Feb. 24, 2006 Grand Rapids, Mich. - Rev. Robert C. Heerspink has been appointed director of The Back to God Hour, the Christian Reformed Church's electronic media ministry.
The appointment was made and ratified yesterday by the Board of Trustees of the Christian Reformed Church, which is meeting in Grand Rapids, Mich. He will begin his new position on April 1, 2006.
Heerspink, who served on the board of the Back to God Hour (BTGH) since 2000 and is its past president, had been serving as interim director since last fall. He was the unanimous selection of a search committee and was nominated for the position by the board of the BTGH.
Heerspink said this is an exciting time in the agency's history. "When we are born and bred in the CRC we don't always know how remarkable the ministries of this denomination are," he noted.
"Media is changing and opportunities are changing. We've cut back on English language radio and Primary Focus, and at the same time remarkable opportunities for new media are opening up. We're talking about pod casting, web casting, blogging, getting back into video."
A native of west Michigan, Heerspink is a graduate of Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary and has been a pastor in the CRC since 1979. He is currently the senior pastor of Faith Community Christian Reformed Church in Wyoming, Mich. and previously served congregations in Jenison, Portage and Eastmanville, Mich.
During the past year, in addition to his other duties, he has served as ministry practices specialist at Calvin Theological Seminary, helping to reshape the seminary's educational program around the theme "Formation for Ministry." He also has served on a wide variety of denominational boards and committees.
The Back to God Hour, with offices in Palos Heights, Ill. and Burlington, Ont. is the electronic media ministry of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. For more information visit www.btgh.org <http://www.btgh.org/> .
For more information contact:
Rev. Peter Borgdorff, Executive Director, The Christian Reformed Church, 616-224-0832
Rev. Jerry Dykstra, Director of Denominational Ministries, 616-224-0744
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Henry Hess
Director of Communications
The Christian Reformed Church
To learn more about the Christian Reformed Church visit www.crcna.org <http://www.crcna.org/pages/index.cfm