Two or three times each year, Christian Reformed churches send representatives to their classis, a regional assembly of churches.
Many of the actions taken by classes are governed by the CRC’s Church Order, the rules that govern denominational life. Here are some of the actions by classes in the past several months. (Unless otherwise noted, quotations come from minutes of the classis. Links to the relevant articles of Church Order are included.)
Candidates examined and approved for ministry in the Christian Reformed Church (Arts. 6 and 10): Peter Urie Bae, Joseph Bartels, Tha Bawi, Josiah Chapman, David Kerkstra, Dylan Kern, Young Geol Lee, Kevin Lobert, and Matt Mulder.
Ministers welcomed from other denominations: Revs. Yordanys Diaz and Samuel Lim (Art. 8-c) and Shawn Gerbers and Derek Noorman (Art.8-b).
Ministers loaned (Art. 12-d): Revs. Tim Holwerda to Heliopolis Community Church in Cairo, Egypt; Matt Mulder to Midland (Mich.) Reformed Church; Kathy Vana to Rehoboth Reformed Church (Alliance of Reformed Churches) in McBain, Mich.
Loan extended: Rev. Norlyn Van Beek to First Presbyterian Church of Sibley, Iowa.
Ministers releasedfrom ministry in a congregation via Art. 17-a: Revs. Tom Vander Ploeg from Fellowship CRC in Grandville, Mich., and Chad Pierce (ordained in the Reformed Church in America) from Faith CRC in Holland, Mich.; via provisions of the Alliance of Reformed Churches: Rev. Joel Zuidema from First Reformed Church of Fremont, Mich.
Declared eligible for call: Vander Ploeg.
Eligibility extended: Revs. Pete Byma, Rob Gruessing, Todd Hillkemann, Phil Leo, Peter Oh, Greg Vander Horn, and Jeremy Vandermeer.
Leaving Ministry in the CRC
Classes may end a pastor’s ordained ministry status guided by Church Order articles 14 and 17. In the case of Art. 14, designations of release (reflecting the manner and spirit in which the minister acted during the time leading up to and including resignation from office) are “honorably released,” “released,” “dismissed,” or in the “status of one deposed.”
Honorably released via Art. 14-a: Kristen Pikaart; Art. 14-b: Sheri Admiraal, Sam Boldenow, Calvin Chen, Adrian R. de Lange, Steve Dykstra, Richard Ebbers, Marcia Fairrow, Cari Fydirchuk, Siang Hup, John Luth, Jessica Maddox, Mark Mohrlang, Summer Mohrlang, Joseph Nasvytis, Kory Plockmeyer, J. Scott Roberts, Loretta Stadt, Eric Snyder, Jay Stringer, Mark Van Andel, Everett Vander Horst, Ashley Van Dragt, Geoff Van Dragt, Thyra VanKeeken, Paul W. Verhoef, and Derek Zeyl; via Art. 14-c: Andy Carlson.
Released via Art. 14-b: Travis Jamieson, Greg Janke (effective Nov. 7, 2025); via Art. 14-d: Noah Kruis; via Art. 17-c: Brian Kornelis and Brian Teben.
Ministers retiring (Art. 18) (granted emeritus status): Revs. Joseph Bak (as of Dec. 31, 2019, not previously reported), Greg Kett, Hankyu Park, Jack Van de Hoef, Gilbert Varela, Norman Visser, John Ritsema (effective April 30), Dan Ackerman (effective May 27), Randall Bergsma (effective June 30), Wendell Davelaar (effective July 1), Henry Kranenburg, (effective Aug. 31), and Rick Mast (effective mid-September).
Resigned as minister emeritus: Ted Boswell, Tom DeVries, Ronald De Young, Larry Doornbos, Al Gelder, Adrian Helleman, Michael Kooy, Graham Morbey, Roger Nelson, Peter Stellingwerff, Ed Top, Cecil Van Niejenhuis, John Van Sloten, William Steele, Mark Vermaire, Jon Westra, and Richard Williams.
Commissioned Pastors
Approved as commissioned pastors called to specific roles within their classes (Art. 23): Julian Ochoa, Jorge Tellez, and Joey Wright (Atlantic Northeast); Canaan Ee (B.C. North-West); Josh VanTil (Columbia); John Dwyer (Greater Los Angeles); Mitchell Leach and Wes Jones (Northern Michigan); Bill Craig (Pacific Northwest); Andres Sancho and Pierre Leclaire (Southeast U.S.).
