Boot Urges Church to Trust God; Minister to a Broken World

In his final state-of-the-church address as executive director of the Christian Reformed Church, Rev. Joel R. Boot lifted up the image of a child with a serious disease held in God’s loving arms.

With a projected image of cradled arms behind him, Boot told of his seven-year-old granddaughter, Addison Post, fighting rheumatoid arthritis and other ailments since birth.

For the design on a t-shirt for an arthritis fundraiser, she chose the quote Boot had invoked in his first and final sermons as her pastor at Ridgewood CRC in Jenison, Mich: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27).

Boot urged delegates to Synod 2014 to keep Addison’s faith in mind as they face a world of pain and need.

“We do well each moment to put these hands, ours, into those hands, God’s,” Boot told delegates Monday night. “And realize the everlasting arms are beneath us, and there we must work together.”

In an emotional speech, Boot celebrated the church’s progress during his three-year tenure and challenged it to do more. He was appointed interim executive director in 2011 and agreed to extend his term last year after a nominee withdrew.

Following his address, synod interviewed and appointed Dr. Steve Timmermans to the CRC’s top leadership post.

“While we looked (for a new executive director), God led,” Boot said. “And though patience sometimes wore thin, and hope was frequently wounded along the way, the wait was worth it, and we are better for it.”

He wiped away tears as delegates gave him an extended standing ovation at the end of his talk. Synod president Rev. Scott Greenway fought tears of his own as he praised Boot’s handling of a difficult transition after the previous executive director stepped down.

“You have served well,” Greenway said. “You have sought to be transparent and you have always been honest. It’s just been a joy watching you serve.” 

Boot said he had misgivings after being appointed, asking himself, “What have I done?” But he added, “Now I can much more clearly stand amazed and say, thank God for what he has done and continues to do.”

Praising the “upheaval” God has brought to the CRC in the past three years, Boot talked of the church’s widening engagements: closer collaboration with the Reformed Church in America, membership in the World Communion of Reformed Churches, and progress toward becoming a binational church.

“We are truly leaning into the future, not waiting for it to come,” Boot said. “We are people on a journey.”

He also pointed to progress toward inclusion, with the CRC employing 20 percent people of color and 20 percent women in upper leadership positions. But he said much remains to be done there and also in the church’s response to problems such as climate change and illegal immigration.

“In a broken world filled with broken people, the initial stance must be a broken heart and not an argument about a broken law,” he said.

And while acknowledging membership losses and shortfalls in Ministry Shares, Boot urged churches to spread the good news beyond their walls and place their trust in God.

“God can do nothing for me until I get to the limit of the possible,” Boot said. “So right here, at the limit of the possible, I remind us all that the eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”

For continuous coverage of Synod 2014 including the live webcast, news, video recordings, photos, liveblog, social media links, and more visit www.crcna.org/synod