Speaking during the RCA’s recent 204th General Synod at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, James Seawood said the church has been negligent in its promotion of social justice both at home and abroad.
In his proposal to craft a social justice strategy, Seawood referenced the Belhar Confession, a declaration of church unity and racial reconciliation drafted amid apartheid in 1980s South Africa.
After adopting the Belhar statement last year as the RCA’s fourth standard of unity, its first addition since 1619, the General Synod ratified the confession with a 163-41 vote.
— Matt Vande Bunte
The Grand Rapids Press
