Task Force Appointed to Tackle Synod Funding, Governance Costs

With ministry share giving down about $1 million compared to this time last year, the Council of Delegates of the Christian Reformed Church in North America is considering “ways to reduce governance costs, fund synod, and use time wisely.” At its February meeting the Council gave that task to members of its Synodical Services and Finance committees, along with staff from the Office of General Secretary, expecting an interim report at its May meeting.

The Council is composed of delegates from each of the 49 regional assemblies of the CRC and a few at-large members. It serves as the interim committee for synod, the broadest assembly of the CRC. Ministry shares are the financial contributions member churches pledge to contribute to the joint administrative and ministry expenses of the denomination.

Steve Bussis, Classis Yellowstone, encouraged the task force to weigh not only the financial burden but also the relational impact of synod as it considers measures to cut costs, particularly the possibility of virtual meetings. “There is a difference. It can be done … but there's definitely a difference between a meeting over Zoom and a meeting in person.”

Jim Winkel, Classis Northern Michigan, in an earlier discussion about the distribution of ministry share funding among the agencies and ministries of the CRC, said expecting ministries to cut their budgets without administrative cuts “doesn’t fly.” From the perspective of a business owner, “if I’m making cuts, everything’s getting cut. I’m not exempt,” Winkel said, suggesting “a really hard look” at what could be trimmed.

Agenda and Acts of Synod, Digital by Default

Some cost-saving measures were approved at the February meeting, including to stop distributing print copies of the acts and agendas of synod to every church. “With the increase in print and mailing costs, this distribution has become increasingly expensive—estimated to be approximately $45,000 this year,” the proposal recommending the change said. “In addition, the Agenda and Acts are now widely accessible in digital format on the CRC website. For this reason, the Office of General Secretary is proposing that we cease distribution of print copies of these documents except to those attending synod.” The office will make print copies available to churches upon request.

General secretary Zachary King noted earlier moves to reduce costs such as eliminating ministry share contributions to The Banner over three years, and responding to questions from classes and churches directly through the Office of General Secretary “instead of farming that out to a Church Order consultant.” That was possible after former consultant Kathy Smith resigned her position in November. She told The Banner at the time, “I resigned from the role of church polity consultant because I do not agree with recent decisions of synod regarding gravamina, discipline, disaffiliation, human sexuality and confessional status, nor the way synod made those decisions. And, after Synod 2024, I am no longer able to advise or teach with integrity regarding these matters.”

The Council approved a change to a Banner advertising guideline to make ad revenue from external institutions more accessible, as long as the potential advertiser doesn’t conflict with any other guidelines. The changed policy allows "advertisements from charitable organizations with ministries substantially the same as ministries already carried out by denominational agencies" at the discretion of the editor, provided they do not conflict with other guidelines, the source of an ad is made clear to readers, and "the relevant denominational agency declined to match the ad sales contract.”

Henry Eygenraam, Canada-at-large delegate who is chair of the Council’s finance committee, acknowledged, “We were instrumental in creating this situation for The Banner, and we don't need to tie their hands further. … I would not like to see us limit their opportunities for revenue.”

Ministry Funded After Governance Costs

The Council approved the same ministry share distribution method that was set for the current fiscal year (2024-25). That method disburses ministry shares first “to the Office of General Secretary and synod with the remaining going to ministries, based on an established percentage plan.” Last year the Council of Delegates approved designating 35.4% of the pooled money for those governance costs. A contingency for if there would be 10% less giving to ministry shares could see that piece of the pie go up to 39.4% because of the fixed costs of those functions. Chief administrative officer Shirley De Vries said the percentages are still in flux for fiscal year 2025-26. “We hope our appeal to churches to get their pledges in—the deadline was January 31, but less than 50% have reported—will give us better numbers to use in planning,” she said. “Because we have so few pledges, we don't have reasonable estimates yet, so we can't determine percentages. … The Office of General Secretary and the governance functions are looking at ways to contain costs and increase revenues but face several constraints based on synodal directives.”

Other Budget Concerns

De Vries noted in her report to the Council of Delegates that “the Canadian/U.S. dollar exchange could impact our budgets and joint ministry cost-sharing plans” as budgets were made with the assumption of a 75% exchange rate, but it's been more in the range of 70%. The joint ministry teams are monitoring this. The Canadian ministry office’s chief administrative officer Terry Veldboom noted in his report to the Canada Ministry Board, “The decline in the Canada/USA exchange rate has a negative impact on Canada costs relative to the joint ministries, which are weighted towards the U.S. and to international ministries.”