Synod 2010 approved several measures meant to better connect the work of the denomination’s Board of Trustees to the broader church.
Last year’s delegates learned of a restructuring of the CRC’s top staff leadership team that, among other things, resulted in removing from the senior leadership the one director who is a person of color (see “Minority Voice Lost,” June 2009). That restructuring had not been approved by synod.
So Synod 2009 instructed the board to develop guidelines, to be received by this year’s synod, on how it would better involve the broader church community when considering such significant structural changes.
Synod 2010 accepted the response offered by the board, but felt it did not go far enough. It wants the board to outline the process it would use for making significant structural change. That process would be approved by next year’s synod.
Synod also approved other steps to improve the connection of the BOT to the church:
- encouraging classes to provide time for board members to address them;
- instructing the board to brainstorm the most effective ways to communicate with the broader church;
- allowing time at future synods for a more formal report from the board;
- encouraging executive members of the board to attend synod and meet with advisory committees.
About the Author
Roxanne VanFarowe is a freelance writer who claims both Canadian and American citizenship and grew up in the Christian Reformed Church. She is a member of Blacknall Presbyterian Church in Durham, North Carolina.
