The Association of Christian Reformed Educators (ACRE) is an organization made up of professional and volunteer church educators who serve congregations in the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) in children’s and adult educational ministries. Its purpose is to promote and strengthen the churches educational ministries on congregational, classical, and denominational levels by supporting, encouraging, and advocating for church educators in the CRC.
In 2001, the Synod of the CRC formed a study committee on church education within the CRC. One of its mandates included studying what is happening in the Christian Reformed Church with respect to educating our members in Bible basics and Reformed perspectives and life view. The committee’s findings, reported in the Agenda for Synod 2005, called for a strengthening of faith formation programs within congregations and a renewed commitment to training for church school leaders.
Great progress has been made recently within the denomination to support training and continuing education for ministry staff, educators, and teachers. In 2004 the Association of Christian Reformed Educators (ACRE) was launched, funded by an eighteen-month grant from the CRC Foundation and administered by Faith Alive Christian Resources, with the goal of strengthening church educational ministries by supporting, encouraging, and advocating for CRC church educators. In 2007 a denominationally-funded position was added to Faith Alive for teacher training and consulting.
ACRE is coordinated by a steering committee made up of ACRE members. Currently ACRE’s efforts are focused on identifying and connecting the educational ministry directors within our denomination. If you are interested in joining ACRE or becoming a member of the steering committee, please contact Laura Keeley or Jolanda Malburg.
ACRE Steering Committee:
Dan Bos—Covenant CRC, Cutlerville, Michigan
Dawn Hartwell—Director of Education, St. Joseph CRC, St. Joseph, Michigan
Laura Keeley—Director of Children’s Ministries, 14th Street CRC, Holland, Michigan
Jolanda Malburg—Covenant CRC and Faith Alive, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Kathy Mouw—Director of Children’s Ministries, Providence CRC, Holland, Michigan
Cyndee Viel—Director of Children’s Ministries, Third CRC, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Other CRC Points of Connection
Staff Ministries Committee (SMC)
Are you aware that there is a committee in place whose purpose is to represent and encourage staff ministers within our denomination? This group is called the Staff Ministry Committee. The primary purpose of SMC is to represent paid staff working in specialized ministry within the church who are not ordained as Ministers of the Word and Sacrament. We are grateful to the SMC for hosting the ACRE website on their homepage!
SMC's primary tasks are
- to equip and encourage individual staff ministers.
- to equip and train churches in working with staff ministers and teams.
Presently the SMC committee is working on a credentialing plan for those involved in staff ministry. We also are working on some matters regarding denominational structure and how that relates to ministry. Many resources are also available by contacting Jeanne Kallemeyn.
The SMC committee membership is Anita Beem, Brad Bierma, Jeanne Kallemeyn, Laura Keeley (chair), Ryan Link, Ruth Ann Schuringa, and Norm Thomasma.
Pastor-Church Relations Committee Grant
The Pastor-Church Relations Committee of the CRC has a grant for continuing education funds—up to $750. These grants are available to CRC pastors and ministry staff who work at least 20 hours per week. Deadlines for submission are November 1, April 1, and August 1. For details visit http://www.crcna.org/pages/pastorchurch_index.cfm.
