Board of Trustees Talks Strategic Planning, Youth Ministry

At its three-day meeting at the end of September, the Board of Trustees of the Christian Reformed Church spent half a day talking about developing a new strategic ministry plan for the denomination.

The board spent several hours with two consultants to plan a process for the work. One concern raised by trustees is how this process would mesh with the task force currently reviewing the structure and culture of the denomination’s administration.

The board also met with the executive director and two board members of Dynamic Youth Ministries to talk about Youth Unlimited and the status of youth ministry in the denomination. Director Jeff Kruithoff noted that Youth Unlimited’s greatest success is in providing faith-forming experiences, such as SERVE projects, for teens. He said that the organization was not able to financially sustain its leadership development efforts.

In other matters, the board

• appointed an interim director for Canadian ministries (see separate story).
• decided not to lift the suspension of Rev. John Visser, pastor of Maranatha CRC in Belleville, Ontario, at this time.
• met separately as U.S. and Canadian trustees for conversation about issues unique to each country.
• discussed the transition of leadership when the current executive director retires in 2013.
• met with staff from the Office of Social Justice and reviewed resources created on the topics of immigration and abortion.
• endorsed U.S. legislation regarding Indonesian asylum seekers (see separate story).
• visited Calvin Theological Seminary and learned that enrollment of new students is up 17 percent.
• heard from the Christian Reformed Centre for Public Dialogue that it is placing a stronger emphasis on congregational involvement in advocating with the Canadian government.

The Board of Trustees of the Christian Reformed Church meets three times each year, acting on behalf of the denomination between the meetings of synod (the annual leadership meeting of the CRC).