Ending service as commissioned pastors (Art. 24-d): Bert Adema and Harrison Cho (Alberta South and Saskatchewan), Joseph Paravisini (Atlantic Northeast), Marcel deRegt (B.C. South-West), Annie Jamieson (Central California), Amy Schenkel (Grand Rapids South), Marja Fledderus (Hamilton), Chris Roberts (Hudson), Tim Soerens (Pacific Northwest), Danny Vera (Southeast U.S., effective June 1, 2025), and Shiao Chong (Toronto).
Granted commissioned pastor emeritus status (Art. 24-e): Rod Hugen (Arizona), Angela Elliot (B.C. North-West), and Danny Skelton (Rocky Mountain).
Removed from commissioned pastor emeritus status (Art. 24-e): Gerry Muller (Columbia).
Deposed (Arts. 83-84): Gabe Colangelo (Classis California South).
New Ministries and Ministry Changes
An emerging (unorganized) church does not have its own council and is under the care of the council of a neighboring CRC. An organized church has its own council (Art. 38).
Recognized as organized: City on a Hill in Plainwell, Mich.; Gibson CRC in Holland, Mich.; King’s Covenant Church in Bridgewater, N.J.; and Inland All Nations Church in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Recognized as emerging: Cornerstone CRC in Kitchener, Ont., Eglise Baptiste de Salem D’Orlando (Fla.), and Vive Church Milwaukee (Wisc.).
Moved from “organized” to “emerging” status: New Hope Community Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (as of October 2025).
Disbanded, dissolved, or closed: Tampa (Fla.) Korean Presbyterian Church and Our Community Church in Suwanee, Georgia (both as of Dec. 31, 2019, not previously reported); East Bay Church of the Light in Fremont, Calif.; Iglesia de Camino a Cristo in Sunnyside, Wash. (had been emerging); Mountain Springs Community Church in Salt Lake City, Utah; The Neighborhood in Providence, R.I. (had been emerging); Olentangy CRC in Columbus, Ohio; and Western Springs (Ill.) CRC.
Affiliated: Grace Christian Church of Staten Island (formerly Reformed Church of America).
Disaffiliated: Akron (Ohio) CRC; Avenue CRC in Edmonton, Alta. (had been emerging); Bridge Community Church in Langley, B.C.; Comunidad Cristiana Internacional in Wyoming, Mich. (had been emerging); First CRC in Toronto, Ont.; Good News Fellowship CRC in Winnipeg, Man.; Hessel Park CRC in Champaign, Ill.; Hope Fellowship CRC in Denver, Colo.; The Journey in Longmont, Colo.; Lantern Community Church in Calgary, Alta.; Meadowlands Fellowship CRC in Ancaster, Ont.; Palo Alto (Calif.) CRC; Pullman CRC in Chicago, Ill.; River Park CRC in Calgary, Alta.; and Sanctuary CRC in Seattle, Wash.
Other Matters
The Classis Ministry Board of Classis Central California, which had in October established an ad hoc team to “review any outstanding allegations against David G. Zandstra in light of his (Jan. 2025) legal acquittal … (and) to respond to the Fairfield CRC council's recommendation regarding his ministerial status,” dismissed the team in January 2026 and the classis approved the CMB’s work at its March meeting. Fairfield CRC, which held credentials for the retired pastor who lived in Marietta, Ga., had suspended his ministerial status in 2023, after his apparent confession and arrest for a 1975 murder “until they receive more clarity from a court judgment.” Zandstra died Dec. 15, 2025. The agenda for the March 2026 meeting of Classis Central California noted, “It is not the practice of our denomination to continue to deal with discipline matters posthumously.”
To “cultivate faithful, Reformed church planters who bring gospel renewal to Chicagoland,” Classis Chicago South has instituted a three-year Church Planting Residency Program.
Classis Columbia voted to create a committee to explore merger with Classis Yellowstone at its September 2025 meeting; Classis Yellowstone approved moving forward with a merger at its February 2026 classis meeting.
Classis Northcentral Iowa rescinded the previously “approved retirement of Rev. Randy Raak to allow Raak to serve in the position of US Central Regional Mission Leader at Resonate (Global Mission).”
Classis Quinte will form a classical in loco committee “to guide Grace CRC (in Coburg, Ont.), and their minister into compliance with the creeds, confessions, and synodical pronouncements of the CRCNA.”
