Christian Reformed Church in North America to kick off annual meeting

Delegates from the Christian Reformed Church in North America are scheduled to gather in Ancaster, Ontario, on Friday to start the in-person sessions of the church’s annual Synod meeting. Church leaders first convened the 2025 Synod with a virtual gathering on May 28, when meeting leaders were elected. Representatives will now gather at the campus of Canada’s Redeemer University to hear reports from sanctioned church task forces, ministries, and other leadership committees. The governing body will also consider requests for policy changes submitted by lower church bodies and members, known as overtures.

The 2025 Synod will showcase a comprehensive report about assisted suicide from a task force sanctioned by the 2023 Synod. The report noted that assisted suicide is legal throughout Canada and several U.S. states, and offered recommendations for what the church described as pastoral care, like specific hymns and prayers for the dying, according to the 2025 agenda. A report from a previously sanctioned task force on virtual churches will also be shared, with recommendations on policy for how virtual churches may function within the denomination. Several governing councils and committees will also present recommendations for the Synod to consider, including the Candidacy Committee’s call for more accountability in the process of appointing and commissioning pastors.

What kind of overtures are on the agenda? The 2025 Synod agenda included 30 overtures for consideration. Most notably:

• Overture 3 asked the synod to amend the church code to ban all concealed handguns at any and all ecclesiastical assemblies, regardless of local civil laws.

• Overture 7 requested that church leaders create a Synodical Advisory Committee charged with interviewing and making recommendations on all proposed denominational board positions that synod delegates will later vote on.

• Overture 8 noted that 2025 marked the 1,700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed and asked the church to sanction a celebration for the doctrinal clarity that the creed offered, and offer instruction to churches on the importance of the creed’s doctrinal teaching.

• Overture 12 requested that the church remove the word “fully” from the phrase “fully agree with the Word of God” in the church’s Covenant for Officebearers.

• Overture 28 asked church leaders to initiate a reorganization of the church into two distinct Christian Reformed Churches, with one in Canada and one in the United States.

• Overture 29 requested synod leaders to reprioritize church planting within the denomination’s budget.

The CRC’s annual meeting began days after the Reformed Church in America, a cousin denomination of sorts, finished its annual governmental meeting in Arizona.

Dig deeper: Read my report from earlier this year about a swath of pastors leaving the Christian Reformed Church in North America to join the RCA over disagreements on sexuality.