Elliot J. Weidenaar, RfA Board President
Today, many of us learned that the Reverend Dr. James V. Brownson has passed into the presence of Jesus Christ. A brilliant New Testament scholar who used his towering intellect to call the church forward into greater Christlikeness, he became a General Synod Professor and eventually, General Synod Professor Emeritus. He taught many of our siblings in the Reformed Church in America over the years, as Professor Emeritus at Western Seminary.
Dr. Brownson’s work was always aimed at reframing the conversations the church was having, whether that was on the questions Christians ought to ask, the sacrament of baptism, or the churches debate on human gender and sexuality. His 2013 book Bible, Gender, and Sexuality, published out of Eerdmans in Grand Rapids, showed a quiet determination to meet queer people and the Bible where each was, in spite of (or, knowing Rev. Dr. Brownson, because of) the many voices which filled the air waves of the Reformed Church in America.
The Rev. Dr. Brownson was a rostered minister with Room for All and a member of one of our earliest and most vocal rostered congregations, Hope Church in Holland, Michigan. We here at Room for All are mourning the loss of Dr. Brownson today with all who were touched by his ministry and teaching. We are also incredibly thankful for the bravery Rev. Dr. Brownson displayed in writing Bible, Gender, and Sexuality as a General Synod Professor so soon after Rev. Dr. Norman Kansfield’s trial. And we look forward to loving and learning with him again, this time in glory, at the feet of the everlasting Trinity.