May 2020
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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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.
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As part of a two-day, video-based summit gathering practical and spiritual wisdom to equip churches ministering during the global pandemic, Colin Watson, acting executive director of the Christian Reformed Church, participated in a panel conversation “Theological Reflections on Shifting Church Worship In Response to a Prolonged Crisis.”
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Congregations such as Zion Christian Reformed Church in Oshawa, Ont., and All Nations CRC in Halifax, N.S., are learning to use dance in worship.
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After the premier of Ontario and the governor of Michigan issued stronger ‘stay at home’ orders March 23, the offices of the Christian Reformed Church in North America have been closed.
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The image in Matt. 25:36 of ministering to Jesus when visiting the sick or in prison is fitting for Bill Van Staalduinin, who volunteers with Yokefellow Prison Ministry from Terra Ceia Christian Reformed Church in Pantego, N. C.
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Jacob Uitvlugt, who served Christian Reformed churches in the U.S. and Canada, died March 4. He was 91.
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Robert Jipping, pastor, missionary and teacher, died Feb. 10 at the age of 82.
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Hearing stories of past experiences, supporters of The King’s University’s Honduras Water Project celebrated the development effort’s 25 years of infrastructure-building trips.
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Christian Reformed congregations are following guidelines for gatherings and beginning to seek ways to maintain ministry while not meeting face to face.
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Fairlawn Christian Reformed Church in Whitinsville, Mass., welcomed congregants and friends to a Santo, Santo, Santo (Holy, Holy, Holy) Festival March 8, with the help of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.
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New Life Prison Community Church in Newton, Iowa, has applied to their classis (Central Plains) to move to organized status in 2020.
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Synod 2020, the annual leadership meeting of the Christian Reformed Church, has been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Columns
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A cynical journalist’s life changes when he writes a profile of the beloved Mr. Rogers.
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Those involved in the dairy industry have lots to say on this topic, but their voices are often silenced in the discourse around sustainable farming.
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God sings? Who knew? And he sings to us!
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I was talking with some senior members of my church the other day. They were asked to give a talk to our high school youth group.
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Take a peek through a window to your back yard. What kinds of animals do you see?
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In the Bible, God gave Samson back his power, and Samson used that power to kill himself. Does this mean that sometimes it’s OK to commit suicide?
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Whom should I marry? Which job should I take? Even though I pray, I don’t know.
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A group of diverse singers songwriters offer songs about what it means to be a neighbor.
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I would be lying if I said I am not worried or stressed by this pandemic and its social and economic consequences. But I am not panicking or hoarding because I trust in God.
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See how readers responded to recent Banner issues, articles, and columns.
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At the table, usually the emphasis was placed on the assurance of forgiveness of sins, but I often asked myself whether, through his Supper, our Lord also spoke to other burdens we might carry to the table.
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In this time of social isolation, of staying home and canceling gatherings, church has become the one dependable regular event in our family’s schedule.
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In terms children can understand, how do you explain what it means to bless someone in the name of God?
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In order to become “the personal Presence of Christ in the world by the Spirit,” there are indeed a number of shifts that need to happen in a congregation.
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From the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s to the #MeToo movement of the 2010s, we live in a world where we are bombarded with sexual messages at every turn.
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만약 제가 이 감염증 사태인 판데믹과 이로 인한 사회 경제적 영향에 대해 걱정이나 스트레스가 없다고 하면 거짓말일 것입니다. 하지만 저는 하나님을 믿기 때문에 공황상태에 빠지거나 사재기를 하지 않습니다.
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만약 제가 이 감염증 사태인 판데믹과 이로 인한 사회 경제적 영향에 대해 걱정이나 스트레스가 없다고 하면 거짓말일 것입니다. 하지만 저는 하나님을 믿기 때문에 공황상태에 빠지거나 사재기를 하지 않습니다.
Our Shared Ministry
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The Bible is replete with examples of partnerships and exhortations to work together in all things.
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How do we have meaningful discussions with people who have different opinions than our own?
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La Biblia está repleta de ejemplos de alianzas y exhortaciones a trabajar juntos en todas las cosas.
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The grants offer pastors an opportunity to gather for learning, support, prayer, encouragement, and fellowship.
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성경은 모든 일에 동역하는 협력과 권고의 예로 가득합니다.
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성경은 모든 일에 동역하는 협력과 권고의 예로 가득합니다.
