The Rev. Tom De Vries’ days as lead pastor of the 2,600-member Fair Haven Ministries in Hudsonville likely are drawing to a close. The Reformed Church in America’s General Synod Council in March tapped De Vries as its sole candidate from a pool of six to become the denomination’s fifth general secretary.

The decision now goes before 240 voting delegates, who will make the final decision at the RCA’s June 16-21 General Synod, held this year at Calvin College.

If elected to lead the 177,500-member denomination, De Vries will succeed the Rev. Wes Granberg-Michaelson, who announced last year he would retire after serving as general secretary for 17 years.

The RCA’s quest for a new leader comes at the same time the Christian Reformed Church is looking for a new executive director. The Rev. Jerry Dykstra, who led the CRC in North American for five years, unexpectedly announced his resignation earlier this month. An interim executive director is to be named soon, and CRC officials say they hope to present a candidate to permanently replace Dykstra to Synod 2012.

The RCA’s path seems more definite. De Vries has more than 25 years of experience in ministry, including as church planter, regional executive for the Reformed Church in America Far West Region and national coordinator of church multiplication and revitalization. He is a member of the General Synod Council and adjunct professor at Western Theological Seminary in Holland.

He has been lead pastor of Fair Haven since 2004.

A second-generation RCA minister and native of Wyoming, De Vries’ late father, the Rev. Ray De Vries, founded Newhall Reformed Church in Wyoming before relocating his family to southern California.

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