March 2019
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
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A few years ago, Chicago Tribune columnist Ross Werland raised a provocative rhetorical question in the title of an editorial: “A pew or a canoe: Not a tough choice.”
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In this Lenten season, when words slip and crack under the weight of our pain or under the weight of glory, I am thankful for the freedom to groan as in the pains of childbirth.
News
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Hope Community Church in Flagstaff, Ariz., home to four different ministering communities, has been making space for the Flagstaff Community Shelter each winter, taking a turn with other churches to host shelter staff and 20 people who need a warm place to sleep.
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Multicultural new year celebrations are just one of the ways New Westminster Christian Reformed Church, in Burnaby, B.C. practices hospitality.
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Having adopted a new mission statement and chosen the tagline “Christ, Community, Compassion” to accompany its logo, the Canadian Council of Churches begins its 75th year asking members “What’s the place of Christianity in Canada today?”
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A “Big Night of Worship,” gathering up to 200 teens from six Chicago-area congregations, is one of the ways a youth ministry champion is energizing youth ministry in his classis.
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As a Christian university with strong ties to the Christian Reformed Church, The King’s University in Edmonton, Alta., had conversations this fall and winter with churches questioning its choice to operate without explicit positional statements on marriage and sexuality.
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In Whitby, Ont., Hebron Christian Reformed Church’s ministry to the city’s large Mandarin-speaking population has grown into a one-congregation, two-language model.
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Throughout his life in both Cuba and the United States, in times of danger, fear, hunger, and uncertainty, Domingo Romero fully trusted in God. At age 88, he died on January 5.
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A bag of take-home object lessons or a passport to mark their spiritual journey helps families at Community Christian Reformed Church connect faith formation to the church calendar.
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Classis Georgetown, a regional group of Christian Reformed congregations near Grand Rapids, Mich., debuted REV Talks last fall. Patterned after the worldwide phenomenon TED talks, the speaker series aimed to tap in to pastors’ treasure trove of experience.
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Kenosis Community groups formed in Canada through the help of the Race Relations office of the Christian Reformed Church help members study how culture shapes their life in fellowship.
Columns
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Dave Pittman offers a soulful, upbeat sound on his sophomore release, Different Kind of Love.
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Understanding the books of Kings and Chronicles may help us navigate today’s challenging political climate.
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My Spotify playlists are organized by the seasons of the church calendar. There’s Lent, Advent, Epiphany, and Pentecost. My playlist “Common Time” happens to be almost exclusively made up of female artists.
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A witty and compelling novel for middle readers that will appeal to many adults as well.
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¿Podemos cambiar la percepción del mundo sobre los cristianos como principalmente críticos y negativos, a una de cristianos principalmente afirmadores de vida y amorosos? Si me dan a elegir entre una persona orientada a la prevención y una orientada a la promoción, yo sé con quien preferiría pasar el rato.
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Can we change the world’s perception of Christians as primarily judgmental and negative into one of Christians as primarily life-affirming and loving? Given a choice between a prevention oriented person and a promotion oriented one, I know who I would rather hang out with.
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I just read the article “Actually, It Is a Toy,” Jan. 2019). Your picture and emotional attachment to treasures as a metaphor is so good, right on. God help us to keep transforming the Christian Reformed Church for what Jesus needs and wants to get done in our generation.
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I wonder what it might look like to adopt or adapt this model for major congregational (and council) decisions. Vote twice: The first vote determines the will of the majority; the second asks, Can we submit to the will of the majority?
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Miroslav Volf and Matthew Croasmun have teamed up to argue that theology needs to get back to basics
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Chia seed, pepita, dandelion, maple key, peach pit, coconut, acorn . . . Seeds come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. And all are our awesome God’s amazing handiwork!
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Parkinson’s disease doesn’t just sneak in and take all of your stuff, although that might be easier. You could make adjustments and move on. No, Parkinson’s starts out taking small stuff and you hardly even notice. But you do notice.
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In this surprise-filled novel for adults, author Esi Edugyan offers profound insights into the hearts of people both enslaved and free and portrays the vast reaches of the earth, contrasting immense beauty with stark harshness.
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What is wrong with gene editing in embryos if we can save children from horrible genetic diseases?
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Crosses are hung on necklaces, embroidered on sleeves, tattooed on arms, faded into hairstyles, painted on fingernails, branded on belt buckles, stuck on car bumpers, mounted on church steeples, engraved on tombstones, printed on coffee mugs, and posted on Instagram. Crosses are everywhere.
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기독교인에 대한 세상 사람들의 기본 인식을 비판적이고 부정적이라는 데에서 생명을 창조하고 사랑한다는 인식으로 바꿀 수 있을까요? 저는 예방지향적인 사람과 촉진지향적인 사람 중에서 선택한다면, 어떤 사람과 어울릴 것인지 이미 결정했습니다.
Our Shared Ministry
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Four years ago, Sarah Hoogendoorn pulled out of the ministerial candidacy process. She had acquired her Masters of Divinity degree and had begun working at a church in Alberta but then discovered that she was not called to church ministry.
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Students are formed as ministry leaders in a variety of ways and will face a variety of leadership situations upon graduation.
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We need men and women of God who understand the times in which we live and can show us how to give witness to the faith we have in Christ.
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Necesitamos líderes llenos de fe que puedan guiar nuestra participación en el mundo.
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Nadeana was not a leader. At least, that’s what she believed before beginning her internship with Western Campus Ministry. Now she’s encouraging other students to be leaders too.
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World Renew has been serving and walking with communities in Tanzania for over 25 years. Partnering with the local church, the African Inland Church Tanzania, World Renew seeks to see God glorified, churches strengthened, and people moved out of poverty.
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Three of us rode together to Detroit, Mich., to the Inspire 2017 conference with much anticipation. I’m not sure what I was looking for, but I do know this: That I needed to be inspired. I needed to know that the Christian Reformed Church in North America is alive and well.
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세상속에서 기독교인의 참여를 인도해 줄 수 있는 믿음의 리더들이 필요합니다.