Author's Note – In the interest of clarity, I'd like to be up-front that while I sit on our synod-appointed Committee for Contact with Churches in North America (CCCNA), which has the mandate to represent the Canadian Reformed Churches at NAPARC, what follows is my own viewpoint and not an official commit­tee press release. As a member of the CCCNA, I have attended NAPARC a number of times and, as it happens, currently serve as the chairman of NAPARC. It's out of this experience and re­flection on our federation's interaction with this organization that I offer this article. It is the first of a planned series aimed at giving our readership insight into NAPARC and its function.

Almost every time I mention NAPARC to someone, I am met with a blank stare or a puzzled look. Even though as a federation of churches we have been attending meet­ings of NAPARC since 2001 as observers and since 2008 as members, it seems that many among us know little about it. And for those that do know something about NAPARC, sometimes incorrect assumptions are made. For example, some assume that all member churches are automatically sister churches with one another. For these reasons, it is good and necessary to give this organiza­tion our attention and clear the air so that we may rightly understand, appreciate, and properly make use of this thing called NAPARC.

The Council's Acronym⤒🔗

Well, what is NAPARC? Let me begin with the acro­nym which is normally pronounced, "Nay-Park." NA­PARC stands for the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council. It is a body of churches in North America which meets annually for a very limited and particular purpose. The member churches have all com­mitted themselves to the Reformed faith as expressed in the historic creeds of the Reformation, namely the Three Forms of Unity and/or the Westminster Standards. Mem­ber churches are also committed in their church govern­ment to rule by elders, normally referred to as Presbyter­ian church polity.

The Council held its first meeting in 1975 with five member churches. Presently the Council consists of twelve member churches with a thirteenth applicant be­ing considered. Meetings are held annually and are host­ed by member churches on a rotating basis. In November 2014 the Canadian Reformed Churches are slated to be the hosting body and so it is doubly valuable for us to become better acquainted with this council.

Advisory, Not Governing←⤒🔗

NAPARC is indeed a council. That in itself may raise eyebrows among us for we normally use the word "coun­cil" to refer to the meeting of the office bearers of our lo­cal church. Council for us is the consistory together with the deacons and is a decision-making body. A church council in our federation is a governing body (cf. Belgic Confession, Article 30) whose decisions have authority over the congregation. Is NAPARC this sort of council?

No. The term "council" can also describe a purely advisory body. Individual persons or parties (e.g. church­es) may voluntarily agree to meet together for some sort of mutually-beneficial purpose. This kind of council may have its own internal constitution and rules. Such a council may meet on a regular basis to consider and discuss matters of common interest to the members. However, it does not make decisions for any of the individual members. It only offers suggestions or advice but exercises no authority over any member's affairs. NAPARC is this sort of council – strictly advisory. This is clear from Article 4 of NAPARC's Consti­tution which states:

It is understood that all actions and decisions taken are advisory in character and in no way curtail or restrict the autonomy of the member bodies.¹

This is an important point which is not always under­stood among us: member churches are not bound in their own dealings by NAPARC decisions. Member churches remain self-governing bodies and thus also remain re­sponsible to do their own work and make their own deci­sions regarding, for example, ecclesiastical relationships.

Discussion Group←⤒🔗

Think of NAPARC as a discussion group for the churches. In the same way that you might join a Chris­tian book club to share ideas and gain insights, Reformed churches join NAPARC to share with and learn from one another. All sorts of opinions or collective decisions may be put forward at your book club but none of them carry authority for you – you have to decide for yourself. This is the same at NAPARC.

Your Christian book club might have a leader and a loose structure with criteria for membership. It may have very general criteria for membership (e.g. the person sim­ply has to say he is a Christian) or more particular stan­dards (e.g. the person needs to be a member of a Bible-be­lieving church) or strict standards (e.g., the person must be a communicant member in good standing in a faithful Reformed church). Whatever the book club decides about admitting a certain applicant is fine for the purposes of the book club, but that decision carries no authority for your personal relationship with the individual.

When you are in the meetings, you discuss matters under the assumption that all present are Christians. Out­side the meeting, in your personal relationships, things are different. Just because your book club admitted him as a Christian, that doesn't mean you are obligated to view him as a Christian outside the meeting, no questions asked. The club makes its decisions and you make yours.

For example, if a (younger) book club member want­ed to date your daughter, you'd have lots of questions to ask, wouldn't you?! Before you would allow that, you would want to verify for yourself that the young man is indeed committed to the Christian faith as a living mem­ber of a faithful Reformed church. Naturally, because he is a member of your Christian book club, you will begin such a discussion with the good hope that he is indeed a true believer and a living church member. His book club membership will be a hopeful sign but it's not yet proof positive of him being a committed Reformed believer and church member. You need to inquire further and learn more about his beliefs and lifestyle. Quite simply, you reserve the right to make that conclusion for yourself.

