Jean Vanier, a Catholic philosopher, writer, and founder of L’Arche, a worldwide network of homes where people with and without intellectual disabilities live and work together, died May 7 at age 90.

A task force formed to address the issue of preventing and responding to abuse of power in the church is sending recommendations to the Christian Reformed Church’s annual leadership gathering by way of its report.

The Council of Delegates met in Grimsby, Ont., on May 2-3, 2019. It acts on behalf of synod, the annual leadership meeting of the Christian Reformed Church, between the meetings of synod. It took action on several issues.

Synod 2019 (the annual leadership meeting of the Christian Reformed Church) convenes on June 14; more than 200 delegates and advisers will gather at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. Here’s what to expect.

“You are loved” was the message that echoed again and again throughout Markus Lise’s life of ministry.  As a pastor, he is remembered for challenging and inspiring congregations to think “outside the box.”

Neil Molenaar, developer and first director of what is now World Renew Disaster Response Services, died April 20, 2019. He was 86.

The Parliament of Canada has established May 5 as Dutch Heritage Day, an annual recognition of the history between Canada and the Netherlands.

Joe Covaci, a member of Kitchener (Ont.) Community Christian Reformed Church, achieved a bronze medal in the 3,000-meter run at the 2019 Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi.

Grand Rapids-based Bethany Christian Services, an agency supported by many Christian Reformed churches, helps place children arriving in the U.S. without guardians in foster homes with the goal of eventually reuniting them with family.

Finding that many students are not equipped for financial literacy, Calvin College has launched Nexus Peer Financial Coaching, helping students learn skills to manage their resources.

In a conference to mark the 400th anniversary of the Synod of Dort, Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, hosted thinkers and speakers to revisit the canons the synod produced.

In a video featuring voices from various Christian traditions, the Canadian Council of Churches, Citizens for Public Justice, and KAIROS, an ecological justice and human rights mission, call for “an urgent moral and spiritual response” to climate change.

Bible teacher Mac Wiener at Timothy Christian School in Elmhurst, Ill., helped his campus receive Level 1 National Arboretum status by cataloging their garden of trees.

The Banner; RCA-CRC Disability Concerns; and Reformed Worship, the journal of the Christian Reformed Church’s Worship Ministries, have all been recognized in the 2018 “Best of the Church Press” awards from the Associated Church Press.

The Christian Reformed Church has a process of last resort for sorting out appeals of decisions made by various levels of leadership. The group responsible is the Judicial Code Committee and its members want a review of their practices.

In Fruitport, Mich., when a school system sought adult mentors to encourage struggling students, the local Christian Reformed congregation joined three other churches to make a difference.

Teacher Nicky DeBoer lives in Byron Center, Mich.; the band is located in Sunnyside, Wash. The high school’s principal, looking for qualified teachers dedicated to Christ-centered learning, didn’t see that as a barrier.

Marinus Harberts, who had ministered for 35 years with the Navajo people in New Mexico, died on March 19.

A hospital chaplain described as thoughtful and a man without pretense, Steven Van Heest passed away on March 10. He was 66.

Allen Bultman was a humble, hardworking, and compassionate pastor who served Christian Reformed congregations since 1959. He passed away on March 8 at the age of 89.

World War II veteran, military policeman, minister, chaplain, pastoral counselor, and missionary Ben Ypma lived a full and joyful life. He died on March 7, a month after his hundredth birthday.

The Banner has received Awards of Merit for a denominational magazine in both digital and print categories, and seven higher goals awards in design, individual articles, blogs, and poetry published in 2018.

Two or three times each year, Christian Reformed churches send representatives to their classis, a regional group of churches. Here is the report of classis meetings of the past few months.