A Pastor’s Identity

06/30/2025

Candidates for ministry know they will soon wade through a variety of expectations from their churches and communities. People might expect them to be a Bible expert, counselor, mediator of quarrels, visionary leader, community organizer, and church growth expert in addition to a range of other role

So You’ve Been Asked to Teach

06/30/2025

It’s education hour at Sonshine Community Church. In one room, preschoolers gather in a circle, singing with gusto; in another, teens work to create posters about being a good neighbor; in yet another, an elderly woman tells stories and shows artifacts from her days as a missionary in Asia.What’s go

Hunting Magic Eels: Recovering an Enchanted Faith in a Skeptical Age

06/27/2025

Five hundred years ago, Richard Beck argues, the world was enchanted. He writes in the opening chapter of his book, Hunting Magic Eels, that before the Protestant Reformation and the beginning of the Enlightenment, “God existed, and the devil was real. The world teemed with angels and demons. There

The Most Overlooked Women of the Bible: What Their Stories Teach Us about Being Seen and Heard

06/27/2025

This is the second book of author Mary DeMuth’s The Women of the Bible series. The first is The Most Misunderstood Women of the Bible: What Their Stories Teach Us About Thriving, and a third book, The Most Overwhelmed Women of the Bible: How Their Stories Help Us Find Peace, will be released later t

Collision

06/27/2025

The two-part PBS British crime drama, Collision, zigzags through time. One moment we’re in a literal car crash; the next, we’re in the inspector’s quiet office as DI John Tolin plots cause and effect. Quite clever, I thought.The collision is a terrible multi-vehicle accident on a British highway. As

In Memoriam: Rev. Gerald (Jerry) E. DeVries

06/27/2025

Jerry DeVries, who died May 30, was a gentle and humble pastor who served Christian Reformed congregations in the U.S. from coast to coast for over four decades.Jerry grew up on a farm in Princeton, Minn. He contracted polio at age 7. When he left the hospital after six months of therapy, Jerry was

In Memoriam: Rev. Nola Opperwall Galluch

06/27/2025

Nola Galluch has been described as having a big personality. “She had this big bravery to do what others wouldn’t even think of trying, a strong perseverance despite many odds and barriers against her along the way, and a big, nonjudgmental love for people,” said one of her brothers.Nola, 76, died M

Grief in Disguise

06/27/2025

As I Was Saying is a forum for a variety of perspectives to foster faith-related conversations among our readers with the goal of mutual learning, even in disagreement. Apart from articles written by editorial staff, these perspectives do not necessarily reflect the views of The Banner.I sat with my

Banner’s Editor-in-Chief Resigns ‘In Protest’

06/25/2025

Shiao Chong, editor-in-chief of The Banner, the magazine of the Christian Reformed Church, tendered his resignation with the publication June 23. His last day as editor will be July 11. Shirley De Vries, chief administrative officer for the CRC, is “working with the Office of General Secretary, Bann

Being Your Denominational Magazine

06/25/2025

For decades, The Banner has been the official magazine of the Christian Reformed Church. Since 2015, this magazine has worked under a mandate and publishing guidelines that called for editorial staff to show “the diverse positions held within the church” and permitted staff to “lead and encourage a

Ripple Effects in Mission

06/25/2025

Pastors and missionaries aren’t allowed on university campuses in Mexico. That’s why Resonate Global Mission missionary James Lee works with COMPA Campus Ministry to equip students to share the gospel at their schools—and that work is having ripple effects.David* first connected with Lee after seein

Synod 2025: Are We Ready to Trust?

06/24/2025

This was my fourth synod as news editor—sixth in a reporting capacity. Titles of my “In Our View” reflections have been “In Person, But Not Together,” “Incomplete and Broken,” and “Resounding Words.” As I witnessed discussions, deliberations, and decisions of the Christian Reformed Church synod this

Eleanore of Avignon

06/24/2025

In 1347 Provence, in southern France, 17-year-old Eleanore and her twin sister, Margot, live with their father, an accountant employed by Pope Clement, and their faithful housekeeper, Anes. When the girls were 10 years old, their mother, a respected midwife, healer, and herbalist, died. As a child,

Still Waiting on Clarification for Assemblies

06/23/2025

A request from Classis Zeeland to appoint a study committee to evaluate and clarify the Christian Reformed Church’s polity surrounding the relationships among local church councils, classes (regional groups of churches), and synod has been passed on to Synod 2026. It was originally sent to Synod 202

My View From the Asphalt

06/23/2025

In the middle of a sunny summer morning, as I biked in the bike lane on a busy city street, I saw a car come to a complete stop in the exit from the library parking lot that I was just about to pass. Assuming the driver had seen me, I rode in front of the exit just as she drove onto the road, right

Is Western Culture More Christian Than Other Cultures?

06/23/2025

One of my delights each year is to unpack and display my large collection of Nativity sets. I have gathered them from around the world, and part of the fun is to see how this story is interpreted through each culture.A painted screen from Haiti pictures one of the Magi bringing an enormous bunch of

When Alexander Graced the Table

06/20/2025

A native of South Carolina, Alexander Smalls is a successful cookbook author, chef, and restaurant owner. This new children’s book by Smalls and coauthor Millner is based on a true story that took place in Smalls’ home and life when he was a young boy. The book is inspiring because it reminds reader

Matlock

06/20/2025

Ooh, a cozy courtroom procedural, with loads of humor and charm, starring Kathy Bates? I’m all in, especially since my husband loves Matlock, too. Add intergenerational dynamics and an underpinning quest for goodness and justice, and you have a show well worth watching. Millions of viewers and criti

Why I Help People Take Drugs: Reflections of a Christian Addiction Medicine Physician

06/20/2025

Editor’s Note: The Banner does not necessarily advocate for supervised consumption sites, but this book’s provocative thesis, from a faith perspective, is something we think our readers could engage with critical thinking.When author Meera Bai Grover was employed at Insite, Canada’s first supervised

As Alcoholics Anonymous turns 90, a look at the Serenity Prayer’s eternal relevance

06/20/2025

As I Was Saying is a forum for a variety of perspectives to foster faith-related conversations among our readers with the goal of mutual learning, even in disagreement. Apart from articles written by editorial staff, these perspectives do not necessarily reflect the views of The Banner. The Banner h