Department: Author: Alissa VernonThe congregation of Naschitti (N.M.) Christian Reformed Church was able to return to worship in their sanctuary this past week after completing repairs and restoration from smoke and fire damage incurred in the summer. (See Fire Damage, Uncertainty in Days Following
Department: Author: Kyle HoogendoornAt Northwestern College, in Orange City, Iowa, about 100 people gathered Nov. 12 for a discussion on immigration presented by Northwestern, the Evangelical Immigration Table, the National Immigration Forum, and the Christian Reformed Church’s Office of Social Jus
Department: Author: Religion News ServiceFaith congregations across California are responding to the state’s housing crisis by sharing their parking lots with people living in their cars, providing mobile showers for the homeless and joining their neighbors in calling for rent control in their comm
Department: Author: Greg ChandlerA new Habitat home for a western Michigan family was a labor of love for an entire classis.Seventeen congregations of the Christian Reformed Church’s Classis Georgetown recently partnered with Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity to build a Habitat home in Jenison, Mich.
Department: Author: Janet A. GreidanusThis September in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., a group of farmers busy with bringing in their own crops continued their 17-year tradition of donating time, resources, and labor to food relief. About a dozen combines harvested 295 acres of barley on land set aside
Department: Author: Phil de Haan"PTSD," said Roger Bouma, "is a little like the national debt. Everyone realizes that it's a problem, but nobody knows what to do about it." He was standing in front of a room of 80 people at Hillside Community Church, microphone in his right hand, his left hand by h
Department: Author: Janet A. GreidanusGordon Van Enk served in parish ministry for 25 years and was hoping to also serve 25 years as a hospice chaplain. That was cut short by ten months, however, when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer June 30, 2017. Van Enk received treatment that extended hi
Department: Author: Maia VanderMeerSpreading peace for students at Rehoboth (N.M.) Christian School can look like a unicorn, a waterfall, or a forest. This fall, 128 of the school’s elementary students are participating in a program developed by the Memory Project to create artwork to mail and shar
Department: Author: Kimberly SimpsonFellowship Christian Reformed Church in Toronto, Ont., kicked off a joint venture with the Neilson Park Creative Centre in September, launching a series of open mic poetry sessions. Sponsored in part by the League of Canadian Poets and the Ontario Arts Council, t
Department: Author: Janet A. GreidanusA beloved chaplain, Russ Van Antwerpen was a humble man with an open, ready smile, who dedicated his life to serving God and God’s people. He died Oct. 3 at age 65 following a brain aneurysm.At Calvin Theological Seminary, Russ increasingly felt called to cross
Department: Author: Greg ChandlerFaith Community Christian Reformed Church in Wyoming, Mich., recently celebrated its 100th anniversary.The congregation celebrated its centennial with a Saturday-night banquet attended by about 300 people, concluding with two worship services the following day with
Department: Author: Eliza AndersonWhen a church has 150 years of history to mark, it’s hard to fit everything into one celebration. Members of East Saugatuck Christian Reformed Church in Holland, Mich., have spent most of 2019 celebrating the sesquicentennial.The church hosted special worship servi
Department: Author: Gayla R. PostmaHow and when should the Council of Delegates send comments to an annual synod in response to matters on the synod agenda?That was a question the Council wrestled with at its October 2019 meeting. (The Council acts on behalf of the Christian Reformed Church’s annua
Department: Author: Gayla R. PostmaAfter being asked by Synod 2019 to review historical instances of the denomination speaking and to define what is an “ecclesiastical matter,” the Christian Reformed Church’s Council of Delegates is recommending the next synod appoint a study committee.Synod 2019 n
Department: Author: Kristen Parker“A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence... . Most likely, they cannot return home or are afraid to do so.” Reviewing that definition of refugee from the United Nations’ High Commission on Refugees
Department: Author: Phil de HaanThe Global Congress on Sport and Christianity, taking place in late October on the campus of Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Mich., had a stellar list of 11 keynote speakers but offered the 220 attendees from across North America and beyond more than big names.“We
Department: Author: Eliza AndersonTrinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Ill., recognized 60 years of post-secondary Christian education this fall. Marking the diamond anniversary Sept. 27, the school welcomed supporters, students, current and past faculty, and alumni to a gala at the Chicago
Department: Author: Religion News ServiceThe United States is steadily becoming less Christian and the number of people with no religion is rising. Those are the twin headlines from the latest Pew Research report released Oct. 17, which shows a dramatic decline in American religious habits over the
Department: Author: Emily Joy StrobleAt a chapel service Oct. 8, faculty and students of Kuyper College in Grand Rapids, Mich., thanked sculptor Nicholas Kroeze for creating a display case for the school’s Torah scroll, a gift received this past April. Kroeze, a past president of Kuyper and award-w
Department: Author: Anita BrinkmanMore than 100 people attended a workshop at Bethel Christian Reformed Church in Listowel, Ont., to discuss methods to help people make a way out of poverty.The Bridges Out of Poverty workshop Sept. 18 was initiated by a group of community workers, which included Be