ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM MEETING
April 12, 2018, 10:00 a.m.
First Reformed Church, Orange City, IA
Present: Clyde Teel, Josh Van Leeuwen, Lori Walber, Bill Peake, Tim Breen, Rob Horstman, Nancy Van Heerde, Bob Cleveringa, Kelsey Wielenga, Tom Smith and Alicia Beaver.
Absent: Randy Blumer and Joel Sult.
President Tim Breen welcomed the Administrative Team to First Reformed Church.
- Devotions and Prayer
Tim opened the meeting with a devotional based on Matthew 6, encouraging the Synod to focus on the deep and meaningful challenges that lie before us.
- Introductions – Introductions were made on name, home church, and where you would like to spend one week.
- Youth/Classis Reports
The Synod youth office and each classis representative shared about their past year. There are lots of great things happening in our Synod – Rocky Mountain High, church revitalization and multiplication. There are also churches struggling with membership and finances. See individual staff reports.
- President Report
Synod of the Heartland Staff, Administrative Team, and Supporters:
It is with great joy and great conviction that I present the 2018 President’s Report. The past year has seen beautiful ministries emerge, church leadership strengthened, and God’s kingdom cause advanced. The Lord has been good to the Synod of the Heartland!
The reports of our classis leaders are profoundly encouraging to me. The planting and growth initiative in Central Plains is a moonshot; I love it! Seth’s work on bringing the right leaders to the right congregations in Dakota classis is great to see. It takes lots of effort to sell a top-level leader on Dakota weather! I have the joy of working with Chris here in East Sioux, and the number of irons he has in the fire is dizzying. Many are bearing fruit and I am personally excited for the opportunity to launch a new ministry in Storm Lake.
It has also been exciting to watch some of the Regional Staff at work. Tom has been steadfast in his commitment to the Heartland, working diligently to serve the churches and classes while being mindful of broader denominational trends. I am in the process of compiling an evaluation for Tom that I will share with him before the end of the month; I know he will be encouraged by what he hears and will take to heart the opportunities he has for thriving even more.
Alicia’s work continues to excel also. Her attention to detail and her heart to see resources meet needs is remarkable. She is a true treasure of the Heartland. Bob’s efforts speak for themselves. Whether or not they know it (this being a testament to Bob’s platforming of other people over himself) many young people through the years will be able to trace their milestones in their personal spiritual development back to Bob’s projects and processes. It is encouraging for me to see that he is looking beyond himself, to the future of the Synod, and we will be working closely with the Youth Office to consider how to hand the baton to the next servant for the Heartland.
The Synod of the Heartland continues to have a great deal of importance to the RCA as a whole. In addition to the massive financial investment that we make in the denomination, the Heartland has recently sent several persons into the role of Vice President and President of the General Synod. Recently Jon Opgenorth assumed the role of leader at Words of Hope. This speaks well of our “deep bench” and to the high character of Heartland people. I suspect this trend to continue as I see other remarkable men and women spreading their wings in leadership for the broader church.
In sum, this is a great time to be part of the Synod of the Heartland. But with great blessing comes great responsibility. So I want to add to this this report a challenge based in scripture:
The story of the Exodus is one of the best-known narratives in the Bible. The extraordinary account of an enslaved nation freed at Passover, delivered at the Sea, and sojourning in the wilderness is fundamental to the Bible’s sweeping story of redemption. But there is one part of the story that I really like. At the same time, it’s represented a personal challenge to me. The event is recorded in Deuteronomy chapter 1:
The Command to Leave Horeb
1 These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—that is, in the Arabah—opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. 2 (It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.) 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them. 4 This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. 5 East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab, Moses began to expound this law, saying: 6 The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.” The line that sticks out to me here is “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.” In other translations, verse 6 reads “you’ve circled this mountain long enough.”
I have often wondered - personally and congregationally - what that means. What are the mountains we keep circling? Where are the safe spaces where we have pitched out tents? What is the Promised Land we’re missing because we’re just doing laps around the track?
As President, I want to challenge the Admin Team and staff to think about this question carefully. God has made promises to us – most notably, to be with us always because all authority has been given to Jesus (Matthew 28) – just like he made to the Israelites in the wilderness. Are we prepared to live into them?