It's the same at NAPARC. NAPARC is a discussion group which has set particular standards for entry into the group. Those standards (adherence to the Reformed confessions) are good. It's a great starting point for a discussion on topics of mutual interest, concern, and benefit, but outside of that discussion group, member churches have to decide for themselves whether they can recognize each other as true and faithful churches and enter into sister-church relations.²

For that reason, it's premature for our members to re­quest attestations to a NAPARC church or for our church­es to receive members from another NAPARC church without any further ado. We're not that far yet. ³Infor­mation needs to be gathered and shared, questions need to be asked and answered, so that each church federation can see for itself what lives in the other and make its own assessment. Membership in NAPARC will certainly bring good hope and encouragement that each church will be found to be true and faithful, but each church reserves the right to make that conclusion for itself.

Permission Denied?←⤒🔗

Consider it from another angle: NAPARC may also re­fuse membership to certain churches for its own reasons. Perhaps the church cannot meet or cannot prove certain entry requirements as stated in the Constitution and so it is not accepted. Perhaps the required two-thirds majority vote of major assemblies could not be realized or at least not within the time set by NAPARC. The applicant church may be refused. That is the good right of any voluntary, advisory council or even any organization. Said church, then, may not be admitted to NAPARC but this does not in itself mean it is not a true church. Nor does its lack of acceptance into NAPARC disqualify it from being a sister church for any existing member church. Bi-lateral relations are unaffected by NAPARC decisions. Member churches retain both the authority and the responsibility to make that determination for themselves.

Self-Testimony←⤒🔗

This distinction is all the more important when we realize that churches are admitted to NAPARC largely on their own self-testimony. No sponsorship or recommen­dation by existing member churches is required.⁴

The ap­plicant church presents its confessions and church gov­ernment paperwork and gives an oral presentation about itself and why it wishes to be part of NAPARC. So long as they are not known to be deviant from the Reformed faith, they can be admitted to the discussion group. This is enough for the Council, according to the standards of its Constitution.

The Council regards each member church as true un­less proven otherwise. For a discussion group, this is fine. You have to start somewhere and the basis for NAPARC is a good place to begin. However, most member churches, CanRC included, will want more face-to-face discussion, more investigation, and more proof-positive of that claim before arriving at that conclusion in its formal relations with those church bodies. This is the good and necessary right of each church federation.

No Checks and Balances←⤒🔗

We need to understand that NAPARC is also not set up to be an overseeing body with any kind of investiga­tive task to ensure ongoing faithfulness. This is different in our church assemblies. Within our federation, we have checks and balances to ensure the proper government and faithful running of the churches. Church visitors come annually to every congregation to inquire about this very thing. The concurring advice of regional synod deputies is required at classis when certain weighty decisions are made. A consistory may proceed with church discipline only if classis grants its concurring advice. If decisions against Scripture or the Church Order are made by a lo­cal consistory, members may appeal to classis, regional synod, or even general synod as necessary. None of these sorts of overseeing mechanisms exist at NAPARC. NA­PARC admits members on their own self-testimony and maintains their membership largely on the same basis. Nobody is charged to validate that self-testimony.

It's only when a fellow member church happens to encounter a concern and feels it necessary to bring it up at NAPARC that such a thing will happen. This is not a requirement but something optional, as was done in the case of the Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA). As is well-known, in 1990, the CRC-NA general synod decided to open the offices of elder and minister to the sisters of the churches, contrary to what Scripture teaches. Did the CRCNA report on this major development to NAPARC and trigger a discussion on this major development? NAPARC minutes are silent on this. However, according to the minutes of NAPARC's 1990 meeting, it was the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC), a sister church of the CRCNA at that time, which, of its own accord, brought the matter to NAPARC's attention as a point of concern. ⁵

NAPARC did follow-up with the CRCNA and, when there was no repentance, eventually suspended (1998) and later terminated their membership (2002). We cer­tainly can commend NAPARC for taking this stand. It makes for a discussion group clearly committed to the Reformed faith. But the point is: neither the OPC nor any member was obligated by NAPARC's Constitution or By­laws to raise such a concern. If the OPC had not raised the issue, would NAPARC have addressed the CRCNA? Only if another member had raised the issue. Again, such an arrangement may be acceptable for a discussion group but is not sufficient for churches to go by for their own relationships. This is just another reason to keep separ­ate the responsibility and decisions of NAPARC from the responsibility and decisions of its member churches.

Great Opportunity←⤒🔗

Let's not lose sight of the fact, however, that NA­PARC provides a great opportunity for moving forward the process of getting to know other Reformed churches better! These careful and necessary distinctions about what NAPARC membership means and what it doesn't mean should not take away the fact that when NAPARC meets, a dozen churches in the same continent who lay claim to the same faith and express the desire to live accordingly are meeting around one table to get to know one another further! There's no other meeting in North America like it!