Classis Southeast U.S., a strong catalyst in the church-planting and revitalization conversation in the CRCNA, agreed at its September 2025 classis meeting “on two clear and measurable goals for the next 10 years: 22 new congregations started by 2035; 262 new leaders trained and released by 2035.”
Classis Toronto, after reviewing its financial situation over the past year, evaluating “the status of various Toronto Classis committees, noting a significant lack of members,” and receiving the resignation of Mission Catalyst John Bouwers, disbanded its diaconal, nominating, race relations, classis ministry, and youth ministry committees and terminated the Mission Catalyst position. It called for a review of the mandates and composition of its home missions, finance, safe church, and campus ministries committees. The classis is made up of 17 congregations and two campus ministries. Three former congregations have disaffiliated from the classis in the past year.
Synod
Classes may direct requests or communications to synod, according to the Rules for Synodical Procedure.
Classis Atlantic Northeast asks synod to “declare that the CRCNA does not at present recognize exclusively digital ministries as churches; direct exclusively digital ministries in the CRCNA to refrain from using the term ‘church’ in their official names or in descriptions of their ministry; (and) direct denominational offices to refrain from characterizing or presenting exclusively digital ministries as churches.” Synod 2025 received a report from the Virtual Church Task Force, established by Synod 2023, and accepted its recommendations for allowing continued experimentation with digital ministry. “We’re not ready to declare one way or another” if synod is for or against virtual churches, the reporter presenting the recommendations said at the time.
Classis Columbia requests “that synod (2026) immediately direct the denominational staff to work with classes and develop resources to facilitate mergers.” A report to synod from the Council of Delegates, advising on cost-cutting measures, recommends “that synod establish a one-year task force, working in close coordination with the classes, to review the current classis structure and make recommendations to Synod 2027 for classis consolidations and/or overall restructuring.” Columbia’s request says, “Our two classes are in active merger discussions and could use these resources now.”
Classis Eastern Canada asks that synod “ensure that the recommendations contained in the report of the task force to Develop Church Order Procedures to Discipline Officebearers not conflict with applicable federal, provincial, or state laws.” The report, commissioned by Synod 2024, proposes a supplement to Church Order Article 27-b that would explicitly prescribe the possibility of an intervention by a major assembly upon a local assembly. “It should be noted that most Canadian—and possibly U.S.—Christian Reformed churches are incorporated and are therefore subject to applicable federal, provincial, (and) state corporate and tax laws,” the request states, suggesting that the report “is written primarily from an ecclesiastical perspective and does not adequately take into account applicable Canadian and United States law.”
Four classes (Georgetown, Heartland, Holland, and Minnkota) request that synod turn down the Council of Delegates’ proposal to have synod meet every other year.
Classis Georgetown is requesting three additional things of Synod 2026:
- Financial transparency from the denomination, with detailed current and proposed budget line items, including compensation numbers for each full-time position, provided in the yearly agenda for synod. Additionally, “detailed financial reports and budgets will be made available to any church council that requests them starting with the 2026-27 fiscal year” and starting with the fiscal year 2027-28, allocate 50% of ministry share funding to missions—15% to ReFrame Ministry and 35% to Resonate Global Mission
- Remove the mention of Our World Belongs to God in the Covenant for Officebearers, “thereby removing contemporary testimonies from the covenant altogether, AND to affirm that the Covenant for Officebearers shall reference only the Creeds and Confessions—Three Forms of Unity—as doctrinal standard for subscription, and the contemporary testimonies, statements, or contextual documents shall not be added to the Covenant for Officebearers in the future.”
- Instruct the Calvin Theological Seminary Board of Trustees to identify a presidential candidate with five specific traits: be focused on training and equipping students to become pastors in local churches; lead in publicly vindicating sound doctrine against heresies and errors; have a well-known reputation for godliness and for faithfully expounding the Word of God; and affirm the authority, sufficiency, inerrancy, and clarity of the Word of God without compromise in accordance with Belgic Confession Arts. 5-7 and Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 21.
Classis Heartland asks synod to particularly thank and recognize those retiring from ministry in the previous year “in coordination with the celebration of new candidates for the ministry.”
Classis Holland requests that synod defer formal consideration of the report of Task Force to Develop Church Order Procedures to Discipline Officebearers, saying the report isn’t sufficiently clear in its arguments or precise in its proposed additions to the Church Order.
