction (2)”

Here are words I never thought I would say: “I am not Protestant Reformed.” Bewilderment. Anxiety. Fear. Turmoil. How could this happen? Paul, in Philippians 1:23, writes, “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better.” To be in a strait isContinue reading “A Strait Betwixt Two – Introduction (1)”