The Office of General Secretary of the Christian Reformed Church in North America announced Lora Copley as the newly appointed interim editor of The Banner on Nov. 18. The publication has been without an editor-in-chief since Shiao Chong resigned the position in June.
Copley, currently a campus pastor in central Iowa, has served various parts of the CRC, including the candidacy committee and on the Council of Delegates. She will begin the half-time interim position Dec. 1.
Copley was ordained in the CRC in 2006 and has a Masters of Divinity from Calvin Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Dordt University. Her writing includes Teach Us to Pray: Scripture-Centered Family Worship through the Year, co-authored with Elizabeth VanderHaagen, and articles for the Center for Excellence in Preaching, Reformed Worship, and the Abide Project.
“I moved around a fair bit,” Copley said, having lived in Illinois; Texas; Mount Vernon, Wash.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Florida; Rehoboth, N.M.; and now in central Iowa. “I have been grateful because God has taught me in each of those settings, different skills and different postures. My primary posture is one of encouragement and learning and staying as close as I can, and as faithful as I can, to God's good word.” She said experiencing and seeing weariness among fellow believers at a classis meeting convinced her she might have something to bring to this opportunity. “I left that meeting thinking, ‘We can't stay here.’ Weariness is not a place from which we can move forward into a new chapter. We have to really be energized by what God is doing, and so, the next day, when a couple of unexpected hours just happened to make themselves available, and I thought, ‘I'll take a shot, and I'll leave what it takes up to the Lord.’”
Dean Heetderks, The Banner’s art director who has been managing the team and production since Chong’s departure, was the hiring manager for the interim appointment. “I was amazed at the number and quality of interested parties in the interim position,” Heetderks said. “Clearly, these people were invested in the CRC and wanted to do their part to support the ministry of The Banner—despite the attention its mandate (change) received at Synod 2025.”
Synod, in response to two overtures (formal requests), reviewed The Banner’s synod-given guidelines and mandate from 2015, determining that it should now “represent the denomination publicly to the broader Christian church and to the world at large by speaking from a distinctly Reformed perspective in line with our confessions and synodical decisions, representing the CRCNA as its official publication” and no longer show “diverse positions held within the church” but continue “providing a vehicle through which church members can express their views and opinions on pertinent issues” while being clear about “positions held by the church.”
Copley said, “I see the mandate as given with a positive intent in good faith to build trust, and I resonate with that desire to build trust. So I hope to be a team player, to bear good fruit toward that end.”
She said she will be intentional about giving “my very best to this work. I want to honor the many diverse peoples that are serving the denomination faithfully, from the general secretary and our university presidents, all the way up to the Sunday school teachers and the prayer warriors, who are on their knees. I want to contribute in ways that build up this body of Christ for fidelity.”
Heetderks led a hiring committee of six, including two members of the Council of Delegates, which reviewed applicants and interviewed for the position, welcoming general secretary Zachary King in the final interviews. King made the appointment with the hiring team’s recommendation, and it was ratified by the executive committee of the Council of Delegates, the ecclesiastical board for the CRC which acts on behalf of synod in between meetings of synod.
Copley as interim editor joins The Banner’s production team of Heetderks, associate editor Sarah Heth Sundt, news editor Alissa Vernon, Mixed Media editor Lorilee Craker, and designer Pete Euwema.
“The Banner staff has been working extremely well together, but it's a small staff, and the new interim editor's opinions and discernment—especially with the revised mandate—will be most welcome,” Heetderks said, particularly as the team prepares to mark the publication’s 160th anniversary next year.
Copley will continue working in campus ministry as she joins The Banner, in what she called “a distilled-down role" focused on “the core elements of our main Bible study and some of the student leader development that I do.” She said, “I'm very blessed to be in a supportive situation, so there'll be other people stepping up to help with other areas of the ministry.”
Chong had also worked in campus ministry, at York University in Toronto, before he became editor of The Banner in 2016.
The appointment of a long-term Banner editor is done by synod. Heetderks said now that the interim position, a term of 12 months or less, has been filled, seeking a long-term candidate to present to Synod 2026 will begin soon.