Included in Calvin Theological Seminary’s report to the Christian Reformed Church’s Synod 2024 is a faculty statement of confessional commitment, shared in part as a response to a recommendation that was before Synod 2023 but deferred to Synod 2024. But “the topic,” says the report, “had already bee
Members of Clinton (Ont.) Christian Reformed Church went on a history hunt in April, discovering interesting things about their congregation’s past as they participated in Hunt75, one of many 75th-anniversary events designed to help the congregation be “Rooted in Faith, Growing in Hope, and Serving
In this first book published by the recently launched Reformed Journal Books, author Jeffrey Munroe explores a concept he learned from the late Frederick Buechner, an author and pastor who coined the phrase “the stewardship of pain.” Munroe does so by sharing the stories of people who have experienc
Sarah Arthur, author of numerous nonfiction titles including The Year of Small Things: Radical Faith for the Rest of Us and A Light so Lovely: The Spiritual Legacy of Madeleine L’Engle, offers young-adult readers her first novel, a tale of queens and faraway lands and mysterious happenings.Eva Joyce
Many of us know what it’s like to get a letter in the mail informing us that we’ve been chosen to fulfill our civic responsibility as a juror. Some of us have very good reasons why we can’t serve and so we call the court to explain our reasons, or we hope that when we call, the court case has alread
After Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Mich., announced a leadership transition in late February, saying president Wiebe Boer resigned his position, there have been questions about due process for Boer who was the subject of a report alleging “unwelcome and inappropriate communication and attentio
“How do you pastorally tell the truth of the Good Friday story without retraumatizing and injuring those in your midst?”The question stumped the panel. Between the six of us, we figured out that we had a septugenarian’s worth of years of experience in leading worship ministry in the church. Yet this
Twenty-four years ago my wife and I were aspiring young pastor candidates who felt a call to mission ministry but were not clear about where or what that meant. We knew that sharing our hope in Jesus Christ with nonbelievers was part of the call, but I had introverted tendencies at that age and foun
Pandita Paul is on the cusp of her teenage years, but all she wants to do is stay in the past and not move on to the future. She’s especially worried that she’s beginning to forget Ma, who died a few years ago when the family was visiting Ma’s native village in India. To counteract her fear, Pandita
When Swedish band Moon Safari released Himlabacken, Vol. 1 back in 2013 it was reasonable to expect that Vol. 2 would be just around the corner. That was not to be the case, and fans of the band wondered if, perhaps, they were calling it quits. It is tough for independent bands to make it financiall
Editor’s note: This article is the second in a three-part series on the missional church based on their book, Joining Jesus, by Moses Chung and Chris Meehan.I (Chris) needed to have abdominal hernia surgery right after the first of the year. Recovering painfully at home, I had lots of time on my han
Walking down a hallway I met an acquaintance and said, “Hi!” She smiled and said, “Fine, thank you.” I hadn’t asked how she was, and after a millisecond I realized that I had once more encountered “flippant greeting disorder.” It’s not a clinical disorder, but I believe our society needs to be “heal
A fellow church council member insists that having doubts about our faith is not something “real” believers would experience. It’s made me even more doubtful. What should I do?There are many examples in Scripture of people who had doubts. Perhaps John the Baptist’s life can be instructive. Even befo
Pease (Minn.) Christian Reformed Church, a congregation founded in 1895, has typically marked the week leading up to Easter with traditional observances including palm branches for children on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday commemoration, and a Good Friday service. This year, inspired by a suggestion
Dordt University women’s basketball team won its first National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national championship March 26, defeating the University of Providence’s Argos 57-53. Dordt, in Sioux Center, Iowa, is one of six educational institutions denominationally related to the Christia
Two or three times each year, Christian Reformed churches send representatives to their classis, a regional assembly of churches.Many of the actions taken by classes are governed by the CRC’s Church Order, the rules that govern denominational life. Here are some of the actions by classes in the past
Journalist Tim Alberta became certain: Evangelicalism had changed.Alberta recounts the words he heard in the receiving line for his dad’s funeral. Here in a Brighton, Mich., church where Alberta had grown up under his dad’s pastorate, he encountered not sympathy—but attacks about why he didn’t share
Based on Ali Novak’s 2014 novel of the same name, this teen drama series narrates the journey of Jackie Howard (Nikki Rodriguez), a 15-year-old who grew up in Manhattan, N.Y., and whose parents and older sister died in a car crash. The orphaned teenager moves to rural Colorado to live with her mothe
In this standalone companion and conclusion to the Show Me a Sign trilogy—the other books are Show Me a Sign and Set Me Free—author Ann Clare LeZotte returns to the life of Mary Lambert on Martha’s Vineyard, a historical community where, from 1740 through the late 1800s, a high proportion of people
Tadala’s smile lights up a room. She is funny, opinionated, and curious. She walks slowly and confidently. She makes friends easily. “Tadala’s story is a miracle,” said Mable Sichali, a deacon in the United Church of Zambia, one of World Renew’s global partners.Tadala has a cognitive disability and