Noting that “the Office of General Secretary, denominational boards, and agency leadership exercise significant influence over policy, communication, and direction of the CRCNA” and that “denominational funds, contributed by member churches through ministry shares and other offerings, ought to support work carried out by those who are personally committed to the CRCNA’s confessional standards and ecclesial life,” Classis Iakota requests that synod instruct the Council of Delegates and the Office of General Secretary to require that “all those employed at our denominational agencies, including but not limited to: The Banner, Resonate, Thrive, as well as all who populate volunteer boards, must show that they are professing members of a congregation in the CRCNA who fully support and defend the fullness of God’s Word and that the Creeds and Confessions of the CRCNA faithfully reflect Scripture’s revelation.” Currently staff positions within the denomination are categorized as either support ministry positions or direct ministry positions, with a different standard of alignment expected depending on role. Being an active participant in a Christian church and being able to support the mission, vision, and values of the CRCNA are a minimum expectation. When the duties of a particular role include those described in Church Order as being part of ordained ministry (such as found in Articles 11, 20, and 25) the same degree of commitment as that of an officebearer is required.
Classis Illiana has three requests for Synod 2026 related to covenantal commitments at Calvin Theological Seminary and Calvin University:
- require seminary trustees and faculty sign a covenant of confessional commitment
- require full confessional alignment for Calvin University faculty
- require full confessional alignment for Calvin University trustees
Classis Minnkota proposes changes to the denomination's current vision and mission statements that offer “greater biblical, Christ-centered, and confessional clarity by rooting the identity and vision of our denomination explicitly in the Great Commission and in our shared commitment to God’s Word as summarized by the Three Forms of Unity.” Minnkota also proposes replacements for Church Order Article 52 and supplement that seek “to clarify, summarize, and make accessible the principles, decisions, and guidelines for corporate worship that have already been adopted by Synod.”
Classis Muskegon is requesting five things of Synod 2026:
- Instruct the Office of the General Secretary and the Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee to work toward establishing a formal ecclesiastical relationship with the National Presbyterian Church in Mexico.
- Appoint a task force to amend church order requiring synodical deputy oversight for the organization, affiliation, disaffiliation, and disbanding of congregations within the CRCNA.
- Establish a permanent standing committee to review and advise the Council of Delegates and synod on matters of Church Order.
- Revise the ministry share program to a two-tier system with flexible giving options.
Revise the Church Order’s language and process around tracking membership.
Classis Northern Illinois requests that synod “return ‘prayer’ in the calling and responsibility of pastors,” which are outlined in Arts. 11 and 12-a of the current Church Order. The 1935 Church Order had an extensive revision between Synods 1950 and 1965, and the newly adopted version moved the article referring to responsibilities of a minister from Art. 16 to Art. 11 (later revisions had it span Arts. 11 and 12). The 1935 Art. 16 reads: “The office of the Minister is to continue in prayer and in the ministry of the Word, to dispense the Sacraments, to watch over his brethren, the Elders and Deacons, as well as the Congregation and finally, with the Elders, to exercise church discipline and see to it that everything is done decently and in good order.”
Classis Red Mesa asks synod to remove the supplements of Church Order Arts. 4 and 7 that pertain to Classis Red Mesa, as they are no longer relevant. However, it requests “due to the uniqueness of Classis Red Mesa, (to) keep article 40a and 40c supplements as written.” Red Mesa, unlike the typical classis, was “formed from the churches created as a result of the first missionary outreach established in the Christian Reformed Church” among the Navajo and Zuni peoples in Northwest New Mexico and Northeast Arizona. The supplement to Arts. 40-a and -c allows churches of Classis Red Mesa to delegate “any combination of three officebearers” to classis and allows classis to be presided over by any officebearer, not just ministers. The requirement that, “ordinarily the same presiding officers shall not be chosen twice in succession,” remains.
Classis Wisconsin asks that synod appoint a study committee on Reformed Ecclesiology “to articulate the theological center of Christian Reformed congregations, synthesize the work of existing Synodical task forces, and offer guidance on the nature of the churches the denomination is called to plant.”
Classis Zeeland wants synod to conform membership on the Council of Delegates to Article 30 of the Belgic Confession, which affirms that “the council of the church” be made up of “elders and deacons, along with the pastors.” Currently members of the Council of Delegates are not required to be officebearers, but must only be “a member in good standing of a Christian Reformed Church” and confirm agreement with the Council of Delegates’ Statement of Agreement with the Beliefs of the CRCNA, Code of Conduct, and Conflict-of-Interest Policy. Zeeland requests that membership requirements be revised “so that, moving forward for all new members, membership is limited to current or former office bearers.”