Faith Alive Director Marvels at the Mystery

Gary Mulder helped to guide the Christian Reformed Church in North America's publishing ministry through a plethora of changes over the last 24 years. He says he found the experience fascinating and fulfilling.

As director of Faith Alive Christian Resources, formerly CRC Publications, Mulder has helped to forge links with other denominations and publishers. In the process, Faith Alive has become a provider of books, curricula and other items to churches, schools and organizations, in and outside of the CRC.

"I've enjoyed the people and the dedicated staff," says Mulder, 65, one of four senior CRC directors who are retiring this year. "I've enjoyed the challenges and enjoyed the mission. I want to go on to the next phase of my life. I'm ready to see what God has in store for me next."

The mission of Faith Alive Christian Resources, he says, "is to provide resources that call people to follow Jesus Christ by helping people to understand, experience, and express the good news of God’s kingdom that transforms lives and communities worldwide."

Also retiring this year are Rev. Herman Keizer, Jr., director of Chaplaincy Ministries, Rev. Duane Visser, director of Pastor-Church Relations, and Rev. John Rozeboom, director of Christian Reformed Home Missions. Their service to the church will be honored in a special luncheon during Synod 2008, which begins June 14.

Before coming to what was then CRC Publications, Mulder taught high school mathematics and then worked in education and training for Xerox and the American Bankers Association.

He took the job as a way to better use his talents to work in God's kingdom in some way, he says. "God works in mysterious ways. There is no way I could have predicted I'd end up here."

Among other things, he helped the CRC look at what it would take to survive in the ever-changing world of denominational publishing. "We needed to be able to recover costs through sales," he says. "We had to be market-sensitive. This is a tough business and has become even tougher."

Mulder says the job required him to work on many levels to build consensus on how best to approach the publishing business. Mainly, he says, Faith Alive has had to become responsive to the needs of churches – the organization's main customer.

The challenge is that the needs of churches are constantly changing, as are denominations themselves, he says. "We have worked to publish for the big middle, and then move out a bit toward the cutting edge. At the same time, we have to always be asking how we can respond to the trends that are out there."

Faith Alive publishes materials for Sunday school and other children’s ministries; youth ministry; adults and small groups; prayer and evangelism; church leadership; worship, and special needs.

It also publishes The Banner, the monthly magazine of the Christian Reformed Church; Reformed Worship, a quarterly journal for worship planners and leaders; as well as theological books for church leaders in Spanish.

Looking ahead, challenges facing his successor include determining how deeply Faith Alive should move into publishing materials in different formats, such as DVDs or E-books. In addition, he says, the next director will need to try to find out "how important is it to church leaders that they use materials from a Reformed perspective."

He says he hopes the organization continues to publish materials and resources for diverse audiences.

Mulder says he has found some of his greatest joy in the responses he has gotten from Faith Alive customers. Earlier this year, he received an email from a Free Methodist Church, thanking Faith Alive for publishing educational resources for children.

"I cannot tell you how this Young Children and Worship program and songs with signs has assisted and enriched the experience of our entire congregation. There is palpable excitement. Thank you."

To learn more about specific Faith Alive products, visit www.FaithAliveResources.org, call 1-800-333-8300 or email [email protected].