Discussions with neighbouring Reformed churches need to start somewhere and NAPARC provides a sol­id, confessional basis for those talks. NAPARC is a good vehicle to meet and greet fellow confessors, people not ashamed to call themselves Christian and Reformed. And from there the discussions toward fellowship and unity may, under God's blessing, develop and mature to God's glory.

We're rare birds in North America, you know truly Reformed folk, that is. All those dozen Reformed churches in NAPARC make up less than 750,000 people on a contin­ent that contains more than 450 million. Together, we're hardly a drop in the bucket. Not only does our Saviour desire us to be one (and so we are obligated to be unified), but in truth, in this hostile world, we need one another. I'm thankful for a discussion group like NAPARC to help bring us closer together.

So what does NAPARC discuss? What does it do?

What does NAPARC do?←⤒🔗

We saw that NAPARC is basically a formalized discussion group for committed, confessionally Reformed and Presbyterian churches. So, what does such a group actually do? Well, naturally it discusses things — things of mutual concern and benefit to member churches. The discussion is intended to set the groundwork for possible cooperative action among the member churches.

To be sure, any such action is not NAPARC's deci­sion but is decided upon by each individual church. As was explained previously, NAPARC is solely an advisory body which may make suggestions but exercises no au­thority over member churches. Discussion groups foster ideas but it's up to each member to decide what to do with those ideas.

NAPARC's Constitution sets out the general param­eters of the discussion in its second article when it de­scribes NAPARC as "a fellowship that enables the con­stituent churches to advise, counsel, and cooperate in various matters with one another and hold out before each other the desirability and need for organic union of churches that are of like faith and practice" (www.naparc.org; all subsequent quotations of the Constitution are taken from this location).

Three Sorts of Meetings←⤒🔗

There are three basic ways that NAPARC fosters dis­cussion:

1. the annual meeting of all member churches together;
    
2. church-to-church meetings where two or three delegations may meet privately (in the hours around the annual meeting);
    
3. consultation meetings where delegates from all churches are invited to share information and discuss all aspects of common tasks or callings such as mission work, diaconal, or world-relief work.

The single most obvious way that NAPARC gets dis­cussion going is by holding the general annual meet­ing, normally in November. This brings delegates from all member churches together in one place and, during this time, those other meetings can take place as well. Up until 2013, the annual meeting was held over a two-day period but beginning in 2014 it will be expanded to three days, the Lord willing. This is to allow for a longer NA­PARC meeting (with a few more agenda items) but also for more discussion between member churches outside of it.

Annual Meeting←⤒🔗

So, what does NAPARC's annual meeting look like? All member churches are invited to send up to four dele­gates. Often, non-member Reformed churches are invited to send observer delegates as a way to introduce them to the discussion and see whether NAPARC would be a good fit for them. Imagine, then, a large room filled with forty-plus delegates usually seated at tables, while fif­teen to twenty observer delegates are off to the side or back in rows of chairs. Formats will change depending on the venue as each church takes its turn to host.

At the front of the room sits the chairman together with the secretary. They, together with the vice-chairman and treasurer (who normally sit with their home church delegations), make up the executive of NAPARC. Each position is held for a one-year period with the possibility that the secretary and treasurer may be reappointed. In practice, these two positions have been held by the same trustworthy brothers for many years in a row. The pos­itions of chairman and vice-chairman rotate annually in sequence from church to church. 2013 was the year the Canadian Reformed Churches provided the chairman.

This November 11-13, 2014 the Canadian Reformed Churches will (DV) host NAPARC in the Grassie church building (southern Ontario). Members of local church­es may attend to observe the proceedings, something I would encourage, so please consider dropping in during those times (see www.naparc.org for more details as the date approaches). It would be good for our people to bet­ter understand what NAPARC is and does. A devotion­al or prayer service is being planned for the evening of November 11 as well to which church members in the area are invited to attend.

The Docket←⤒🔗

The main item on NAPARC's docket (what we would normally call its "agenda") is the reports received from each member church. Each church body submits in ad­vance a written report of life among its own congrega­tions over the past year. A delegate from that church will give an oral summary to the meeting. This report may highlight statistical growth or loss, key decisions of any broader assemblies, position papers that have been adopted, mission works, and particular blessings or struggles which the church may be experiencing. Inter­cessory prayer is often asked for.

By way of these reports, member churches become familiar with each other and can gain an appreciation for one another. There is opportunity to ask questions for further information and then another church delegation will lead the meeting in prayer for the reporting church. In that prayer, its specific joys and concerns are brought before the Lord. It's often very encouraging to hear the firm and faithful positions that member churches take when faced with controversial or outright false teach­ings or pressures to conform to the world. You can hear the God-given resolve in each church delegation to stay true to God's Word and remain consciously Reformed in a world of unbelief and liberal Christianity.

