NR #1996-061: Christian Reformed Synod 1996 Elects Former Home Missions Executive Director Rev. John Van Ryn as President 182 delegates from the 46 regional classes of the Christian Reformed denomination convened today at the denominationally-owned Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Synod spent most of its first session electing its officers and then recessed for the rest of the day to advisory committees. After three ballots, the delegates chose Rev. John Van Ryn, pastor of Providence CRC in the Grand Rapids suburb of Cutlerville, Michigan, as president. Van Ryn, now 64, served for twelve years from 1974 to 1987 as executive director of the CRC Board of Home Missions. Other officers elected by the synod were Rev. Gordon Pols, pastor of Clarkston CRC of Mississauga, Ontario, as vice-president; Rev. Ken Koeman of Sonlight Community CRC in Lynden, Washington, as first clerk, and Rev. Henry Admiraal of Westend CRC in Grand Rapids as second clerk. NR #1996-061: For Immediate Release Christian Reformed Synod 1996 Elects Former Home Missions Executive Director Rev. John Van Ryn as President by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (June 11, 1996) URNS - 182 delegates from the 46 regional classes of the Christian Reformed denomination convened today at the denominationally-owned Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Synod - missing two of the normal 184 delegates, one of whom will arrive on Wednesday and the other of whom will be unable to attend - spent most of its first session electing its officers and then recessed for the rest of the day to advisory committees. Normal practice in the CRC is that the president and most of the other three synod officers are elected from delegates who have served as officers of previous synods. However, for only the third time since the first Christian Reformed synod in 1869, no former synod officers were delegated to Synod 1996 - a situation that created some uncertainty as to who would be elected. After three ballots, the delegates chose Rev. John Van Ryn, pastor of Providence CRC in the Grand Rapids suburb of Cutlerville, Michigan, as president. Van Ryn, now 64, served for twelve years from 1974 to 1987 as executive director of the CRC Board of Home Missions. Ordained in 1956, his forty years of Christian Reformed pastoral service have also included Lakewood CRC in California, Second CRC of Patterson, New Jersey, First CRC of South Holland, Illinois, Fellowship CRC of Big Rapids, Michigan. Van Ryn attended synod each year as an observer when serving as executive director of CRC Home Missions and has been delegated as a voting member to synod five times. While Van Ryn has spent his entire pastoral ministry in the Christian Reformed denomination, he was baptized as a member of the Reformed Church in America and his family belonged to First Reformed Church of Chicago until his late teens. Van Ryn joined Second CRC in the Chicago neighborhood of Englewood at the age of 16. Van Ryn - originally appointed as a member of the synodical advisory committee on women in office - said he had spent a great deal of time preparing for that issue at synod. "I've been doing work on that, but my stuff will now stay in my briefcase," said Van Ryn, declining to express his views on the question of whether women can be ordained as ministers, elders, or evangelists. Van Ryn said one of his major concerns for synod is the issue of funding of denominational ministries - some of which have suffered massive financial cutbacks due to the loss of 24,000 members totalling nearly eight percent of the denomination in the last four years and the decision of many churches remaining in the CRC to direct their funds elsewhere. "You get the biggest bang for your buck in the denomination," said Van Ryn, noting that most of the CRC agencies focus on ministry rather than fundraising, administration, or other overhead items. According to Van Ryn, when he served as head of the home missions board his colleagues in other denominations expressed great appreciation for the amount of mission work done by the relatively small CRC. "They were always amazed that all that money came in just because synod said so," said Van Ryn. Van Ryn - who said he had close friends on both sides of the women in office debate - said he hoped that other major issues on the agenda of the CRC would also receive widespread attention. One such area highlighted by Van Ryn was a study committee report on ethnic ministries in the CRC. "I personally look back at that as one of the growth areas of my life," said Van Ryn. "I grew up on the south side of Chicago and I came to Calvin about as prejudiced as any student. That was an area the Lord really worked on." Other officers elected by the synod were Rev. Gordon Pols, pastor of Clarkston CRC of Mississauga, Ontario, as vice-president; Rev. Ken Koeman of Sonlight Community CRC in Lynden, Washington, as first clerk, and Rev. Henry Admiraal of Westend CRC in Grand Rapids as second clerk. Cross-References to Related Articles: NR #1996-046: No Former Synod Officers Delegated to Synod 1996 Contact List: NOTE TO EDITORS: Most synodical delegates are staying on the campus of Calvin College. To reach delegates in their dormitory rooms during Synod 1996, expected to adjourn on or before June 20, call Calvin College at (616) 957-0000 or contact the synodical news office at the following numbers: Synod News Office: Press Officers Rev. Robert De Moor and Rachel Boehm Van Harmelen O: (616) 957-8652 * F: (616) 957-6469 Pre-Recorded Synod News Hotline: (616) 224-0841 or toll-free (888) 277-9663 Rev. Henry Admiraal, Second Clerk, Synod 1996 of the Christian Reformed Church 1902 Haines NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504 * O: (616) 453-3077 * H: (616) 453-8746 * FAX: (616) 453-6855 Dr. David Engelhard, General Secretary, Christian Reformed Church in North America 2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49560 O: (616) 246-0744 * H: (616) 243-2418 * FAX: (616) 246-0834 * E-Mail: engelhad@crcnet.mhs.compuserve.com Rev. Ken Koeman, First Clerk, Synod 1996 of the Christian Reformed Church 8662 Brookfield St., Lynden, WA 98264 * O: (360) 354-3434 * H: (360) 354-5165 Rev. Gordon Pols, Vice President, Synod 1996 of the Christian Reformed Church 1571 Stonehaven Dr., Mississauga, ON L5J 1E9 CANADA * O: (905) 823-7274 * H: (905) 822-7782 Rev. John Van Ryn, President, Synod 1996 of the Christian Reformed Church 7734 Eastern Avenue SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49508 * O: (616) 698-7930 * H: (616) 698-7884 ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr96-061.txt .