The most convicting aspect for me right now is this – if not the Synod of the Heartland, who? If not now, when?
As I look back at 2000 years of church history, and as I look outward at believers around the world, almost all of them would say that they would love to be able to minister and serve with the dynamics and resources that we presently enjoy. Before us, Christians were thrown to lions. We have government protections. They had to escape their country to have religious freedoms, we have the opportunity to preach and serve where and how we want. They went through church schisms, we have harmony as a Synod. They craved well-trained, godly leaders. We work with the best. They scrapped by with little or no money, we have budget surpluses and massive endowments.
All of these other Christians hoped for, prayed for, and died for the opportunities that we now possess. If not us, who? If not now, when?
So let’s stop circling the mountain. Let’s not tear down barns in order to build bigger barns. Let’s not rely on output when we should be working toward outcomes. We have the right bus and almost all the right people in all the right seats. Now is the time.
There are three kinds of Christian organizations. There are memorial groups that think fondly of the past and are committed to keeping things the way they always were, there are maintenance groups that are focused solely on paying the bills and keeping people happy, and there are movement groups, who challenge the status quo because they hunger for the promised land. Movement groups refuse to keep circling the mountain. They have to go!
The Synod of the Heartland must be a movement group! I want to close with three ways I feel compelled as a Synod leader to encourage us to keep moving.
First, we must address questions about proportional assessments and stewardship by creating high-visibility, value-added events for congregations and classes in the Heartland. I continue to believe that our resources can pull off big, can’t miss kinds of events – “Rocky for Grownups” is my template. What could we do? Who could we bring in to teach and encourage us? Who might be blessed through these?
Second, we need to develop new ways of connecting vacant churches with the right leaders and ways of raising morale in small-community congregations. I continue to believe that resources should be invested to make this happen. Nothing unleashes more ministry and better outcomes than hand-in-glove, God ordained partnerships between staffs and congregations.
Third, we need redouble our efforts to provide good leadership upward into the RCA at this time. We need to challenge our members to participate in more General Synod commissions and councils so that we can be salt and light in a challenging time. The Heartland’s perspective is of great value to the Reformed Church in America. We should not sit idly by; we should register our willingness with the denomination and then serve enthusiastically in this season.
God has blessed us richly. We are the coming-true of a dream of many believers around the world and throughout history. We live in the better country Hebrews 11 says that our spiritual ancestors longed for. This is our time to move. Let’s go.
Tim
- Finance Team Report
Review of Finance Team Minutes: Alicia walked the team through the minutes of the Finance Team reviewing the items of business as we went. 2017 was the first full year of our new staff model. The income for the year came in a little higher than expected. Expenses came in lower than budgeted, but higher than income. An audit was completed by Williams & Co. PC. The Finance Team approved it with notation of the auditor’s comments. 2018 Approved Budgets were reviewed. The Buma and Bonthuis Endowment have been written off the Synod’s books and First Reformed Church, Rock Valley is to be commended on the disbursement of these funds according to the wishes of the donors. We will continue to work with classes on the implementation and evaluation of proportional assessments. A Retention Policy was reviewed and approved.
MMSC to approve the minutes of the April 2, 2018 Finance Team Call.
- 2018 Nominations Report
President: Tim Breen
Vice President: Clyde Teel
Heartland Judicial Business Committee:
Van Rathbun2018
Wayne Van Heuvelen 2019
Steve Janssen2020
Wayne Sneller2021
Michael Hardeman2022
The Heartland Judicial Business Committee meets only upon request. The committee is
constituted of three ministers and two elders. The membership needs to be from elders and
ministers of the congregations or the regional synod members of the Synod of the Heartland.
2018 General Synod Delegate from the Synod of the Heartland: Tim Breen
2018 Synod of the Heartland Corresponding Woman Delegate – Deb Rensink
2018 Synod of the Heartland Corresponding Woman Delegate – Heather Van Leeuwen
Administration Team 2018*
Central IowaJosh Van Leeuwen – 2018 eligible for a second term
Central Plains Randy Blumer – 2020 second term
Dakota Clyde Teel – 2019 eligible for a second term
East SiouxTim Breen – 2020 second term
Minnesota Lori Walber – 2020 second term
Pleasant PrairieJoel Sult – 2020 eligible for a second term
West SiouxRob Horstman – 2020 second term
*Representatives term finish at the spring meeting following the year they are stated to go off.