Committee of Review←⤒🔗

In 2009, NAPARC appointed a Committee of Review to study its own Constitution and Bylaws to see whether NAPARC was living up to its own stated goals. I think it's safe to say that the review was triggered by the thought that NAPARC could do this better. I don't think I'm alone in saying that while the annual meeting has value in helping to familiarize churches with each other, it has not (in these last years at least) been helpful in address­ing those things which keep member churches apart. In this respect, NAPARC has not offered much stimulation for churches to work toward union.

One of NAPARC's goals is to hold before member churches the "desirability and need for organic union of churches desire that are of like faith and practice" (NA­PARC Constitution, Art 2). Until 2013, that very point has not been on the annual agenda. What happens at the meeting, then, is much sharing (which is good) but very little analyzing of the things which separate and consequently very little brain-storming on how member churches themselves might work to overcome these and pursue unity.

That, however, is set to change in 2014. The Com­mittee filed its completed report in 2013 and NAPARC voted to make changes to both the Constitution and the Bylaws. These changes do not alter the substance of what NAPARC has always stood for but it is hoped that these changes will allow NAPARC to better attain its goals. The docket will now include reports on any consultations or conferences (which may have been held under the aus­pices of NAPARC) in order to share what was learned with all member churches. In particular, the agenda will include this item: "Discussion Regarding Progress To­wards Organic Union," which should help give focus and momentum to our calling to unify as believers.⁶

Church-to-Church Meetings←⤒🔗

One of the very practical benefits of the annual NA­PARC meeting is the opportunity for member churches to meet one-on-one with each other, or perhaps three or four churches together, as desired. This church-to-church meeting is the second kind of discussion that NAPARC provides for. Our own synodical committee (CCCNA) takes full advantage of this to arrange meetings with our sister churches (ERQ, OPC, RCUS) and churches we have contact with (RPCNA and, in the past, the FRCNA). Our Church Unity Coordinators have also attended NAPARC in recent years (as observers) in order to meet with their counterparts in the URCNA. These meetings allow us to strengthen our bonds of fellowship as well as address any issues of concern with one another.

There is also much informal contact between in­dividual delegates at breaks and meal times. Here we "bump into" people from denominations we are not fam­iliar with and begin to get to know each other. Our com­mittee members try to make it a point to sit with people from different churches, to mix and mingle widely so as to develop ties. This kind of work is pleasant and useful for the smooth running of NAPARC itself. It also helps to introduce our federation to others and vice versa. Such informal contact may help in future should the churches, through general synod, ever mandate the CCCNA to pur­sue formal contact with one or more of them.

Consultation Meetings←⤒🔗

The third form of discussion that NAPARC fosters is what are called "consultations" on issues shared by member churches. Member churches are free (but not required) to send delegates to take part in sharing in­formation about the particular challenges and strategies member churches each face in a certain area of church life. For example, a regular consultation on home mis­sion and world mission work has taken place in recent years just prior to the annual meeting. Our federation has taken part in the latter and the word back is that such discussions are very useful.

Since all churches do mission work, we can learn from one another in how to go about it, how to handle special difficulties, what approaches work and what do not. The new agenda for the annual NAPARC meeting will include the reporting of all such consultations. This should help make those discussions even more profitable, particularly for churches which were not able to send delegates to the consultation.

This area of NAPARC cooperation could be even more effectively used for other issues of common con­cern. Consultations among relief agencies (like our CRWRF), which most member churches have, would be helpful in building a network of contacts for disaster re­lief and to generally learn from each other worthwhile tactics as well as pitfalls to avoid. We don't need to re­-invent the wheel. The same could be said for Christian education, Catechism instruction, diaconal work, or even theological training. Comparing notes with fellow Re­formed believers on matters we all work on can be very advantageous while at the same time drawing us closer together in Christian fellowship. Since NAPARC doesn't organize this but rather "encourages" consultations, it is up to member churches to initiate them. This is an aspect of NAPARC that our churches (or better: the agencies within our churches) should take more advantage of.⁷

Conferences←⤒🔗

NAPARC's Constitution allows for the possibility of calling together conferences (with voluntary attendance) or even appointing study committees. NAPARC minutes show that, in the more distant past, both of these things have been done but since our federation's time at NA­PARC we haven't witnessed this. The study papers re­ceived by NAPARC over the decades have recently been dug out of the archives and are being prepared for publi­cation on NAPARC's website. Sharing in conferences on subjects of mutual interest could be, like the more private consultations, of significant mutual benefit. It is yet an­other way to grow closer while sharpening one another as "iron sharpens iron" (Proverbs 27:17).