General Synod Daily Recap: Friday, June 12, 2026

General secretary calls the church to plant and water faithfully

Rev. Eddy Alemán, general secretary of the RCA, addressed the synod on Friday morning with a few ministry updates, a warning of the dangers of Christian Nationalism, and a pastoral call based on 1 Corinthians 3:1-9. Drawing on Scripture and his personal experience as an immigrant, he also reminded the delegation that immigration is a deeply spiritual matter and that Christ-followers are called to embrace the vulnerable and welcome the stranger as God does.

“The miracle of life and growth remains in God’s hands. Our job is to plant the seed and to water faithfully, but God’s job is to make it grow.”

“In the midst of the divided situation of the Corinthian church, Paul redirected their attention away from them and to God. He reminded them that ministry is not about who receives the credit, but it’s about participating in the work of God,” said Alemán. “It’s not about me or us; it’s about God. We’ve gone through a hard time and painful process of division. But God has given us a new opportunity to shift the focus from divisions to something that is more beautiful and more fruitful. God is shifting us. God is about to do something amazing. This is a good opportunity to start focusing on the future because God has something really special for us.

Watch the full address here.

Four constitutional amendments go into effect

The General Synod Council (GSC), the executive committee of the RCA’s General Synod, brought a handful of recommendations to the General Synod on Friday morning—all of which were follow-up items from past General Synod actions as they amend the Constitution of the Reformed Church in America (RCA) or the bylaws of the General Synod. To amend the Constitution of the RCA, three steps are required: adoption by one General Synod, approval by at least two-thirds classes, then a declarative vote by a subsequent General Synod. (The Book of Church Order [BCO] contains one part of the RCA’s Constitution; the other parts are the Liturgy and the Doctrinal Standards.) The 2025 General Synod adopted five amendments to the BCO and referred them to classes for voting. Four of the five amendments were approved by at least two-thirds of classes and were thus brought to General Synod 2026 for a declarative vote in order to go into effect. The fifth amendment, which sought to weight votes by middle assemblies on constitutional amendments, did not receive the approval of two-thirds of classes and was consequently not brought to General Synod 2026.

All four amendments were declared effective by a large majority and with no discussion. They will now be incorporated into the 2026 BCO.

Board of Benefits Services will determine minimum benefit requirements for ministers

The Board of Benefits Services (BOBS) now holds the responsibility of determining minimum benefit requirements for ministers. This shift in authority came at the recommendation of the Commission on Church Order in 2025 and amends Formulary 5 in the Book of Church Order to state the ministers must participate in “benefits as stipulated by the Board of Benefits Services.” The intent is that BOBS will be able to establish more equitable benefit options particularly for ministers working part-time or for those with employers outside of North America. BOBS will provide guidance for required benefits for ministers living and serving employers outside of the U.S. and Canada, based on research and resources about standard benefits in those countries; middle assemblies will be responsible for the implementation of that guidance.

New formula will adjust the size of the General Synod delegation

As part of the denomination’s restructuring, a new formula for building the General Synod delegation will now be incorporated into the 2026 Book of Church Order. Initially recommended by the Restructuring Team and drafted in consultation with the Commission on Church Order, the new formula allows one minister and one elder delegate for each 2,000 members or fraction thereof in a middle assembly. This is a simplification and reduction from the old calculation and is intended to better fit the size and budget of a smaller denomination. The new delegation size will first be in effect for General Synod 2027.

General Synod to implement virtual meetings

On Friday morning, General Synod gave the declarative action that allows the General Synod to conduct virtual meetings, as long as an in-person meeting takes place at least once every three years. The first virtual meeting of the General Synod will take place in 2028, the denomination’s 400th anniversary year.

In the initial implementation of virtual meetings, General Synod will move to a biennial in-person rhythm, meeting in person in 2027 and 2029 and virtually in 2028 and 2030. The General Synod Council (GSC) has signaled intent to revisit in 2029 whether to shift to an in-person General Synod meeting only every third year. For now, the biennial schedule is intended to preserve the relational strength of meeting in person, especially in a new structure, while also stewarding well the financial resources of the denomination.

