The search for a new executive director for the Christian Reformed Church is underway. The search committee plans to bring its nominee to February 2014 meeting of the CRC’s Board of Trustees. If the nominee sustains an interview there, he or she will be recommended to Synod 2014, scheduled to convene in Iowa next June.
This is the second search in as many years. The search committee had intended to bring a nominee to the Board last May, but the nominee pulled out just days before that interview.
In June, Synod 2013 broadened the search by allowing, by way of exception, for the appointment of a person who is not ordained as a minister but is considered exceptionally gifted for the task of executive director.
Six people are serving on this search committee, down from nine in the previous committee:
- Sheila Holmes, a pastor in Peterson N.J. and president of the Board of Trustees
- Mary Buteyn, assistant professor at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.
- Peter Meerveld, president of a consulting firm in Guelph, Ontario
- Paul Vanderklay, a pastor in Sacramento, Calif.
- Colin Watson, a business owner in Paterson, N.J.
- Loren Veldhuizen, a retired attorney in Orange City, Iowa
Veldhuizen is chairing the committee; current executive director Joel Boot serves on the committee as a staff advisor.
The CRC has been without a permanent executive director since 2011, when Rev. Jerry Dykstra resigned from the position. Since then Boot has been filling the position.
The committee will begin its first round of interviews in the coming weeks.
Veldhuizen wouldn’t comment on how many applications and nominations the committee has received. What he did say was, “We are certainly blessed as a denomination by having so many highly gifted members, both ordained and unordained.”
While this search is happening, there is also a search for a new Canadian Ministries Director. It is hoped that both nominees will be ready for approval by Synod 2014.
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About the Author
Gayla Postma retired as news editor for The Banner in 2020.
