One evening after GEMS (girls’ club) I chatted with a counselor and two mothers, while one of their daughters waited nearby.

The Banner invites letters in response to articles that have appeared in this magazine.

I like the Banner editor’s list of hopes for the future of the Christian Reformed Church a

Blog with Me

There are only so many times you want to tell yourself a blatant lie. There are only so many times you want to fall for such a lie.

Baptized in a Violent World

A Christian response to violence should involve not just undiscerning peace and mercy, but should inc

Away in a Manger

The kitchen sink, the dog’s bowl, and the milk jug are all necessary things but not ones to inspire great

Like a fly on a wall, I too can eavesdrop. I overhear because I am overlooked. Like God. Sometimes I get an earful.

In 1866 German immigrants founded a Christian Reformed congregation among the fertile fields of northern Illinois, 25 miles west of Rockf

Finance

Dinner, Anyone?

Last week as I went to sign out Saving Money with the Tightwad Twins: Practical Tips for Women on a Budget, the librarian said I had a $9

Fifty years ago I was a young, inexperienced 5th- and 6th-grade teacher in a rural Christian school near Lynden, Wash.

“Santa” was good to me last Christmas (see editorial, Dec. ’06 issue). I got goats for HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa.

The Common Cup coffee house in Rogers Park, Ill., looks and feels like many neighborhood java joints in the Chicago area.

I always come early for morning services so I can take my place undetected under the back bench.

 New England isn’t the part of North America that springs to mind when someone says “Christian Reformed Church.” O

We rarely think about the things listed on these pages. Yet each one makes a BIG difference in our lives.

Relationships

Q I know a number of people who take antidepressants but never go for counseling.

It really was, as the cliché goes, a dark and stormy night.

Stopping Violence

Kudos to Rev. David Kromminga for his article “Being Baptized in a Violent World” (October 2007).

Several weeks ago I attended a conference at Calvin College that focused on the Christian Reformed Church’s 150th birthday.