In addition, in-person synods will be shortened by one day starting in 2027. The 2027 meeting will again be held at the Sheraton Music City Airport Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.

Geographical boundaries removed for General Synod delegates’ paid travel

Travel to General Synod from outside of the U.S. and Canada will now be paid by the General Synod in accordance with the General Synod Council travel policy, not limited by geographical bounds. Previously, the BCO specified that the General Synod would pay for travel for voting delegates within Canada and the U.S., except Alaska and Hawaii. The changes acknowledge the emerging reality of RCA ministers, elders, and churches beyond the traditional geographic bounds of the denomination and provide flexibility in allowing delegates from outside the U.S. and Canada to more easily attend General Synod in-person meetings.

The recommendation was developed by the Commission on Church Order, following an overture to the 2024 General Synod from the International Classis of Texas, and was adopted by General Synod 2025 and approved by at least two-thirds of classes.

General Synod takes steps to offer pastoral care in each middle assembly

On Friday morning, the delegation heard from Rev. LaCosta Van Dyk, moderator of the Commission on Christian Discipleship and Education (CCDE), who brought two related recommendations about appointing a designated person or persons in each middle assembly to serve as a pastoral support to leaders—a “pastor to the pastors”—and to be a resource for discipleship partnering with the CCDE to share ideas and resources. The recommendation also urged that this be a compensated, full-time position within five years.

The Advisory Committee on Overtures and New Business advised amendments to the recommendation to remove the stipulations for funding so that each middle assembly can determine the scope of this position as best fits their context and also explore how other resources and funding might be engaged. The recommendation as amended passed.

The General Synod then proceeded to approve the forming of a GSC subcommittee that will help explore possibilities for funding the full-time position in each middle assembly.

“Across our denomination, ministers, commissioned pastors, chaplains, elders, educators, and consistories all serve faithfully while carrying significant responsibilities with very limited support or funding. We often talk about the importance of discipleship and healthy leadership yet many leaders continue to navigate difficult decisions and conflict and discouragement and change, largely on our own,” said Rev. Bethany Popkes, a corresponding delegate from the Regional Synod of Albany. “What I appreciate about this recommendation is that it moves beyond simply naming the challenge and begins exploring a possible response. It asks us to consider what it would take to provide dedicated pastoral support and discipleship resources within each middle assembly.

“Many of us in this room know what it feels like to be tired, stretched thin, and carrying more than we can reasonably carry. Healthy churches require healthy leaders, and healthy leaders need more than crisis support. They need encouragement, resources, funding, relationships, and people to walk alongside them in ministry,” she added. “This recommendation does not create a new position today nor does it commit the denomination to spend anything today. It simply asks us to explore the possibility, develop a job description, and determine whether such a model could strengthen the church’s ministry in the years ahead. It walks alongside middle assemblies who are already busy trying to develop a plan. A vote in favor is not a vote to fund the position; it is a vote to take seriously the question of how we support those who are called to lead Christ’s church.”

General Synod president offers honest, hopeful perspective for the next chapter in the RCA’s story

To begin the afternoon’s plenary session, Rev. Sarah Palsma addressed the synod for her presidential report. She began with an emotional word of thanks, mirroring Philippians 1:3-6, and sharing her deep ties, identity, and spiritual formation within the RCA.

“Who I have become as a disciple, as a pastor, and now as General Synod president has been formed through your sharing of the gospel from the first day until now. I stand here as a living, visible sign of the church living out its baptismal promises. I’m just one story of God’s faithfulness among countless stories in this denomination.”

Palsma reflected on questions and stories she’s recently heard in the RCA, particularly in what she described as a wilderness season of profound disruption and discernment, but through which God is transforming and reforming the RCA with deeper dependence and clarified identity as God’s people.

