ReFrame Ministries, the Christian Reformed Church in North America’s international media ministry, announced program changes April 14 discontinuing new production for three English-language websites and suspending the agency’s Russian-language ministry.
Church Juice, a resource to help congregations improve their communication and outreach through digital tools; Think Christian, a forum for Christian pop-culture enthusiasts to “help believers connect their fandom with their faith”; and Family Fire, a “community of fellow-strugglers in marriage and families, whose goal is to encourage you and stoke the Holy Spirit's flame in your home,” have all ceased production.
“As with any ministry, it is important for ReFrame to occasionally evaluate its programs and make decisions about strategic directions for the future,” said Kurt Selles, executive director of ReFrame Ministries. “This is especially important when there are changes in financial giving and society at large.”
Over the past several years, ReFrame has seen a steady decline in denominational ministry shares. “With fewer ministry share dollars coming in, ReFrame wants to set up our future programming to be sustainable based on the financial support we anticipate receiving,” the announcement said.
Just over $1.2 million, or 7.4% of ministry share dollars, are allocated to ReFrame in the current fiscal year (report to Synod 2025 from the Council of Delegates, p. 106). That’s about $1.7 million less than what the ministry received eight years ago in the 2017-2018 fiscal year, at that time 12.9% of the ministry shares (report to Synod 2025 from the COD, p. 108). In 2019 synod overhauled its ministry share program, moving from a system that set ministry budgets and then asked churches to submit a prescribed amount to a pledged-based system, where budgets would be set based on what churches pledge to contribute.
Besides the three canceled English-language programs, ReFrame is also suspending its Russian-language ministry “because of increased vulnerability and the uncertain situation in Russia and Ukraine today,” the announcement said.
Asked more about the criteria used to determine where to make cuts, Selles and English language ministry director Justin Sterenberg provided The Banner with written comments.
“For the Russian ministry, this was obviously a decision based on budgetary considerations, but we also factored in alignment with present strategy, ministry infrastructure, and viability. At this time, the Russian ministry is fragile and vulnerable, largely because of the war.” They said there is “hope that once the war in Ukraine has ended, we may be able to re-establish it on a stronger foundation in a setting where Russian is spoken.”
The Russian language ministry was headed by Sergei Sosedkin, ordained in the CRC in 2002. The statement from Selles and Sterenberg said, “Sergei Sosedkin has been a faithful worker, a good colleague, and an excellent representative in churches and with supporters for almost 30 years. We will maintain contact with him, but we don’t know what the future holds for Russian ministry.”
“For the English Ministry,” Selles and Sterenberg noted, the changes mark “a necessary strategic pullback. Since the Synod of 1950, our ministry has included teaching and preaching—The Back to God Hour, now Groundwork, devotional follow-up—The Family Altar, now Today Devotional and Kids Corner Devotional, and personal follow-up—Prayer Ministry. Other programs have changed over time, but those have always been part of the core. Because of our financial reality, we’re scaling back to focus solely on these long-standing discipleship programs.”
Think Christian was led by Josh Larsen and has been part of ReFrame since 2008 after its start in the early 2000s as a project of The Gospel Communications Network. The pop culture-focused project contended, “There’s no such thing as secular,” and included a wide array of media—gaming, film, music, and culture at large—in its reviews from many contributing writers. The site’s references to content that includes violence, is sexually explicit, contains profanity, or portrays views contrary to the teachings of the Christian Reformed Church drew criticism, including a 2016 overture to synod, the denomination’s annual general assembly. Synod rejected the request, but as recently as the May 2024 meeting of the Council of Delegates, questions were once again raised about material being reviewed. “There is implicit encouragement to watch material that a Christian should not be watching,” said Mark VanDyke, Classis Central California, in a time of open feedback after a presentation from Selles. Wayne Brower, Classis Holland, who chaired the Council of Delegates ReFrame committee at the time, said, “Think Christian is probably the least understood program of the English language ministry.” Selles acknowledged that Think Christian “elicited the most pushback” but he also noted, “We often receive encouragement about this program,” particularly reviews of video games, which reached a sometimes neglected demographic in Christian media—men between 25 and 35.
Bryan Haley led Church Juice since 2017, providing resources and encouragement toward improved church communications. He said since its inception the program “has served tens of thousands of communicators and church leaders.” ReFrame has said those resources, along with Family Fire and Think Christian, will remain online as an archive.
“I am proud of the work we were able to accomplish, and incredibly humbled to know that this ministry played even a tiny part in helping others share the gospel and connect people to the local church,” Haley said.
Family Fire, started by husband-and-wife team Steven and Deb Koster, both ordained ministers in the CRC, became part of ReFrame in 2010. Deb continued to lead and Steven to contribute to Family Fire, “a Christian ministry committed to sharing the good news of God's design for relationships, marriage, and parenting,” after Steven left ReFrame for congregational ministry in 2019. Deb is also a contributor on relationships for The Banner’s Big Questions column.
“We are of course devastated at the abrupt termination of a 20-year ministry and the end of our missionary work that reached hundreds of thousands beyond the CRC,” Steven Koster told The Banner. “It has been a pleasure to come alongside hurting families and guide them to find hope through the gospel.” The Kosters said they “understand tough choices have to be made” and the losses to the ministry share system reflect wider losses in the denomination. “There is much to lament.”