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The Moreleta Park summit has issued the following press release following the fact that ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church can now apply to the Department of Home Affairs to confirm same-sex commitments.
The impression created by the press release is that the Dutch Reformed Church has applied on behalf of all ministers in the Dutch Reformed Church to confirm same-sex commitments. However, this does not appear to be entirely accurate. In Gustav Claassen's initial communication , the following is stated:
Author To authorize ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church, who would apply and meet the specific requirements, to fulfill same-sex commitments within the Republic of SA.
and
A legitimate minister, who wants to exercise the option to confirm same-sex commitments…
However, one must take into account the fact that the state has already stated that no government official may refuse to confirm a same-sex commitment. So the question is: for how long will ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church still be given that choice?
A simple solution to this problem, however, is for ministers to relinquish their right as marriage certifiers. In such a case, he only marries couples in church and must marry the couple separately in court to comply with the legal aspects.
PRESS RELEASE
6 AUGUST 2020
Subject: Home Affairs' approval to the DRC for the fulfillment of same-sex commitments
The Follow-up Panel of the 2020 Special Summit Moreleta Park, took note with shock and dismay of media reports that the Dutch Reformed Church (NG Church) has now officially applied to the Minister of the Interior through the General Synodal Office to be designated as a religious organization which confirms same- sex commitments in terms of the Civil Bond Act (Act 17 of 2006). Several inquiries were received from pastors and members, who were upset about the untimely and unauthorized conduct of the General Synodal Office. Synods, presbyteries, church councils, pastors and members are requested to speak out strongly against this action and to officially distance themselves from it, for the following reasons:
1. It was not decided at the General Synod of 2019 to apply to the Department of Home Affairs on behalf of the Dutch Reformed Church as a denomination for the appointment of legitimate members of the Dutch Reformed Church to be confirmers of civil unions.
2. The General Synod of 2019 has decided that only for pastors who want to confirm same-sex commitments, application will be made for registration with the Minister of Home Affairs.
3. It was not decided at the General Synod of 2019 that applications for appointment as confirmer of civil commitments may be made by the Office of the General Synod .
4. Applications to the Department of Home Affairs for legitimized persons of the Dutch Reformed Church to be appointed as marriage confirmers in terms of the Marriage Act (Act 25 of 1961), are made by the synodal offices (cf. Rules for Occupation, Confirmation, Resignation and Retirement of Ministers , 10.9.1) and therefore any related matters in the field of the regional synods belong.
5. An official in the service of the General Synod has not received any instruction or power from the General Synod to apply in terms of the Civil Commitments Act for the appointment of confirmers of civil commitments.
The Acts of the General Synod 2019 have not yet been published, with the result that decisions of the General Synod taken in 2019 have not yet come into effect.
7. While the Dutch Reformed Church is sharply divided on the issue of same-sex unions, and synods, presbyteries and church councils have the right to make their own decisions about it, this now becomes a decision of the General Synod at all other church meetings in the Dutch Reformed Church enforced.
8. The Civil Commitments Act makes it possible for legitimized persons of the Dutch Reformed Church to apply directly to the Minister of the Interior to be appointed as confirmers of civil commitments.
9. A number of legitimized members of the Dutch Reformed Church have already obtained such an appointment on their own initiative, either under their own name or in the name of a religious organization other than the Dutch Reformed Church, and have been fulfilling civic commitments for years, regardless of the decisions of the Dutch Reformed Church.
Pressure was presumably exerted on the Office of the General Synod with other motives and wrongfully to apply for it on behalf of the Dutch Reformed Church, and not only on behalf of pastors who want to confirm same-sex commitments.
11. This was done to compromise the Dutch Reformed Church in all its meetings and all legitimized members of the Dutch Reformed Church, including those who strongly disapprove of such commitments on biblical theological grounds.
12. The way in which the public media communicated the approval of the Dutch Reformed Church's application, by not maintaining the distinction between marriage and civil unions, as by the two separate laws and the decisions of the General Synod 2019, has already led to great damage inside and outside the Dutch Reformed Church.
13. Due to the fact that the decisions of the General Synod 2019 are considered unbiblical and unchurched, and due to the fact that a number of church meetings have already declared a formal dispute about it with the General Synod, neither the General Synod Office nor regional synods can 's proxy (s) nor legitimate persons of the Dutch Reformed Church act in this matter, before the Scriptural foundation, legality and legality of the decisions have been determined, and the disputes that exist have been properly resolved.
Legitimized members of the Dutch Reformed Church who have an appointment as a marriage certifier in terms of the Marriage Act are requested to write a letter to their synodal office as an indemnity requesting that the Minister of Home Affairs be notified in writing that the marriage certifier is based on of conscience, religion and belief, objected to the confirmation of civil commitments. In this letter, the full details of the marriage certifier (name, surname, address, church affiliation and appointment number) must be provided.
Church meetings, office bearers and members who support this declaration or in the light of it also now want to declare or declare a dispute with the General Synod, are invited to contact the drafters at beraad@moreleta.co.za