In response to a request to require all denominational employees and those on volunteer boards to 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, Synod 2026 declined. Instead, the CRC’s current personnel policy, which distinguishes between direct ministry positions and ministry support positions, remains in effect.
Synod received the report of ReFrame Ministries with thanks and expressed gratitude to Kurt Selles, director of ReFrame for 13 years, as he retires in July.
Synod expressed gratitude to Rev. Lesli van Milligen upon her retirement for her years of service in leadership of Thrive. Van Milligen retired May 29. She had served Thrive, and earlier the denomination’s Faith Formation ministry, for 10 years.
Synod expressed appreciation for the retiring volunteers from the following:
- The CRC’s Historical Committee: Stanley Jim, Christian Oh, and Janet Sheeres
- The Council of Delegates: Rachel Bouwkamp, Thomas Byma, Jill Feikema, Tabitha Manuelito, Drew Sweetman, and Michael Ten Haken, Melissa Van Dyk
- The Minister’s Pension Plan trustees: Lloyd Bierma.
Synod rejected a request to invite ministers who are retiring to come to synod for celebration, instead directing the Office of General Secretary to encourage each classis to set aside time to give thanks for and celebrate those retiring from ministry.
Synod received reports of 26 retirements of ministers of the Word and six retirements of commissioned pastors since the previous synod. It approved reports of actions overseen by the synodical deputies serving in classes and declined to require synodical deputy involvement in the processes of organization, affiliation, disaffiliation, or disbanding of congregations, saying the “Church Order Supplement, Article 38, currently provides a helpful pathway of classical accountability” for these processes.
Synod approved the transfer of Orange Korean Church from Classis California South to Classis Ko-Am.
Synod no longer requires the Office of General Secretary to produce an annual Yearbook in printed form. It requested the office focus instead on alternate ways to make the material available electronically. The Yearbook was first mandated in 1880 and adopted as an official publication of the CRC in 1930.
Synod 2026 assigned responsibility for the nominations of Judicial Code Committee members to the committee, rather than the Council of Delegates. This brings the practice into alignment with that of other standing committees of synod.
Synod approved changes to the CRCNA’s Governance Handbook that reflect the evolving legal and organizational structures of the church, particularly for the Council of Delegates. Michael Ten Haken, outgoing chair of the Council, summarized the changes, noting that the Council functions in two ways. The Council is an ecclesiastical body, and the delegates also act on an organizational basis for the various ministry boards. “Now that we have practices lined up, we’re updating the handbook and bringing all the changes to one place to codify the distinction between ecclesiastical and organizational.”
Synod received rubrics used by the various boards of the denomination and agencies to select new members. That fulfills a request by Synod 2025. The rubrics ask a number of questions about nominated individuals, including their commitment to Jesus Christ and the doctrinal confessions of the CRC. The rubrics also reflect that the work of some boards might require different levels of agreement on the part of their members than others.
Synod declined to limit the word count for study committee reports, noting that it risks losing the deep thinking, theological rigor, and pastoral warmth in the reports.
Synod affirmed that individuals can still send overtures to classis or synod if they haven’t been approved by their local council.
Synod said that a minister ordained outside the denomination wanting a call to a CRC must apply to the Candidacy Committee. A council may not nominate a minister from outside the CRC without the approval of its classis and the Candidacy Committee. Key elements of the discussion are to include the “need” criterion. The Church Order supplement says a church may consider calling a minister ordained outside of the CRCNA only if it has put forth a sustained and realistic effort to obtain a minister from within the Christian Reformed Church or the Reformed Church in America.
Synod mandated that before handling an appeal involving allegations of abuse against a church leader that have been taken up by an advisory panel process, classis delegates will participate in a 60-minute safe church orientation and training from Thrive on due process, abuse awareness, and response.
Synod declined to appoint a standing committee to advise the Council of Delegates and synod on Church Order matters, noting that the Office of General Secretary has means to provide advice.
Synod approved transferring administration of the retirement plan for unordained employees to the respective ministry organizations.
Synod affirmed pension plan changes that established the target for a combination of governmental benefits and the amount provided by the plans as “full benefit” for a “normal career” to be 75 to 85% of the sum of the final average salary and the average housing allowance applicable in the year of retirement. This level of income replacement is judged by actuaries and others knowledgeable in the field as the level needed to sustain a reasonable level of postretirement needs.
Synod noted that Calvin Theological Seminary is in full compliance with the CRC’s doctrinal standards. All faculty must sign the CRC’s Covenant for Officebearers, indicating their agreement with the ecumenical creeds and Reformed confessions. Seminary president Jul Medenblik has started a book with the signature of each faculty member, signifying their agreement.
Synod noted with sadness that Jolene DeHeer, a synod prayer intercessor who has been active in the denomination in many roles over many years, has received a terminal cancer diagnosis. DeHeer has been especially active in youth ministry, speaking at several youth conventions.
Synod did not provide specific instructions to the Calvin Theological Seminary board of trustees regarding sought-after qualities in the next seminary president, but asked that the board receive Classis Grandville’s request on the matter and “forward it to the nominating committee for their prayerful consideration.”
Synod amended Church Order articles to include “prayer” in the description of ministerial call and function. Part of the added description includes that the calling of a minister is “to be devoted to prayer” in order to equip members of the church. That elders, with ministers, shall pray for the congregation, and that the ministers and the pastors of the congregation shall pray, along with all other roles found in Church Order Articles 11, 12-a, and 25-b.
Synod did not sustain two appeals from an elder in Classis Columbia who requested a confessional revision of Question and Answer 96 of the Heidelberg Catechism, “What is God’s will for us in the second commandment?”; and of Articles 30-31 and a related part in Article 34 in the Belgic Confession.
An appeal, from members of Sovereign Grace Church in Classis California South, also was not sustained. “The appellants’ case did not adequately show that Classis California South violated Church Order procedure or biblical foundations for ecclesiastical justice in the deposition of pastor Gabriel Colangelo,” synod said.
Synod 2026, the annual general assembly of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, met June 12-18 on the campus of Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Mich. Go to crcna.org/synod for plenary recordings, photos, and reports. Find daily news and our video Synod Recap at thebanner.org/synod.