The General Synod Council (GSC), the governing board of the Reformed Church in America (RCA), recently adopted a new ends policy—a big goal the board sets for the general secretary and staff to achieve—replacing the five ends policies that were in place previously. That revised goal focuses the RCA’s mission on empowering servant leaders, multiplying and revitalizing congregations, growing the global church in mission, and nurturing a culture of belonging, equity, and justice as revealed in Revelation 7:9—a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language before God’s throne.
Thus, the RCA continues its commitment to living into a multicultural, multiracial, and multigenerational future in which many diverse members make up one unified body under Christ our head. The Revelation 7:9 department within the RCA’s Center for Church Multiplication and Ministry helps the denomination live into this biblical vision through the equipping and resourcing of leaders, churches, and assemblies to establish equitable, hospitable ministry practices that engage all God’s people.
The Revelation 7:9 work includes ministries focused on equity-based hospitality, disability concerns, racial reconciliation, and women’s transformation and leadership. The denomination’s four racial and ethnic councils are incorporated in this work, as are Sankofa Journeys. Each council will continue to have a coordinator.
| Learn more about each ministry within the Revelation 7:9 vision
“This is a continuation of the good work that has been done for decades,” says Rev. Dr. Liz Testa, who has been appointed as director of Revelation 7:9, effective April 1. “We are building on what God has already been doing and bringing ministries into deeper collaboration to strengthen the body of Christ and help communities flourish.
“This next phase is about collaboration, unity, and creativity,” she adds. “We want to meet people where they are, not just welcoming them but helping people find belonging and discover how their gifts contribute to the body of Christ.”
Why we do this work
“As Reformed people, we recognize both the brokenness of the world and God’s ongoing work of reconciliation and renewal,” says Testa. “The Revelation 7:9 vision is not simply an aspiration; it is a glimpse of God’s kingdom where every tribe, language, people, and nation belong fully before the throne of God. Our calling is to participate faithfully in that work now by cultivating communities shaped by justice, belonging, equity-based hospitality, and deep mutuality. This is not about symbolic diversity or simply trying harder. It is about joining the Spirit in the ongoing work of building God’s reign here on earth.”
This biblical vision—people from all nations, languages, and tribes gathered before the throne of the Lamb—emerged as a ministry priority for the RCA in the last five years, gaining traction as commissions, councils, churches, ministries, staff, and more coalesced around the vision identified by general secretary Rev. Eddy Alemán. Other denominational priorities include global mission, church planting, and equipping churches.
As the Restructuring Team noted in its final report in 2024, “God seems to be doing something new in our denomination. Today, the RCA is increasingly diverse and is living into the Revelation 7:9 vision of people from every nation, tribe, people, and language gathered around God’s throne in worship. Across Canada and the U.S., women and men of varying racial and ethnic identities are finding a home and belonging in the RCA” (Minutes of General Synod 2024, p. 104).
The vision is welcoming all God’s people to contribute their gifts, with particular attention to people who have been historically marginalized or underrepresented, including people from diverse racial and ethnic communities, women, people with disabilities, and younger people.
“The Revelation 7:9 vision calls us into deeper partnership and right relationship with one another as the body of Christ,” says Testa. “This is not an either/or vision shaped by fear or scarcity, but a both/and vision of God’s reign—women and men, laity and clergy, local and global communities bringing their gifts together for the sake of God’s mission in the world. The church is strongest when every culture, language, generation, ability, and lived experience is recognized as essential to the fullness of the body. Our calling is not merely to welcome people into existing structures, but to cultivate communities of justice, belonging, mutuality, and transformation where all God’s people can faithfully live into their callings and participate fully in building God’s reign here on earth.”
Testa approaches this work through the lens of equity-based hospitality, which is defined as “embracing the biblical practice of welcoming both friends and strangers in generous, kind, respectful, flexible, barrier-free ways.”
| Learn more about equity-based hospitality and its nine Scriptural values
“This is our call as Christians—to reflect the welcome and healing love of Jesus and participate in God’s transforming work in the world,” adds Testa. “Revelation 7:9 reminds us that God’s vision is rooted in abundance, not scarcity. We are called to draw the circle wide, embrace others in, and create communities where people feel seen, valued, and connected to God and one another.”
Staffing changes to support the breadth of ministry
Testa began her role as director of Revelation 7:9 on April 1, having previously served as director for equity-based hospitality and women’s transformation and leadership. That work will continue within the scope of her new role. This appointment is part of a strategic plan that aligns the staffing of Revelation 7:9 with the other wings of the center—church multiplication and discipleship and future church innovation.
Testa joined the GSC staff in May 2014 as the coordinator for women’s transformation and leadership. Under her leadership, women’s transformation and leadership has grown into a thriving ministry that has helped the RCA more intentionally recognize, equip, and elevate the gifts, leadership, and influence of women across the denomination.
“I’m excited to bring my ministry experience, education, and lived experience into my new role as director of Revelation 7:9 and to help catalyze the work of equity, justice, and belonging across the RCA,” says Testa. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to build on the momentum of women’s transformation and leadership and equity-based hospitality and carry that into the broader Revelation 7:9 vision alongside colleagues, partners, and communities across the RCA.”
She recently earned a doctor of ministry degree with a concentration in transformational preaching from New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Jersey. Testa has been an ordained minister of Word and sacrament in the Classis of New York since 2013.
“As we are becoming a more global, multiethnic, and multicultural denomination, Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Testa has been formed and equipped for such a time as this,” says Rev. Hanoi Avila, the RCA’s chief ministry officer. “She possesses unique gifts and abilities for this work; she is driven, highly relational, an exceptional organizational leader, and immensely gifted in her call to hospitality across cultures and languages. I have no doubt that, with God’s help and the work being fostered in our Revelation 7:9 department, we will see our commitment to a multicultural and multiethnic future—freer from the sins of racism, sexism, and ableism—embodied in our denomination today more than ever in our denomination’s history.”
To support Testa and the breadth of Revelation 7:9 ministry work, a part-time associate director position was created. This model is consistent across the three wings in the Center for Church Multiplication and Ministry.
Juliann Bullock, coordinator for Native American Indigenous Ministries (NAIM), has been named as the associate director of Revelation 7:9, effective May 1. She will continue her work as the coordinator for NAIM alongside her associate director role as both positions are part-time.
Bullock joined GSC staff in April 2025 after more than a decade of cross-cultural work with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Papua New Guinea.
She says that time “uniquely equipped” her for this role as she frequently worked with groups of people from diverse cultural backgrounds, helping them work together in unity while honoring and maintaining their unique cultural differences. She also facilitated healthy communication and training for diverse groups who sought to offer more hospitable spaces.
“Juliann is deeply relational with a unique combination of cross-cultural, strategic, and organizational gifts,” says Testa. “She brings strong experience in cultivating relationships across cultures, developing meaningful resources, and supporting the systems that help ministry flourish. Her leadership will be an important part of continuing to bring the Revelation 7:9 vision to life as we equip and resource the church for this work.”
Bullock is currently pursuing a master of divinity degree with a focus in spiritual direction and is a candidate under care of Classis Cascades through the Ministerial Formation Certification Agency (MFCA).
“I believe that the body of Christ cannot flourish in the full potential God desires for us unless all parts of the body are connected in healthy relationships with each other,” says Bullock. “When the church is full of connected people from many different backgrounds, we are better equipped to offer the world a more robust expression of Christ’s love and hope. I am thrilled to be a part of facilitating deeper connections across differences within the RCA for God’s glory and the flourishing of the whole body.”
Ready to engage this vision? Contact equip@rca.org to get started or take the next step!
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