To:  The Congregation of the Canadian Reformed Church of Aldergrove          June 10, 2009

Dear brothers and sisters:       

1) Introduction
 
In my previous letters I asked the congregation to join me in calling consistory back to faithfulness to the Three Forms of Unity and the Church Order.  Sadly, consistory has not indicated any willingness to return to the truth.  Instead, consistory has hardened itself in sin, and is proceeding with my public excommunication.  As I mentioned in my May 21, 2009 letter all the marks of the true church are at stake.
 
2) Pure Preaching of the Gospel
 
The first mark of the true church, the pure preaching of the gospel is no longer present in Aldergrove.  By signing the subscription form each consistory member has agreed to be bound to the confessions, however, consistory does in fact not abide by the confessions.  While consistory maintains from the pulpit that our covenantal status depends on our believing in Christ, we confess that our covenantal status has been sealed at our baptisms (cf. Lord's Days 26 and 27 of the Heidelberg Catechism).  Moreover, consistory has agreed to admit as members those who have not professed the reformed faith, who have not declared allegiance to the Three Forms of Unity.  As a result, Aldergrove consistory no longer maintains confessional membership, which according to Rev. Van Dellen and Prof. Monsma is our ‘reason for being’ The Church Order Commentary (3rd edition page 251).  Finally, what is true and right (the secessions in Lynden and Abbotsford), has been proclaimed from the pulpit as blasphemy.
 
3) Pure Administration of the Sacraments
 
The second mark of the true church, the pure administration of the sacraments, is also lacking in Aldergrove.  While we confess that Christ has instituted wine as a sacrament of His blood (Art. 35 BC), in reality the use of wine has been 'abolished' by consistory.  We also confess that the church is duty-bound to exclude from the table of the Lord all those who by their confession and life show that they are unbelieving and ungodly (Lord's Day 30 of the Heidelberg Catechism).  However, by accepting members from churches that do not practice confessional membership, consistory has agreed to admit to the Lord's table both members and guests about whom nothing is known regarding their doctrine and life.  This practice is also in conflict with Article 61 of the Church Order, which consistory has agreed to maintain.
 
4) Proper Use of Church Discipline
 
The true church exercises church discipline for correcting and punishing sins, whereas the false church persecutes those who live holy lives according to the Word of God and who rebuke the false church for its sins, greed, and idolatries.  When I present arguments from scripture, confession, and the Church Order and consistory does not interact with them; and instead insists that I obey consistory anyway; then Christ is no longer functioning as the head of the Church.  Instead, Aldergrove consistory is assigning more authority to itself and its ordinances than to God.  In its May 15, 2009 letter to the congregation, consistory has responded to my public letters with many statements that are simply untrue or are incomplete.  While I have exposed these fallacies in my May 21, 2009 letter to the congregation, consistory has not interacted with the material that I have presented.  Rather than take responsibility for the fallacies that consistory has advanced, consistory persecutes 'the messenger' by proceeding with excommunication.
 
5) Call
 
I call upon you, the congregation, to break with the lie.  In accordance with Article 28 of the Belgic Confession we have the duty ‘to separate from those who do not belong to the church and to join this assembly wherever God has established it’.  I, and my family, hereby secede and ask the congregation to join us in seceding from the Canadian Reformed Church of Aldergrove, and in uniting with the Liberated Reformed Church at Abbotsford, which meets at 10AM and 2PM at the premises of The Coast Hotel, 2020 Sumas Way, Abbotsford, B.C.   As we read in Rev. 18:4 "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities."
 
 
       With brotherly greetings,
 

           Maurice Vantil