Mandate

Thrive accomplishes our mission calling for local worshiping communities in the Christian Reformed Church in North America by:

Networking

  • to seek ways for those who plan and lead worship in the CRCNA to meet for mutual encouragement and opportunities to share with, learn from, and listen to each other.
  • to leverage worship opportunities and learning by connecting with and supporting worship-related efforts of other CRCNA ministries and agencies, including other worship organizations—the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Calvin Theological Seminary, and the Center for Excellence in Preaching.
  • to foster ecumenical relationships that strengthen the CRCNA's understanding and practice of worship.

Equipping

local worshiping communities…

  • to reflect deeply about their worship, using multiple resources including our creeds, confessions, contemporary testimonies, liturgical forms, and relevant synodical documents.
  • to embrace their specific contexts and calls to ministry by reflecting their uniqueness in their worship and to enrich their worship by engaging with and learning from other churches in the CRCNA, other local churches, and the global church.
  • to join their worship with the church of all ages and around the world as an expression of our unity in Jesus Christ.
  • to preach the Word of God faithfully, effectively, and contextually, and to respond as we are called.
  • to share in the sacraments, teaching their full meaning and significance.
  • to include people of all socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, and without favoritism regarding gender, age, or abilities.
  • to use and lead the Children & Worship program.
  • to share their rich resources with each other, to utilize existing resources, and to aid in the creation of new resources that meet specific needs.

Values

We desire to create a space where we can listen to and learn from each other, form networks for peer learning, and develop resources to nurture faithful, effective, and contextual gospel proclamation and worship by valuing the following:

  • Humility and charity: The fundamental posture of this ministry is to learn and share local wisdom across ethnicities, communities, and styles.
  • Prioritizing people: Interpersonal learning across church types meets a deep need in this information-focused age and capitalizes on the strengths of a denomination.
  • Unity-in-diversity: Encourage more learning across ethnic, cultural, geographic, and church types, asking how common theological commitments are reflected in diverse local contexts.
  • Leverage of existing strengths and resources.
  • Avoiding programmatic silos: Develop web-like, open networks and resist the separation of worship and proclamation from other streams and initiatives.
  • Avoiding duplication: Focus on topics that a denomination is well-positioned to address and create awareness and access to other key resources.
  • Team identity: When people think of CRCNA work on worship and proclamation, we desire that they would think not merely of an “office” or “person” but of a team that includes people from multiple regions, ethnicities, congregations, and agencies. A primary function for our team should be to gather, nurture, and sustain a realistic and effectively networked team.