Finance Team 2018
Wayne Van Heuvelen
Dale Vander Wilt
Ivan Wiersema
Tim Breen
Tom Smith
Alicia Beaver
- Synod of the Heartland By-laws
Tim Breen, Tom Smith, and Alicia Beaver worked on updating language of the Regional Synod of the Heartland By-laws.
MMSC to approve the updated By-Laws of the Regional Synod of the Heartland.
- GSC Report
The General Synod Council met March 20-22, 2018 in Arizona. Here are some highlights of the meeting:
On Tuesday evening, we received the recommendation from the RCA General Secretary search committee. Their recommendation (unanimous in vote) was Eddy Aléman. The GSC entered executive session. Following the interview with Eddy and a time of prayer, the GSC voted in favor to adopt the recommendation of the search committee and will be recommending that Eddy Aléman be the General Secretary of the General Synod.
This year’s General Synod will be held in conjunction with the Christian Reformed Church. There will be joint worship, joint advisory committees, one evening will be a Celebration of Women. The closing worship will include the installation of the General Secretary.
Don Poest, interim General Secretary, shared some of the responses to the “Listening Together” exercise that the consistories were asked to participate in over that past year.
There were 825 responses at the time of his report. A few reflections Don had shared are:
•There was respect for the process; better willingness to honor others; but they are not
changing their minds
•Unity, purity and peace-the 3 legged stool-has legs of different lengths
•The word circled the most at the end of the survey was ‘tired’
On Wednesday evening, we heard from the Council of Synod Executives (COSE) regarding the current reality of the RCA.
COSE made a proposal to GSC to develop a task force to identify potential scenarios and strategies for the future of the denomination. The GSC charged Don Poest to work with GSC staff to develop this proposal. The GSC meets next week via Zoom to hear that proposal.
There will be a denomination-wide month of prayer and fasting before General Synod 2018. ThIs will also be implemented by Don Poest and GSC staff.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Van Heerde
General Synod Council Moderator
- Dakota Classis Review of Classis Pastor Position
Clyde Teel reported.
Dakota Classis has seen much needed benefit from this position in various area of the Classis. Seth has worked hard to make an effort to draw folks together and to make those churches that live many miles from each other begin to feel a part of the great vision of Dakota Classis.
Seth has been a valuable resource for a number of our vacant churches in helping with candidate searches and giving those churches a sense that they are not left on their own as they work through the process of calling a new pastor.
This was a new position for Dakota, but we can see the benefit of what we have hoped this vision would accomplish and believe it is safe to say there is a Dakota buy-in this new direction. The vision from the beginning was that the Classis would see the value of such a position and then be receptive to the ongoing future of such a position. We are seeing this vision coming forth as the time passes.
Seth stays on the move for there is more to be done than can in reality can be accomplished. He does have to choose what is the best use of his time and energy. The Admin Team does review his position each year and we have heard many good reports from around the classis.
We appreciate the funds the Synod has given to get this program moving and feel most blessed by their openness to our vision for this position. At this point in the journey, we believe we are moving in a good direction and Dakota is in a better place for having taken this new course.
MMSC to release the final $10,000 of support to Dakota Classis to help fund their full-time
Classis Pastor, Seth Sundstrom.
- Classis Minutes Review
Alicia Beaver, Synod of the Heartland Stated Clerk, reported that all classis minutes have been
received and she has reviewed them.
- New Business
COSE (Council of Synod Executives) has been asked by Rev. Marijke Strong, Executive Secretary of the Regional Synod of Canada, to individually write an overture on two Canadian proposals. 1. That the RSC board work with the Canadian classes and other RCA regional synods to produce a proposal to General Synod that the name of the RCA be changed from RCA to “RCNA” to better reflect our bi-nationality.
2. That the RSC board work with the Canadian classes and other RCA regional synods to produce a proposal to General Synod that one year be spent researching the viability, impact and cost of establishing a national office in Canada.
The Administrative Team gave Tom permission to write an overture addressing the above two items to the General Synod.
MMSC to adjourn.
Clyde Teel closed the meeting with prayer.
Respectfully submitted,
Alicia Beaver
Synod of the Heartland Clerk