Synod should be more than just a big meeting

Every year, across the church world, denominations gather their leaders together. Some call it synod. Others call it a general assembly, congress, conference or annual gathering. Whatever the title, the reality is the same: for a few days, 150 to 300 key leaders from churches, schools, ministries, charities and networks gather in one place.

These gatherings carry enormous weight. They involve significant financial investment, travel, volunteer energy, reports, planning and emotional bandwidth. But they also gather something increasingly rare in our fragmented age: concentrated leadership attention.

What would you do if you had 150 to 300 of your organization’s key leaders gathered together in one room for several days?

I hope you wouldn’t just fill the agenda with reports, procedures, elections and overtures. Governance matters, of course. Organizations need accountability and decision-making structures. But that’s not all.

I hope you would create space for deep prayer, collective discernment, leadership development, storytelling, shared learning and relationship-building. By the time delegates would return home, they would be genuinely transformed, not merely informed.

In many ways, annual gatherings reveal what an organization truly values. The agenda becomes a theological document. What receives time receives honour.

CRC identity

During my time serving as an Executive Director for the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) within Canada, I remember having lunch with several other Canadian denominational leaders from Baptist, Mennonite and other church traditions.

As we discussed the pressures surrounding our various annual gatherings, one leader made a comment that has stayed with me ever since: “You guys – the CRC – used to be the most intellectual and formative Christians on the block. That’s not true anymore. Scholarship and deep thinking from others has caught up amongst us all.”

I remember quietly sitting with that observation.

On one hand, perhaps that reflects the broader influence the Reformed tradition has had across the Church. Careful theology, thoughtful engagement and discipleship are no longer seen as belonging to one stream alone.

But it also raised a deeper question for me: if what was once perceived as the CRCNA’s defining strength is now more broadly shared, then what should we concentrate on at our leadership gatherings?

Shouldn’t a leadership gathering, like synod, move beyond the cognitive dependent administrivia to the practical applications of keeping the Great Commission real and active in local ministry settings in Canada and the U.S.? It is my very real sense that disappointment in the ability to do this has resulted in a lack of desire to be part of synod. 

A sharper vision

So, what unique gift does a truly healthy denomination cultivate for the next generation? What kind of leaders would they be trying to form? What should the annual gatherings (synod) ultimately produce beyond reports, decisions, theological boundaries or institutional maintenance?

If most annual gatherings focus primarily on these kinds of matters, leaders slowly conclude that maintaining the institution is the highest priority. But when gatherings foster humility, courage, attentiveness to God, learning, meaningful relationships and attentiveness to godly direction, something powerful can happen. Trust deepens. Vision sharpens.

Perhaps the future health of many Christian organizations depends less on whether we continue gathering and more on what we believe those gatherings are truly for.

If you had 150 to 300 of your key leaders gathered together each year, how would you steward that opportunity?