Postma Post: So What Is My Job Anyway?

“The challenge of organized religion is to find ways to encourage people to encounter God in potentially soul-shaking ways while also helping them to channel spiritual energy in paths that will be healthy for them, the congregation, and the world beyond.” ~ Dan Hotchkiss, Governance and Ministry

Governance

Governance is supposed to be boring, because it is the structure around the exciting things of ministry. It’s like the electrical grid that powers the oven that lets you bake a birthday cake. If you’re thinking about your electrical panel during a birthday party it is probably because there is something wrong with your house. It grabs your attention only when it isn’t working like it is supposed to be working. 

Governance also has more likelihood of really demanding your attention if you neglect it. That’s why maintenance is important. Sometimes a house does need to be torn down, but often that’s only because it wasn’t well maintained and starting fresh is the only real option.

So, what's my job anyway?

My role is to be executive director of the CRC in Canada. I think of my role primarily through two lenses: the denomination as a community and the denomination as an organization. How I serve both happens in a governance-type way since a lot of what I do is tending to the structures that support both the community and the organization. The better we can do this, the less you hopefully notice it. Instead, you just notice the beauty of the community and the impact of our shared ministry.

Denomination as Community & Organization

We are, at our core, a community of churches. This community supports one another in discerning God’s

calling in our collective life, helping one another out, challenging one another on our shared journey of sanctification, engaging in ministry together, etc. There is so much more to say about this, but that will be for another time (actually, I just finished a Banner article coming up about how support and accountability are core to a denominational community, so keep a lookout for it!).

The CRC is also a non-profit charitable organization in Canada. It is a way that we can do things together that both expand our impact and support churches to be healthy and thriving communities. To accomplish this, we have our CRC organization here in Canada but we also partner with other affiliated organizations in Canada and in the US. You can think of us as a community of organizations.

9 minutes that could change your life

Here (linked below) is a video where I explain the organizational side of things more clearly and what my job is within the organizational structure. A lot has changed in recent years. Yes, I did say the video is life changing…what I didn’t say was how much change! I’m trying to be funny. 

But, seriously, many people are unfamiliar with our structures and this confusion does sometimes seem to get in the way of good ministry conversations. So perhaps this 9 minute video will make a small difference in how we talk about ministry and what it looks like to ensure we have good pathways for ministry here in Canada.