Task Force Report on Structure Available in April

The report from the Task Force Reviewing Structure and Culture (TFRSC) will be in the hands of the churches when the Agenda for Synod 2015 is released in April. The task force will make recommendations on how the various boards of the ministry agencies of the Christian Reformed Church should be restructured for governance of the denomination’s shared ministries.

The task force was appointed in 2011 by synod (the annual leadership meeting of the CRC), following the abrupt resignation of the denomination’s top two administrative leaders. Synod 2011 gave the committee the mandate “to conduct a review of the organization, structure, and leadership within the CRCNA,”  and bring its recommendations to Synod 2012.

In 2012, the task force requested a three-year extension to its mandate to more fully analyze the denomination’s administrative structure, which includes the Board of Trustees and various ministry agency boards and advisory committees. It would then recommend to Synod 2015 a structure that could best enhance the ministry of local churches and enhance the global mission work of the CRC. The intervening years included reviewing and making recommendations regarding how a senior leadership team might function after a new executive director was identified, and determining how the administrative and governance structure could best reflect  the binational nature of the CRC.

In 2014, the task force presented possible options for restructure. One option could be to maintain the current structure. Another could see authority centralized in the Board of Trustees and change all agency boards to advisory councils.

A third option could see the Board of Trustees replaced by a Council of Delegates, a group of perhaps 60 people from classes that would meet annually, with an Executive Council of 12 members meeting three times per year. Some or all of the current ministry agency boards could become agency committees.

The various options were discussed by synod delegates in 2014, and church members were invited to give their input prior to the task force presenting its recommendations to Synod 2015.

Synod 2015 will convene in Sioux Center, Iowa, from June 12-18. The Banner will post articles on its website throughout the week and keep readers updated via Twitter and Facebook. There will also be a live webcast and press releases from CRC Communications.