After nearly an hour of discussion that spoke volumes to the centrality of mission within the Reformed Church in America, the General Synod voted against the Vision 2020 Team’s recommendation to create a separate 501(c)(3) mission agency. As a result, RCA Global Mission will continue to exist with the RCA label.
A summary of responses from the discernment groups clearly expressed a value for mission and a concern for the continued support of missionaries.
“A deep love and appreciation for the mission work and missionaries that work for God in the Reformed Church in America … was almost universally affirmed—and the desire to keep that relationship,” said Brian Engel, a moderator for one of the discernment groups.
“It is apparent that people love RCA Global Mission,” said JP Sundararajan, director of RCA Global Mission, who was called to the mic to share the perspective of those who would be most directly affected by the passing of the recommendation. “This process has galvanized our missionaries and mission partners that the denomination does care for them.”
Related: hear greetings from RCA missionaries via videos, which were played at the opening of each General Synod 2021 plenary session
Some delegates wondered how Global Mission might be impacted financially by churches leaving the RCA.
“Global Mission is supported by the generosity of churches and individuals, primarily through partnership-in-mission (PIM) shares,” Sundararajan explained. “Churches support their missionaries … because they love their missionaries. Churches that have indicated that they are leaving—many of them, at least—have reached out to us and to their missionaries with their decision to support RCA Global Mission.”
In response to a question about the intent of the Vision 2020 Team’s recommendation, team member Marijke Strong said the initial intent of the recommendation was to “preserve and protect Global Mission and the continued support for missionaries.”
However, since the report was published, Strong shared that, through a series of conversations, the team heard that “Global Mission and its missionaries are not as threatened as we thought they would be with a lot of churches leaving the RCA.”
Throughout the discussion over the recommendation, the work and legacy of RCA Global Mission was celebrated. Delegates also expressed concern over losing mission as a unifying piece of the denomination.
“Paul is adamant that the mission of God is inseparable from the church,” said Bethany Popkes, a delegate from the Regional Synod of Albany, who encouraged delegates to read Ephesians 1 and 3. “As a granddaughter of missionaries who spent years in the field, I hear the heartbreak. Any nonprofit can take in an RCA missionary; however, not all RCA missions can become separate nonprofits and still exist in countries where the RCA is the only mission, where the gospel is not welcome.”
Two delegates who currently serve as RCA missionaries also spoke against the recommendation, expressing gratitude for the support they’ve heard.
“[It’s] deeply felt. I’ve been in tears these moments,” said Brian Renes, who serves with RCA Global Mission in the work of Bible translation. “I believe the recommendation, although admirable, moves us all—those who stay and those who leave—to a position of less responsibility, fewer opportunities, and loss of identity as missional.”
The recommendation was denied by an overwhelming majority of delegate votes.
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