June 2025
Download a full pdf of this issue below or find links to every feature, news, column, review, and Our Shared Ministry article included in this edition. Not the date you wanted? Find issues back to January 2016 here or use the search function at the top to find articles going back to 2005. To find something even older, The Banner archives are maintained at Calvin College's Hekman Library.
Features
News
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Check out the numbers for this year’s agenda.
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The annual general assembly of the Christian Reformed Church will gather in Ontario in June. Important agenda items include the ecumenical relationship with the Reformed Church in America, a task force report on virtual churches, and Calvin University’s commitment to confessional subscription.
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Supported by the Christian Reformed Church’s Thrive ministry and a ministry coach, the congregations spent the past year learning and encouraging one another to pursue specific goals related to disability inclusion.
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The Banner is grateful for 2024 professional recognition: Awards of Merit from both the Evangelical Press Association and the Associated Church Press for TheBanner.org; an Award of Excellence in Convention/Meeting Coverage from the ACP; and nine other awards in various categories.
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A little more than a month before synod convenes in Ancaster, Ont., the Council of Delegates of the Christian Reformed Church has finalized several things to include in its supplement to the agenda.
In Memoriam: Rev. Jerald D. Lion
1950-2025READ MOREJerry Lion lived out his call to ministry quietly, reflecting a caring gentleness in all he did. He died April 1 from complications after a fall in January. He was 74.
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Organized in 1875, Kelloggsville Christian Reformed Church in Kentwood, Mich., celebrates 150 years of ministry this year.
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ReFrame Ministries, the Christian Reformed Church in North America’s international media ministry, announced program changes April 14 closing Church Juice, Family Fire, and Think Christian, and suspending the agency’s Russian-language ministry.
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Leonard Hofman, who served as general secretary of the Christian Reformed Church in North America from 1990 to 1994, died April 11 at age 97.
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The annual general assembly of the Christian Reformed Church will gather in Ontario in June. Important agenda items include the ecumenical relationship with the Reformed Church in America, a task force report on virtual churches, and Calvin University’s commitment to confessional subscription.
Columns
All the Colors of the Dark
By Chris WhitakerREAD MOREA missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.
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My parents need more support, but my siblings don’t want to help. How can I get them to step up and honor their father and mother?
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You make one decision for biblical reasons, but then you might run into some contradictions.
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The purpose of church discipline is to restore to Christ those who are sinning.
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I need to spend more time on Bible study. Is there a best way to do that?
Louder than the Lies: Asian American Identity, Solidarity, and Self-Love
By Ellie Yang CampREAD MOREWhat does it mean to be Asian American? How does our racialization in the U.S. shape our lives and our worldviews? Ellie Yang Camp offers a set of ideas to guide us toward a more nuanced understanding of these questions.
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As I write this article, I’m wearing the handmade friendship bracelet Maddi gave me. She made it herself. She even tied it on my wrist for me. It’s been with me ever since.
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Little did we fathom that our new bundle of feline joy came bearing surprises.
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El poder y la autoridad son conceptos diferentes.
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Power-over is coercive, controlling, and manipulative. Power-with is collaborative and authoritative.
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We were determined to find the ducks that were quacking in the middle of the forest. But that’s not what we found.
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See how readers responded to recent Banner issues, articles, and columns.
The Wars of the Lord: The Puritan Conquest of America’s First People
By Matthew J. TuiningaREAD MOREThis shares the epic, tragic story of the Puritan conquest of New England through the eyes of those who lived it.
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My lifelong Christian identity meant patriarchal Abraham had been my spiritual father. But now I realized l also had a genetic connection to him.
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지배하는 권력(Power-over)은 강압적이고 통제하며 타인을 의도적으로 조종하는 반면 함께하는 권력(Power-with)은 협력적이고 권위 있는 방식입니다.
Our Shared Ministry
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At Calvin University, these learners aren’t an afterthought. They’re central to the university’s vision for the future.
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No siempre (o nunca) ha sido fácil vivir una vida de fe. Pero las grandes promesas de Dios, selladas en nuestros bautismos, han resistido la prueba del tiempo.
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It hasn’t always (or ever) been easy to live the life of faith. But God’s great promises, sealed in our baptisms, have stood the test of time.
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믿음의 삶은 언제나 쉽지 않았고, 어쩌면 단 한 번도 편했던 적이 없었는지도 모릅니다. 그러나 우리의 세례에 새겨진 하나님의 위대한 약속은 세대를 지나 여전히 살아 숨 쉬고 있습니다.
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From April 2024 through April 2025, 10 events took place across North America that brought Christian Reformed church leaders and members together to talk about ministry.
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“As we look back with gratitude to God on these 150 years, we also look ahead with purpose.”
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Pastors and missionaries aren’t allowed on university campuses in Mexico.
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Recognizing the shared interest among neighboring churches to engage younger members, the idea of holding a collective training event took root.