“Everywhere I went I heard stories of how God is forming the RCA and reforming us—stories of faithfulness, sacrifice, hope, perseverance, innovation, creativity, and mission,” she shared. “And perhaps most strikingly, I heard a consistent cry from the many corners of our denomination: ‘We’re here. We matter. See us!’ Perhaps what I heard most clearly was not a demand for recognition but an invitation to see one another as gifts rather than problems to be solved. An invitation to move from suspicion to curiosity. An invitation to believe that diversity is not a threat to unity but one of the ways that God displays the beauty of his kingdom. … There were profound glimpses of the Revelation 7:9 vision breaking into the here and now. God’s kingdom is not monochromatic; it is beautifully multilingual, beautifully multicultural, beautifully reconciled. Isn’t God’s diversity a wondrous thing? I’m delighted to proclaim that Revelation 7:9 is not merely a future promise or vision for the RCA to experience one day. It is already breaking into the present. I’ve seen it. Each time I catch a glimpse of this, I cannot help but think that this is when the RCA is at her best.”

Palsma also took the time to honor and celebrate the era of regional synods and classes that is coming to an end—and to encourage middle assemblies not to become isolated but to remain connected as one denomination under one Lord. She concluded her report with a call to remember God’s faithfulness as the RCA moves into her next chapter with curiosity and hope:

“I wonder what God is preparing for the RCA. I wonder what surprises await us. I wonder who has not yet found a seat at Christ’s table. I wonder what stories generations long after us will tell. I wonder if perhaps God is doing something far more amazing than we can pursuably imagine. I wonder if we see the in-breaking of God’s kingdom in the here and now,” said Palsma. “I do not know all the details of what God has in store for us, but I know this, and I trust this: that the carpenter from Nazareth, Jesus Christ, is still building his church. He’s still working on sanding our rough edges. He’s still building parts of the table and rooms of this church that we can’t even see yet. His Spirit is still moving. His gospel is still changing lives. And his church, this church, still belongs to him. The same God who has been faithful to the Reformed Church in America for 398 years is still the same God who goes before us now. Therefore, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for strength, let us go forward together to be a church with gratitude for the past, with honesty about the present, with hope for the future, and with holy expectation for all that God can and will do.”

The delegation responded with cheers of appreciation and a standing ovation.

Watch the full address

Christian Nationalism is declared to be in opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ

As their last item of business on Friday, the General Synod adopted a statement declaring Christian Nationalism to be in opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The professorate, along with Rev. Bill Te Winkle, drafted the statement at the request of the GSC and the Commission on Theology. Following the approval of the statement (150 votes in favor and 6 dissenting votes), the synod rose and read the text aloud.

The statement reads in full:

We, the delegates to the 219th General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, declare the doctrine of Christian Nationalism to be opposed to the gospel of Christ.

We believe:

• God governs this world through both church and state. The church is to affirm authentic faith and show fruits of the Spirit, seeking wholeness and care for everyone.¹ The state is to work for the safety, security, and peaceful order of all those under its care.² Full humanity is both spiritual instructing us in faith and righteousness and political educating us to be citizens. We must not misapply to politics God’s call to spiritual freedom.³
• The church must invite the state to greater nobility, freeing the enslaved, relieving the oppressed, comforting the afflicted.⁴ We have a necessary voice in the public debate but, as Christ’s body, gathered around Word and sacrament, we must not conflate national identity with God’s reign,⁵ lest we mute our prophetic voice and replace discipleship to Jesus Christ with political ambition.
• We belong to Jesus Christ, not to anyone or anything else.⁶ We are called to influence the public square through persuasion rather than coercion, to work for unity among all people and nations, to reconcile everyone, and to stand in God’s Spirit without the corrupting influence of temporal power.⁷ Christian Nationalism represents a false church, fundamentally distorting the gospel.⁸

Trusting in our Triune God, we call on all Christians to renounce this error and work for justice, wholeness, and peace for all.

¹ Galatians 5:22-23.
² Belgic Confession, Article 36.
³ John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, III.19.15.
⁴ RCA “Form of Declaration for Ministers,” Book of Church Order, Formulary 3.
⁵ Belgic Confession, Article 29. Those who may belong to the true church are not distinguished in any way by nationality or skin color.
⁶ Heidelberg Catechism, Q & A #1.
⁷ Belhar Confession, Articles 2, 3, and 4.
⁸ Belgic Confession, Article 29.

