Synod 2026 came to a close with multilingual prayer, a meditation from parliamentarian Michael Winnowski, and a final sermon and blessing from president Chad Steenwyk.
Synod is the annual general assembly of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. It met June 12-18, 2026, in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Winnowski led the congregation in prayer from two biblical promises, from Joel 2:28, “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people,” and from Luke 11:12-14, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Winnowski repeated those words, “ask him,” with the reading of two more passages, Romans 10:13, “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved,” and Luke 10:2, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
President Chad Steenwyk’s closing sermon, on the first portion of Psalm 89, proclaimed God’s faithfulness.
The psalm begins in lament, but it doesn’t end there, Steenwyk said. The psalmist laments, but then declares the faithfulness of God. Reflecting on the events and the “spirit of this synod,” Steenwyk recalled the body’s standing applause for the CRC’s new church-planting plan, the beginning of a new mission and vision for the CRCNA, times of worship, and much prayer. Delegates and classes “enthusiastically, wholeheartedly, unanimously, and eagerly” united in a new direction. Steenwyk expressed that these were not just reports adopted, but God doing something new.
“How do we take this spark, and how do we pass this back to our congregations and brothers and sisters back home?” Steenwyk asked. By remembering and resting in God’s faithfulness.
“The one who out of nothing created everything. … The one who took his own breath and breathed life into his image bearers so that we can live with him. The God who existed into eternity past, who is above all, who is almighty," he created you and me, Steenwyk said. This is his faithfulness.
“Our God is faithful, and he is true to those promises.” Quoting Ephesians 2:4-9, Steenwyk said, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
“Founded on God’s faithfulness” was the theme for the week, but if we were to add another word, it would be, “gospel,” Steenwyk said. “That word, gospel, has come through again and again.”
Faithfulness to a promise that God has made to us; a faithfulness where the dead are brought to life and the hopeless have hope again—that is how to take this spark to people back home. “Preach Christ. When we go back home, preach Christ.”
“That's where we’re going to find the fire and the flame that can never be extinguished, Steenwyk said. Echoing a comment heard earlier, “It is a new day in the CRC.” Not just because of what happened here this week. “It's a new day because his mercies are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness.”
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 the livestream, photos, reports, and a live blog of synod proceedings and decisions. Find daily news and our video Synod Recap at thebanner.org/synod.