January/February 2026
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
Learning to Surrender All
One Congregation’s Lenten Journey through a Time of Instability and GriefREAD MOREEveryone in the room that night had an employment worry to share—if not them, then their husband or son or daughter.
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I know how to pack a sanctuary, fill it with people, and keep filling it with people every Sunday, too.
News
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A denomination-wide conference on discipleship and leadership development in the Christian Reformed Church hopes to build momentum for the denomination’s church planting vision.
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From a year-long cohort practicing hospitality, to equipping workshops for elders and deacons to live into pastoral care for LGBTQ people, CRC churches are exploring how to lovingly live within the denomination’s convictions on human sexuality.
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Joel H. Nederhood, who served the Christian Reformed Church’s radio and television ministry The Back to God Hour (now ReFrame Ministries) for 35 years, has died at 94.
In Memoriam: Rev. James Jungkyu Park
1932-2025READ MOREDying at almost 93 years old, Rev. Jungkyu Park had lived a life of missionary service in Japan and to the Japanese diaspora.
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A pastor and seminary administrator who served the Christian Reformed Church for more than 40 years, Bill Van Dyk is remembered as an excellent preacher and respected academic.
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Founded to provide residential treatment not currently available in Michigan, Finding Freedom Ranch, seeks to help young women "find peace with God, peace with themselves, and peace with food."
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Lora Copley, ordained in the Christian Reformed Church since 2006 and currently a campus minister in Iowa, is the new interim editor of The Banner, to start Dec. 1.
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Perhaps the first dually affiliated Christian Reformed and Alliance of Reformed churches congregation, Harrison (S.D.) Community Church is appreciating the benefits of being connected to both.
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A Christian Reformed church leader from Highland, Ind., serving with a disability ministry in Kijabe, Kenya, believes she was led by the Spirit to bless one young man in particular.
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Recipient of the 2025 Emerging Public Intellectual award, professor Katie Day Good will speak at Redeemer University about screens and stories in a fragmented age.”
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For three years three Southwest Ontario churches have hosted each other for fall youth-led worship services, encouraging each other with connection.
Columns
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Oh, now I should appreciate my pastor, you say?
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It’s The Banner’s 160th birthday this year, but De Wachter was actually the Christian Reformed Church’s official publication for its first 50 years.
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Forgiveness can present a significant challenge in the life of a Christian.
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La peculiaridad es un camino difícil. Por eso, las personas peculiares suelen ser blanco de las flechas del desánimo.
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Peculiarity is a hard place to be. And so, peculiar people are regularly in bowshot of discouragement’s arrows.
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See our list of movies, books, and podcasts to check out this month.
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Does she think their opinion is more important than mine? It’s causing trouble.
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See how readers responded to recent Banner issues, articles, and columns.
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There are, of course, many factors that should influence how we answer these questions, not the least of which include artistic, educational, and entertainment value.
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There was only one lane open, and there were a dozen carts in line ahead of me. Great.
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Can you imagine being able to lift a car with your bare hands? You don’t have to become Superman to do it; you just have to become a human-sized ant!
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What does it mean to be “confessional?” What are these documents we refer to as “confessions?”
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In Scripture, debt can be a call to reflect God’s mercy.
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God is not threatened by our uncertainty. He does not turn away when we waver.
Won’t You Be My … Spiritual Giant?
By Lori G. MeltonREAD MOREEmbark on a year-long journey alongside a “giant” of faith, inspired by the author’s year of studying the life of Mister Rogers, America’s favorite neighbor.
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특별함은 결코 편안한 자리가 아닙니다. 그래서 특별한 백성은 종종 낙심의 화살이 미치기 쉬운 자리에 놓입니다.
Our Shared Ministry
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The director of Thrive answers questions about the ministry.
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It seems that there are few things more difficult in the life of a believer and a congregation than to hold both belief and action together.
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Have you ever equated the size or visibility of a church with “successful ministry”?
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Parece que hay pocas cosas más difíciles en la vida de un creyente y una congregación que mantener unidas la fe y la acción.
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Walk As We is a small but growing urban, ecumenical, Indigenous ministry in Calgary, Alta., that is rooted in friendship, humility, and a shared journey toward reconciliation.
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The water pipes at the early childhood education center where Omar Bohorquez worked had been dry for 16 years.
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성도의 삶과 교회의 삶에서 믿음과 행동을 함께 붙드는 일만큼 어려운 것도 드뭅니다.
