(RNS) A minister who was forced to step down from the top executive post in the Christian Reformed Church last year because of alleged inappropriate conduct has been reinstated to active ministry.
The council of Bethel Christian Reformed Church in Lansing, Ill., recently voted to lift a six-month suspension of Calvin Bremer, a member of the suburban Chicago congregation. Bremer was put on suspension last September after he was forced to step down as the newly appointed executive director of the Grand Rapids-based denomination in August. Bremer admitted to an inappropriate relationship with a female colleague with whom he worked closely when he was director of the “Back to God Hour.”
The reinstatement makes Bremer eligible to be called as a minister to one of the denomination’s more than 1,000 congregations. The local church council said it “heartily recommends” Bremer.
The denomination’s Board of Trustees, however, issued a carefully worded statement in response to the council’s action, saying further comment would be “difficult at this time.” The board has no direct oversight over the church in Illinois that reinstated Bremer.
Peter Borgdorff, the denomination’s interim executive director, said the 30-member board has “reservations” about the reinstatement, “partly because it’s fairly soon after the suspension was imposed.”
