Also on Friday, Synod delegates approved four recommendations to move toward a biennial General Synod, proposing odd-numbered years would feature a gathering of congregational leaders to focus on equipping the RCA’s congregations

Even as one 10-year renewal effort nears its end, the general secretary of the Reformed Church in America told delegates at the General Synod this weekend that they should prepare for a year-long effort to set a new path for the future of the denomination.

General Secretary Tom De Vries, on Friday at the start of the General Synod encouraged participants in the church’s decade-long call – adopted in 2003 to revitalize and plant RCA churches, to finish well and prepare for an exciting, challenging future.

The 2003 call stated that God has called the RCA – building on the foundations of discipleship, leadership, and mission- to revitalize existing congregations and plant new churches; it also affirms a multiracial future freed from racism.

The RCA, like other mainline denominations, had experienced declining membership in recent decades. Current membership stood at around 250,000 as of 2010.

Members of the church have been taking steps to discover what’s next for the church after the latest period ends.

In February, 530 participants from throughout the U.S. and Canada gathered for an event called “Conversations: Seeking God’s Future for the RCA” where they worshipped together, discussed and listened carefully to each other.

Their efforts were meant to discover what God has planned for the denomination.

“We do not define the terms of our engagement,” said De Vries. “They will be discovered as we seek the leading of the Holy Spirit.”

De Vries said there will be twenty-one “Discovery” events this fall and winter in RCA gatherings throughout the U.S. and Canada.

“Your dialogues and discussions will prove to be a sifting and refining. It will bring us greater aim, rather than proceeding aimlessly. And with anticipated clarification, it will be passed on-to fellow sisters and brothers in Christ throughout the RCA, to the General Synod Council, to next year’s General Synod-the defining of our next chapter,” he said.

De Vries said there are signs about what the future holds for the denomination.

“The next chapter will be transformational,” he said, transforming from a self-focused mentality to an outward-focused mindset that asks, How can we bless and serve our community as we serve Jesus Christ?

“The next chapter will be multiracial. It must move beyond racism, through reconciliation, to a place of restoration and righteousness.

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