Other business:

• The General Synod appointed Michael Molling as the treasurer of the General Synod. Molling has been serving as the General Synod Council’s (GSC) interim chief financial officer (CFO) since April as the GSC seeks a new permanent CFO following the voluntary departure of former CFO Tony Schmid. In accordance with its corporate bylaws, the General Synod must annually appoint a treasurer of the General Synod corporation and has historically appointed the GSC’s CFO.
• Rev. Dr. Young Na, vice moderator for the Commission on Race and Ethnicity (CORE), delivered a verbal report focused on the Revelation 7:9 vision and the Revelation 14:4 vocation that brings together God’s people as first-fruits who follow the Lamb in obedience. She, on behalf of CORE, posed a key question of whether the RCA’s structures truly support and allow a Revelation 7:9 vision that does not erase particularity but is a sign of redeemed communion.
• The delegation heard from Rev. Rosalyn De Koster, the moderator for the Commission on Christian Worship, which she referred to as the “worship conscience of the RCA.” She highlighted the commission’s work on a new liturgy for the closing of a regional synod or classis, resources for considering Bible translations, and beginning work on a requested liturgy for the opening of a church (a request from 2000 that was never completed). These resources are available here under the “Commission on Christian Worship” heading, along with the commission’s survey, which remains open so that the commission can continue to gather feedback in order to best equip pastors, worship leaders, and consistory members.
• On behalf of the Church Growth Fund (CGF), board president Joel Bouwens provided an overview and update on the ministry of the CGF, which, as stated in a recently revised purpose and vision statement, seeks to be the RCA’s trusted, ministry-driven financial partner—empowering congregations and the denomination to strengthen their ministry and advance the gospel of Jesus Christ. The CGF provides impactful lending to RCA and former RCA churches, investment opportunities to RCA members and organizations, and transformative grants for denominational ministry. Learn more about the CGF at www.rca.org/cgf. 
• The Board of Benefits Services’ (BOBS) report was presented by outgoing board president Tim Cumings, who highlighted the newly approved BCO amendment that gives BOBS greater flexibility to set required minimum benefits, success in this year’s contribution verification process, insurance programs that remain stable and financially sound, continued impact of the Retiree Program, grants given to retired ministers facing financial hardship, and plans to sustain important initiatives previously funded by Lilly Endowment grants. Cumings also acknowledged a year of transitions for BOBS, including the retirement of former executive director Kelly Oliveira and the coming retirement of Paul Karssen, the RCA’s general counsel, who has been a partner in BOBS’ work. Both received resounding applause from the delegation. The new executive of benefits services, Sarah Derige, introduced herself, iterated her deep belief that God has called her to this role, and committed to doing everything she can do to continue BOBS’ legacy of care.
• The delegation commended two papers from the Commission on Theology: one on the doctrine of creation and one on the separation of church and state. Each paper also includes discussion questions for individuals, small groups, congregations, and middle assemblies to “take the theology beyond the paper.”
• The General Synod professors, who serve in a fourth office of the church (alongside ministers, elders, and deacons), lamented two things: the lack of women currently part of the professorate and the loss of a dear friend and mentor, Rev. Dr. James V. Brownson. Rev. Dr. Chad Pierce called upon the RCA’s theological agents to put forward new voices for the Office of General Synod Professor, and gave thanks for how Jim often called the church into dialogue while examining what it means to be Christ-followers.
• The delegation heard from Daniel DeCook, chief communications and advancement officer, who expressed appreciation for the stories of faithfulness and commitment he’s been able to hear in his work with RCA advancement. He also took time to recognize and thank 18 churches who contribute at least $40,000 or 10 percent of their budget to support RCA mission and ministry.

Pictured above: Representatives from the 2025-2026 Missional Impact Partner churches. Thank you for your generosity and partnership in the gospel!