FROM ARTICLE ON RCA.ORG
for full article – TEXAS CLASSIS
Last fall, a new RCA classis quietly launched, but the excitement and momentum surrounding it resounds loud and clear.
The name—International Classis of Texas—points to both the current reality and the vision for the classis.
“‘International’ states exactly what the composition is already,” says Rev. Dale Assink, executive strategist for the Regional Synod of the Heartland, which launched the new classis. “A majority of the churches are Spanish-speaking ministries. We’ve also had contact with a leader who is relocating to Austin, Texas, and would like to plant a Chinese church there, so it really will be international. ‘International’ also points to our existing connections with a number of leaders in Argentina. We will continue those relationships. And the goal is to have RCA churches and classes in Argentina and elsewhere.”
The inclusion of “Texas” in the classis name is also a both/and reference. The seven church plants and one organized church in the classis are based in Texas and have international ties: RCA City Church (Houston), Iglesia Reformada Gracia Latina (Round Rock), Path, Truth, and Life (Katy), Iglesia Remanente de Gracia (Mission), Iglesia Reformada Luz del Valle (Mission), Iglesia Cristiana Alianza RCA (Pharr), Iglesia Aliento de Vida (Pharr), and Rockhills Church (San Antonio). There are a growing number of RCA connections in the state. Five new RCA churches in Texas, organized in November, are anticipating joining the new classis next year. The churches are currently part of Classis of the Americas, but need the approval of a General Synod to transfer across Regional Synod lines.
However, Rev. Fabio Sosa, mission advancement director for the Regional Synod of the Heartland, is clear that geography is not a limitation for this classis—and that it will not just be a Hispanic classis.
“We’re going to have churches and pastors who are Hispanic in the classis, but it does not have the characteristic of saying that this is a Hispanic classis. We will start with these churches in Texas, then expand. We’re talking with churches in Washington, D.C., and with churches in Latin America and Africa,” he says, via Spanish–English translator Rick Clark, who also serves as project manager for Central Plains Classis. “We need to be able to connect with the global church. The more we deal with churches on an international level, we begin to realize that things are not going to be the same, cannot be done the same way as we have done domestically.”
Assink says the new classis points to a new reality for the RCA.
“We are witnessing a movement of God that is so awesome and future-changing! For us it has been worth all the adjustments,” he says. “The International Classis of Texas really becomes a symbol of the new season of how God is calling the RCA into the future. It’s very diverse and free of racism—that’s a challenge for all of us: to be accepting of other cultures. The RCA is no longer just North America. The new classis represents the challenges of working cross-culturally and internationally. It opens a new chapter of credentialing new leaders, the majority of whom are bivocational. God is expanding us in new and fresh ways.
“Texas is the Lone Star State—it’s the star that is alerting the denomination to something miraculous and new.”
A few other RCA classes also have international connections, such as Classis de las Naciones, which has enfolded a denomination from the Dominican Republic for a time until it can be independent and self-sustaining. (The original two-year time period has been extended.) Central Plains Classis has also been handling requests from leaders and churches in Argentina who want to join the RCA, as cited in this explanation of RCA international church planting initiatives.