Director of Ecclesiastical Governance Sought

The Christian Reformed Church in North America is seeking a director of ecclesiastical governance, responsible for supporting and encouraging effective ecclesiastical governance of the denomination, especially through synod and the Council of Delegates. This is a new position that will replace what has been known as director of synodical services. Applications are due by the end of August.

“CRCNA leadership recognizes that our ecclesiastical assemblies have been and will continue to deal with weighty and difficult governance matters,” said Zachary King, general secretary of the CRCNA, about this shift in job position. “Now, more than ever, these assemblies need resourcing and support to help shepherd and guide the congregations that have delegated them with authority. Good governance empowers mission and ministry. That's what this position is all about.”

The director of synodical services role was filled by Dee Recker from 2007 until January 2023, and the emphasis was primarily on facilitating and supporting the operations of both synod and the Council of Delegates. Upon Recker’s retirement, the position was filled by Scott DeVries, who passed away from cancer in April of this year. Joel Vande Werken has filled in as an interim associate director of synodical services since April, and his role will continue through August of this year. 

King said that with DeVries’s passing, there has been an opportunity to reconsider the position and how it could be structured. Some of the duties related to organizing and running synod will be passed to other staff in the department of synodical services. At the same time, duties related to classis support and renewal, which had lain dormant since Al Postma transitioned from his classis renewal position to become executive director-Canada, will be picked up by this new position focused on ecclesiastical governance. 

“We are shifting duties and responsibilities between existing CRCNA staff members and agencies to offer more support to the classes,” said King. “We know classes will need more support moving forward.”

This includes a special emphasis on supporting ethnic minority leaders as well. 

“We believe that a key adaptive change God is calling us to as a denomination is to see our ethnic minority leaders more involved in ecclesiastical governance. This is a critical step for our denomination in aligning ourselves with the biblical vision of the church as a body made up of all nations, tribes, languages, and peoples,” said King.

In addition, the director of ecclesiastical governance will be tasked with emphasizing the spiritual dimension of governance and ministry. This includes finding ways to better incorporate prayer and spiritual disciplines into all aspects of deliberations and decision making. 

“Our vision is to be a denomination that seeks God's face in all our ministry,” said King. 

Applications for this position are now available, and candidates are encouraged to apply by Aug. 30. The successful candidate can be Canadian or American with the ability to work in a hybrid way out of the Grand Rapids, Mich., or the Burlington, Ont., office. The preferred candidate will have experience in congregational and classis leadership, interest and expertise in church polity, experience in and/or willingness to develop intercultural ministry, and the capacity to excel in working as part of a team. 

A search team made up of CRCNA staff, COD members, and congregational leaders will review candidates with the aim of bringing the top choice to the COD meeting in October for approval.