Greg Alderman Voted President-Elect

On Monday, synod delegates selected Greg Alderman as their new president-elect. He will be installed during General Synod 2014’s closing worship on Tuesday.

Alderman is senior pastor of Christ Community Church in Carmichael, California. He has served as the General Synod vice president for the past year, and after installation he will serve as president through General Synod 2015.

“It’s with a grateful heart I accept this wonderful opportunity to serve you as president,” he said.

He introduced his wife, Veronica, and their four children, Erin, Gabe, Emily, and Ross.

Referring to a time earlier at synod when current president Carl Boersma had batons passed out to all delegates, Alderman said, “I accept the baton and am reminded that we run the race in front of a great cloud of witnesses. I want to remind you that we carry the baton of the one who wins, Jesus Christ.”

He thanked those who had prepared him for the role of president, and named one couple in particular, Roger and Kathy Voskuil. Roger and Alderman served together as pastors of First Reformed Church in Sioux Center, Iowa.

“I want to do as Carl [Boersma] did, “Alderman continued. “I want to make Transformed and Transforming [the new RCA 15-year goal] my focus–to champion this cause that Jesus Christ has laid before us as a church.

“I wonder if we talk enough about what the Holy Spirit has done to change us. We must tell these stories of transformation lest our telling of the gospel be incomplete.

“In the words of Martin Luther, ‘I am not ashamed of the power of the gospel.’ It changed me and it can change the world.

“It is Jesus’ agenda that we should be about. It’s what the call of Transformed and Transforming is about: radical inclusion and radical transformation.”

As General Synod president, Alderman will visit RCA churches around the U.S. and Canada to listen to the joys and concerns of the church. He will also serve as the presiding officer at General Synod 2015.