Board President Reports on CRC’s Direction

Kathy Vandergrift, president of the CRC’s Board of Trustees, told synod that the six years she has served on the board have been “a time of significant change.

“I am confident that the changes position the CRCNA well for the [future],” she said. “Structure, culture, leadership, ministry priorities—all have been reviewed.”

After years of transition, all three top leadership positions in the CRC have been filled, she reminded synod. These three—Steve Timmermans, executive director; Colin Watson, director of ministries and administration; and Darren Roorda, Canadian Ministries director—are working as a team, and those who work under their leadership are “overwhelmingly positive” in their evaluations, Vandergrift said.

“Some said team leadership would not work, that we need a boss, or a pope, but team leadership is working,” she said. “And it makes us more resilient in a rapidly changing context.”

“We heard from churches that we need a stronger focus on working with the local church,” she said. An example of how this is happening “is the move to make published resources freely available through electronic means so every member of every church can find what we need in our situation or particular work.”

The Board of Trustees is also aiming for collaboration between agencies, she added. “We are opening up silos within the organizations, a need that the board heard over and over again. We are taking a positive rather than begrudging approach to our two-nations character.”

“The way we work together and the way we govern ourselves are part of our witness,” she concluded.

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