her response to the charismatic movement and particularly the
phenomenon called the "Toronto Blessing," Hofman said that she has attended
the "Toronto Blessing" meetings, and would not discourage anyone from
attending. "I don't know what God might have in mind for any of us....said
Hofman, referring to the movement of the Spirit in people's lives. "Go," she
advised, "but go with discernment."
Asked about the growing movement toward cooperation from some in the
evangelical community with Roman Catholics, Hofman said that the Catholic
Church was not the same church "that it was when we protested it" at the time
of the Reformation, and said that there is more attention to the Word of God
in the Catholic Church then there once was. "We're a lot closer together than
we once were."
Although not asked directly about her position on thewhat they
consider to be inequality and an imbalance in the church. Hofman firmly
disagreed with that position. "I don't need to change my image of God....I
know that my God is a transcendent God."
Synodical deputy Dr. H. Vander Plaat representing Classis Niagara, reopened
the homosexuality issue when he posed a question that was raised in the
debates over women in office in his classis a few years earlier. "What do you
say to the argument that the issue of women in office necessarily opens the
door to the acceptance of homosexual ministers?" asked Vander Plaat.
"I don't see the consequence is necessarily there," said Hofman, citing
examples of denominations which for years have ordained women ministers and
yet do not have homosexuals in the pulpit.
Comparing the state of women in creation and the state of homosexuality,
Hofman asked