“How Can We Hope When It All Feels Hopeless?” A lecture hall of people turned up at the University of Iowa Geneva Campus Ministry lecture Oct. 19 to hear Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Marilynne Robinson and Nicholas Kristof take on this question.For 50 years Geneva Campus Ministry has been hosting
Diaconal Ministries Canada marked 25 years of work in Christian Reformed churches across Canada, celebrating stories of love in action Oct. 17. The organization was created by deacons for deacons with a dream to disciple, mentor, and connect Canadian CRC churches.John Wildeboer, national director fo
Ora et labora. Pray and work. This centuries-old credo from Saint Benedict was the inspiration for two trips that members of Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, Calif., took in 2026. The first trip brought members on a pilgrimage to England, while others from the congregation went to N
The Council of Delegates of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, and the denomination’s two ministry boards, one for the U.S. and one for Canada, met Oct. 14-16 at Cascade Fellowship CRC in Grand Rapids, Mich.Items to note from the meeting include ratifying a new director of communication
A white, steepled church stands as a landmark on Victoria Drive in Vancouver’s Eastside. It is home to the First Christian Reformed Church of Vancouver. The congregation marked its Centennial year with a celebration service on Oct. 18. One hundred years earlier, on Oct. 21, 1926, a small group of po
The directors of the Canadian Ministry Board, the operational governance board for ministry among the Christian Reformed churches in Canada, adopted refreshed mandates for Indigenous Ministry, Intercultural Ministry, and the Centre for Public Dialogue at their October meeting. The changes, worked ou
ReFrame Ministries, the 87-year-old media ministry of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, is an agency of the denomination “subject to the authority of synod” (ReFrame -US Corporate Bylaws) and regulated by the “denomination’s Church Order, its Rules of Synodical Procedure and the mandat
With 37% of potential voters casting a ballot, the Evangelical Press Association, a professional organization of Christian writers, editors, and publishers, voted 57% in favor of its board’s recommendation to adopt a new name: Christian Communicators Network. Voting took place between Sept. 15, afte
With more than double the initially expected registrants, and presenters and attendees from around the globe, Calvin University’s Wisdom in the Age of AI conference Oct. 8-10 facilitated the discerning of faithful and responsible use of AI in education, church, business, healthcare, STEM (science, t
For 14 years the Sewing Sisters of Lucas Christian Reformed Church in McBain, Mich., have been supplying Project Canefire and other ministries with upcycled dresses to distribute on mission trips.Sandy Pluger, one of the sewing women and an organizer of the group, was inspired to start the work afte
The Board of Governors of Redeemer University in Ancaster, Ont., announced the second term appointment of currently serving president David Zietsma on Sept. 25.“Serving as provost and vice president, academic, and interim president before his official appointment as fifth president in March 2022, Zi
Thanksgiving in Canada comes about six weeks before the same holiday in the U.S., and Thanksgiving at Tapestry Church in Richmond, B.C., comes even earlier as the congregation’s pastoral care ministry welcomes about 100 people to its family-style meal in early October.Unable to host the full congreg
The Banner has a subscription to republish articles from Religion News Service. This story by Tonny Onyulo, published Sept. 23, 2026 on religionnews.com, has been edited for length. The Banner added the final paragraph, with context for the Christian Reformed Church.(RNS) — As killings and mass kidn
Starting a church in Tucson, Ariz.—a city identified as the 12th-most “post-Christian” in the U.S. on Barna research group’s 2017 scale—was daunting. Even the neighbors didn’t want it. Asked for letters of support in 2017, local entities in the Arroyo Chico neighborhood instead responded to Mission
Synod 2026, the annual general assembly of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, made several consequential decisions for the future of the CRCNA, including adopting a 10-year strategic plan for discipleship, church planting, and renewal. It also requested a study of Christian nationalism,
On a visit to Elmhurst (Ill.) Christian Reformed Church on a summer or fall Wednesday morning, you’re likely to hear peals of laughter, smell baked goods from 10 different vendors, see busloads of community members, and possibly come into contact with one or more of Elmhurst’s Farmer’s Market’s 2,50
As Christian Reformed churches focus on multiplication through discipleship in conjunction with the denomination’s 10-year commitment, more are turning to one-on-one mentoring to prepare young people for profession of faith rather than relying primarily on a classroom-setting approach.Rick Zomer, a
A fire late in the evening of Aug. 26 destroyed a historic building on the property of LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., but not the congregation’s primary worship space.The fire destroyed a vacant structure that had once served a Seventh-Day Adventist congregation, wh
The annual denominational survey asks respondents to select from 28 phrases in response to the prompt “To me, the term ‘Christian Reformed’ means … .”In 2026, 13 phrases were selected by at least 30% of respondents.Those top terms, with the ones chosen by the highest percentage of respondents most p
In Munster, Ind., and St. Catharines, Ont., Christian Reformed congregations host chainsaw sharpening and a community BBQ in support of neighbors affected by August storms and flooding.“Maybe this is where the church shines the brightest,” suggested pastor Jim Hollendoner of Munster (Ind.) Church in