Women Advise Synod 2017
From left: Gail De Young, Karen Knip, and Melissa Van Dyk.
Karen Huttenga
Of the 182 delegates sent to Synod 2017, only 37 are women. To help fill this gap and provide more equal representation of women’s voices, Gail De Young, Karen Knip, and Melissa Van Dyk were also invited to attend in the role of women advisers.
As advisers, the three women do not have a vote on synodical matters but do participate on advisory committees and are invited to speak to the whole assembly during deliberations.
“My time at synod deepens my appreciation for our denomination and how it works,” said Knip, who was also present at last year’s synod as a woman adviser.
Van Dyk was also an adviser last year. “It's been a pleasure to serve in this capacity and witness the church at work,” she said. She added that she “felt welcomed into the conversation.”
For De Young, this year is slightly different than last. While she also attended Synod 2016, she was there as an elder delegate appointed by her regional group of churches. She said that serving in both capacities has been an honor, but that this year’s service has been especially notable because of the fellowship.
“I have appreciated our camaraderie and the times of prayer that we’ve had together,” said De Young about serving alongside Van Dyk and Knip.
De Young also appreciated this year’s synod for, “the deeply rich times of worship, the presentation of the Calvin seminary candidates, the reports of our ecumenical delegates, the formation of the Resonate Global Missions ministry, and the passion of our Executive Director, Steve Timmermans in exhorting the church to go to a broken with the power that transforms lives through the healing love of Christ.
“I've appreciated several ‘holy’ moments here at Synod,” Van Dyk added, “including being led in worship by the folks from Elim and spontaneous bursts of singing on the floor of Synod.”
For Knip, “The words shared by the ecumenical guests from Africa were particularly moving. It was a good reminder of the burdens our sister churches face daily.
All agree that it was a privilege to serve.
For continuous coverage of Synod 2017 including the live webcast, news, video recordings, photos, liveblog, social media links, and more visit www.crcna.org/synod.
