Peter Noteboom, a commissioned pastor of the Christian Reformed Church in Classis Toronto, who has served nine years as general secretary for The Canadian Council of Churches ecumenical organization, is leaving the role as of June 30, 2026. The Council announced the transition in its March newsletter.
“Peter began serving as Acting General Secretary in 2017 and was appointed as General Secretary in May 2018. Since that time, Peter has served The Canadian Council of Churches faithfully and well, providing visionary leadership, diligent accountability, and unwavering commitment to the mission of the CCC,” the announcement said.
Noteboom shared some of the most significant things he’s seen impact Canadian Christian communities over that time, including the “different levels of polarization,
division, and even hatred along with the new levels of connection” in the digital and mobile phone age. “Both churches and individual Christians are responding to the algorithms and media platforms in new and different ways. Artificial General Intelligences bring with them new questions about meaning and purpose and what it means to be a human person, created in the image of God.”
Quoting Pope Francis, Noteboom noted, “‘We are not in an era of change, but instead a change of era.’ That rings true for my experience of the church in Canada. As we travel from one era to the next one, Tomáš Halík’s reflections on the maturing of the Christian church have been instructive and helpful to me. How will Christian churches mature into a deeper relation and connection with God, with our own spirituality, and in our communities? Will we travel a road of division and difference and separation, or will we travel the road of unity, justice for all, dialogue, and deeper oneness in Christ?”
Noteboom said, “At its best, the Council cultivates a spirit of unity, appreciation, friendship, and affection for its members to deepen their mutual understanding and to coordinate and collaborate, acting together in love. In many ways the programs of intercultural leadership and learning, faith and witness, justice and peace, faith and life sciences, peace and disarmament, (and) interfaith dialogue are all incidental to these relationships of love and appreciation for one another that contribute to a broader culture of dialogue, listening, deference, humility, and cautious but bold proposals for how we live together.”
During his tenure Noteboom oversaw the organization’s 75th anniversary in 2019, saying at the time that though the CRC only joined the Council in 1998, the denomination had contributed an outsized level of leadership as one of the top five participating member churches.
Al Postma, executive director-Canada for the CRCNA, said the CRC continues to be “a member of the governing board, allowing us the ability to speak into the activities of the CCC and to benefit from the support and collective witness that the CCC can have within Canada.” Postma and Ruth Hofman, a campus minister with Logos Christian Community at York University in Toronto, Ont., and pastor of Friend of Nations church, hold the CRC’s two seats on the Council’s governing board.
Postma recognizes The Canadian Council of Churches as “the broadest representation of the Christian ecumenical community in Canada.” It includes 26 member churches, which, according to the Council, drawing from data provided by the Statistics Canada 2021 survey, “comprise 85% of the Christians in Canada.”
“The Canadian Council of Churches responds to Christ’s call for unity and peace, seeks Christ’s truth with affection for diversity, and acts in love through prayer, dialogue, and witness to the gospel,” reads its mission statement. Postma notes it follows “a consensus model, where it only speaks publicly with a collective voice on matters after ensuring the endorsement of all its members.”
Noteboom represented The Canadian Council of Churches as a guest to the CRC’s 2019 Synod, convened on the campus of Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Mich. He served again in that role at the 2022 Synod.
In its announcement, The Canadian Council of Churches said it is “seeking an individual to fill the role of general secretary on a full-time basis for a 5-year renewable term, beginning September 1, 2026.”
Noteboom said he plans “to continue to contribute to the one ecumenical movement in Canada and to build on my three loves: faith, justice, and learning.” He’s been recommended by the Ecumenical and Interfaith Committee of the CRCNA and nominated by the Presbyterian Church in Canada to serve as a commissioner on the World Council of Churches Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, which he will continue. Noteboom is active in two congregations, First Christian Reformed Church Toronto, where he has been a member for 30 years, and Willowdale CRC, which “has kindly held my credentials and actively supported me in my role as a Commissioned Pastor serving as general secretary of The Canadian Council of Churches” after First Church began the process of disaffiliating from the CRCNA.
About the Author
Alissa Vernon is the news editor for The Banner.