Road Trip to Burlington: Building Bridges of Connection

When Ebenezer Christian Reformed Church (CRC) in Trenton, Ontario decided to make a road trip to the Canadian office of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, they were hoping for connection. They get newsletters, ministry updates, bulletin inserts, and announcements from the denomination, but something was missing.

“We wanted to feel a connection with head office,” said Paula Wolters, office administrator and a youth leader at Ebenezer CRC. “We wanted to meet, to see the faces of the ministry staff, see what resources are available to us, what the denomination is doing for us. We wanted to see what it means to be a church affiliate, a church member, of the CRC.”

Marc Hoogstad, Pastor of Faith Formation and Congregational Care at Ebenezer, attended the Canadian National Gathering in May, where he heard Canadian Ministries Director Darren Roorda speak about the positive results from another church’s road trip to the office. He followed up in August, asking if a visit from Ebenezer to Burlington would be possible.

After some planning in Trenton and Burlington, ten people – council members, administrators, and ministry leaders from the church – made the trip on November 16. They toured the office, heard from staff, shared lunch, asked questions, and learned about the resources available to them.

For example, Carol Sybenga, program manager for ServiceLink and one of the organizers of the visit, talked with the group about the CRCNA website and The Network, giving a ‘tour’ of both websites and showing how to access the many online resources. 

“Our goal was to serve Ebenezer in such a way that their ministry challenges, efforts, and struggles were at least partially addressed through a renewed awareness of the people, services, resources and content that the CRCNA can provide,” said Roorda.

Conversations beforehand allowed Sybenga and others to tailor the visit to best fit the needs and questions of the Trenton church. For example, the church was looking for a new mission to support after the missionaries they had been supporting retired. Trish De Jong, Missions Engagement Developer for Christian Reformed World Missions, suggested a partnership with Mission Montreal, which is “just down the road” from Trenton and would allow meaningful interaction.

“Trish could really cast a vision for what these missions are all about, and that generated enthusiasm,” said Wolters. “The deacons are excited to go back and take this to the congregation.”

Thinking back on the visit, Wolters said, “I’d highly encourage [other] local churches to make the trip. It was a really encouraging day. It takes away the distance, makes us feel like partners. It makes the denomination so very accessible.”

This kind of enthusiasm is encouraging to Carol and the ServiceLink team. Following endorsement by the Board of Trustees of the Christian Reformed Church in September, ServiceLink shifted the focus of its ministry from volunteer services to resourcing congregations. ServiceLink’s new mandate is to serve as a collaborative  bridge between the agencies and ministries of the CRC and local Canadian churches. They connect through customer service and communication, helping churches find resources and answers to their questions.

The visit from Trenton, said Sybenga, was a way of “pouring into the life of the church – and that’s what the various ministries of the CRCNA seek to do.” Recognizing that many churches are simply too far from Burlington to make the trip, Sybenga noted that ServiceLink is working on finding ways to connect with churches in other ways – possibly through visits from the office to the church, ministry videos that can be taken on the road or shared online, or virtual visits through technology. A phone app and a web-based portal to better connect churches with available  resources are already in development.

“We’re building relationships and understanding where things are at locally with different congregations, understanding each of their contexts,” said Sybenga. “That’s how we’re trying to minimize the gap, so we’re well connected.”