In the aftermath of back-to-back hurricanes, faith-based disaster groups, including World Renew’s Disaster Relief Services, are on the scene while planning for a long, slow recovery
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Stories from people, congregations and ministries of the CRCNA, reported by The Banner's news editor and a team of regular correspondents and Church Worldwide news from the Religion 㽶Ƶ Service. Send news tips to news@thebanner.org.
Greg Elzinga, who served as interim president of Calvin University since February, believes the school to be “an amazing campus community” equipped to weather financial, social, cultural, or theological challenges ahead.
With concern for young adults navigating in a post-Christian culture, a Bowmanville, Ont., Christian Reformed Church member helped launch a conference “designed to help young adults in their pursuit of God and God's pursuit of them.”
The Canada and U.S. Ministry Boards of the 㽶Ƶ met Oct.17, discussing “Toward CRC Canada” and creating a building maintenance fund with proceeds of the denominational building sale.
The CRC’s Council of Delegates welcomed new members, discussed the One Family Conversation approach to classis leadership, reviewed some sobering financial numbers, and more.
The Council of Delegates of the Christian Reformed Church approved starting Synod 2025 and future synods with a virtual convening to elect officers.
The CRC's Council of Delegates has appointed Joel Vande Werken as the denomination’s first director of ecclesiastical governance, starting in mid-November.
Hagersville (Ont.) Community CRC recently moved from a 60-year-old building to a 140-year-old sanctuary.
In Memoriam: Rev. Norman Edmund Jones
1931-2024A member, in his retirement, of Aylmer (Ont.) Christian Reformed Church, Norman Jones was described at his funeral as “beloved pastor to the entire town.”
Expecting to retire Oct. 31, Shirley Hoogstra, president emerita of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, spoke with Religion 㽶Ƶ Service about her 10 years with the institution.
After two hurricanes hit their region only 15 days apart, members of Bradenton (Fla.) Christian Reformed Church are cleaning up and thanking God for his protection.
The number of ministers of the Word serving outside of congregational ministry in 2023 is more than nine times greater than in 1950.
Meeting since 2019 in professional buildings and in parking lots, Bridge Church, a Christian Reformed church plant in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., now worships in a Christian school on its way to completing a multi-use community hub.
Emmaus City Church, an emerging Christian Reformed congregation in Worcester, Mass., is in its second round of Surge School, a discipleship and spiritual transformation program.
World Relief asked supporters to urge U.S. presidential candidates “to uphold human dignity, secure borders, and protect family unity in immigration solutions.”
In Memoriam: Rev. Anthony (Tony) Begay
1938-2024Pastor, chaplain, and Lt. Colonel (Ret.) Anthony Begay was known for his deep faith and kind and generous spirit. He died Sept. 5 at age 86.
Eight ministers are releasing their calls, seven congregations have begun disaffiliation, and one church is affiliating with the 㽶Ƶ, in moves directly tied to recent synodical decisions on human sexuality.
Congregations facing hard choices about what to do with underutilized, high-maintenance sacred structures heard from real estate experts at a recent conference on the future of church buildings.
In Memoriam: Rev. Vernon F. Geurkink
1936-2024Vern Geurkink was an academic who sought to be a person of integrity. He had a lifelong commitment to justice and mercy. Vern, 88, died Aug. 2.
In the U.S., 64% of respondents said it’s important to have a national leader who stands up for people with their religious beliefs. 50% of Canadian respondents said the same.
Synod 2024’s measures to ensure leaders in the CRCNA remain in line with the denomination’s confessional teachings are having an impact on the makeup of the Council of Delegates.
Oct. 31 is marked as Reformation Day in Protestant churches to remember the onset of the Protestant Reformation that began in 1517.
With weekly visits to a nearby juvenile detention center and annual trips to support inmates and programs in Louisiana and Mississippi, the prison ministry team of Elmhurst (Ill.) CRC has a wide reach.
Canadian megachurch The Meeting House has closed public ministry. Nine satellite sites have relaunched as a network of churches with shared preaching and support services.