Leaders in the Christian Reformed Church presenting to the Council of Delegates at its February meeting stressed that the upcoming 10-year plan for church planting and renewal needs personal participation from all corners of the denomination, even as some questioned the practicality of its “aspirational” goals.
Lesli van Milligen, director of the CRC’s Thrive ministry, said it’s important as the denomination heads into approving a plan at this year’s synod that the congregations “not see church planting as one possible way that we can engage in the work of the CRC and (congregational) renewal as another possibility, because what happens is we end up having a menu where congregations can say ‘we're not really interested in planting a church,’ and ‘we're doing great, we don't need renewal,’ so the third item on the list is ‘we're not going to do anything.’” Instead, Milligen suggested, the prongs of church planting shepherded by Resonate Global Mission and church renewal shepherded by Thrive can together “work toward a culture shift in the denomination” focused on transformation. Thrive’s tool for starting that is a learning and discernment process called Thriving Essentials.
The CRC’s Office of General Secretary, Resonate, Thrive, and several if not all classes (regional assemblies of churches) in the CRC have been working to contribute to “a vision, plan, strategy, and financial proposal for church planting” that Synod 2025 requested be set before the churches at Synod 2026. “This plan should specify the number of churches we aspire to plant, the strategy necessary to raise up leaders for this movement, and the resources necessary to carry out this plan—specifically financial but also otherwise,” Synod 2025 said (Agenda and Acts of Synod 2025, p. 709).
At its October meeting the Council of Delegates contributed by responding to Resonate church planting leader Tim Sheridan’s reflection questions on discipleship and multiplication; the November Multiply conference continued the conversation; and Thrive presented the church renewal portion of the plan to the Council’s February meeting.
Van Milligen said Thrive and Resonate are working together, having shared the renewal and planting plans at a two-day intensive retreat. What will come to Synod 2026 encompasses both.
Thrive’s renewal plan “will be presented fairly cohesively alongside the church-planting initiative so that we can do the work in a fulsome way using both of the plans,” van Milligen said.
Melissa van Dyk, Canada at-large delegate, expressed concern that local church leaders are too overextended to take on another initiative. “I hear your strong encouragement for us to be taking Thriving Essentials and especially as a congregation—the more people involved is where you’ve seen the most benefit … but what do you do when you see leadership burnt out?”
Van Milligen acknowledged the challenge. “We've asked our congregations to participate in two huge initiatives—renewal and church planting—and if we don't find ways to engage them, it's just going to be a burden. It's not going to be something that is life-giving.”
Knowing that encouraging renewal in all places is the goal, van Milligen suggested Thrive is available to help churches find a way to start. “Talk with us,” she urged delegates. “Let's figure out using a regional connector, or maybe a regional mission leader (from Resonate). We can brainstorm to help you, so it's not a burden for you to bear but a possibility.”
Identifying clear roles and responsibilities to provide support for church planters is one of six core elements of the developing strategic plan. Separate working groups are focusing on the different elements—the church planter support along with multiplying congregational leaders, growing diaspora support, engaging dying churches, deepening global connections, and clarifying a sustainable financial plan—with the results to be brought together before the Council of Delegates’ May meeting, to go to Synod 2026.
Mike Johnson, Classis Rocky Mountain, chair of the Council’s Resonate committee, said he counted “37 different people in these working groups, populated with a lot of Resonate and Thrive leaders” but also by “people outside the CRC institution. They're all CRC people, officebearers, many of them, and yet, they're more entrepreneurs who are specializing in something around church planting or discipleship, and that's really good to see.”
Van Dyk asked about the numbers in the draft framework for the 10-year church-planting plan. “Point one has the ‘aspirational goal of raising up 2,000 leaders in the next decade,’ and point three has the ‘aspirational goal of planting 1,000 churches in the next decade.’ … I don't want to be the one that's squelching the spirit, but I also feel, when I think about staff care and realistic expectations and what my responsibility may be on the Council of Delegates, I think it's to name that that aspirational goal is concerning.”
Johnson said it’s not the first time “I've heard (someone) say these numbers are unrealistic,” and Resonate director Kevin DeRaaf said, “Our leadership team would share the same concern” Van Dyk expressed. DeRaaf said the framework came out of the mandate from Synod taken up in discussions at the Multiply conference, with people “saying, ‘How do some big goals get set?’”
DeRaaf clarified that the framing document will be distilled and “what is most significant is the plan that will go to Synod.” He anticipates that plan to have more realistic expectations, noting, “If we're going to have big numbers, there has to be math behind them,” including multiplication in the classes.
“What would it look like for each classis over the next three years to imagine supporting or planting one church, and then over the next three years after that, two churches, and so on. How would that add up?” DeRaaf asked.
Herb Schreur, Classis Northcentral Iowa, suggested, “We have to have enough faith to make a plan big enough that it will not work without God. Yes, we can't shoot for the moon, but we also have to make sure that we do not limit our God by our limitations.”