Lesli van Milligen Retires from Thrive

As Rev. Lesli van Milligen retires as director of Thrive, a ministry of the Christian Reformed Church, she looks back on more than 30 years in ministry.

In 1995, van Milligen was one of the first women to be ordained in the CRC. She started her career as an evangelist, now called commissioned pastor. She co-pastored with her husband Thom in Troy, Mich.; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Guelph, Ont., where they now reside. Having obtained an M.Div. and all the other training required, she was ordained a Minister of the Word in 2016.

That year she began working for the denomination as director of Faith Formation. When Faith Formation was combined with eight other congregational ministries into Thrive in 2023, she became co-director with Rev. Chris Schoon, and sole director in 2024.

Van Milligen sees no downside to combining all those ministries. “As budgets tighten it is harder to replace some staff, but because we have a team, we can step in, fill gaps, and still provide resources,” she said. She noted that as a team Thrive is also able to provide more proactive resources. “We just produced Employment Essentials, sharing best practices in HR for churches. When synod decided we needed to support pastoral spouses, we already had resources we could put together almost immediately. We pivoted at our pastoral gathering and included a track for spouses. Deacon and Elder Essentials are also proactive resources.”

Van Milligen knows that most of their work is behind the scenes. “We are a ‘yeast’ ministry, so oftentimes people wonder how we impact churches,” she said. “When people use the Dwell curriculum, Thrive is there. When they need help with pastor-church processes, Thrive is there. We’re an unsung story, and that’s OK, but people don’t realize they need us until they do.” She would like to see churches put Thrive on speed-dial.

As she prepares to retire at the end of May, she said what she has loved the most is supporting her team so they can serve the church. “It is filled with amazing people, so dedicated, (working with) integrity and joy. They produce such high-quality work on behalf of the denomination.”
She thinks the biggest challenge her successor will face is constant change. “Our tendency has been to create something with a shelf life of 10-15 years. We’re always listening well to how we can best serve the church in the midst of all this change.”

Van Milligen isn’t sure what her next role will be but doesn’t believe there is retirement in kingdom work. “I’m guessing God will have me back in the pastorate,” she said. “I’ve known I was going to be a pastor since I was 6 years old.” She has never been the solo pastor of a congregation and would like to consider that.

She and Thom are members of CrossPoint CRC in Brampton, Ont.

The search for a new director of Thrive is near completion, with the CRC’s Council of Delegates planning to present an appointment for ratification in its supplemental report to Synod 2026, available late May.