April 2021
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
It is not unusual for me to hear someone say, “I’m struggling with finding time to be alone with God in prayer.”
News
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The congregations of Willoughby Church in Langley, B.C., and First Christian Reformed Church in Barrie, Ont., are sharing artwork as they journey through Lent.
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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 several months.
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When the Council of Delegates of the Christian Reformed Church met Feb. 17-19, 2021, it discussed Synod 2021, the new ministry share pledges, governance restructuring, and senior management transitions.
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Members of Ocheyedan (Iowa) Christian Reformed Church Cadet club carry on a yearly tradition of erecting three crosses on the Ocheyedan Mound.
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Ordained in 1958 and preaching throughout retirement, Garry Stoutmeyer lived his passion of preaching, teaching, and counseling. He died Jan. 5.
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A faithful servant of God with a pastor's heart and a gift for public prayer, Phil Kok died Jan. 23.
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Wayne Leys, who ministered in the Christian Reformed Church for 40 years, made discipleship a priority. He died Jan. 30.
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The Christian Reformed Church’s Council of Delegates, meeting by video conference Feb. 17-19, heard how member congregations are responding to the new pledge system for ministry share contributions. The overall amount is down from last year’s received shares.
Columns
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A history of the United States from the 1600s to 2000 in which Black women and their contributions are on full display.
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We are not respectful enough of other people’s time.
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If people have talents in music, writing, hospitality, technology, or some other area that could benefit the church community, do they have an obligation to do so?
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Young people aren’t growing up in the same world their parents did.
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To help you decide, ask how this position might allow you to love God and love your neighbor.
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Cuando observamos el mundo actual con todos sus problemas, desde las guerras y el racismo hasta el aborto y el cambio climático, nos sentimos tentados a perder la esperanza.
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The author of Freakonomics and the author of Grit team up to ask each other compelling questions.
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See how readers responded to recent Banner issues, articles, and columns.
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When we look at the world today with all its problems, from wars and racism to abortion and climate change, we are tempted to despair.
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Does the Christian Reformed Church recommend that when a pastor of long-standing service in her or his congregation retires, that she or he mentor the incoming pastor for a period of time?
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Although it’s not considered polite to describe the gory details of childbirth and daily motherhood, this is the way Jesus chose to come to us.
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A wise and fascinating guide to using the Enneagram as a tool for spiritual transformation.
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We have a vague notion that heaven is somewhere “up there,” but more likely it is located well outside of our sense of space or even time.
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A Christian Reformed elder from largely Muslim Iran reflects on how Persian poets such as Rumi have woven Jesus Christ into their art.
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From elementary school until I graduated from high school, I was subjected daily to taunting and teasing from my peers. It happened so often that they broke me.
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Let me give you three reasons why I think the resurrection of Jesus was not made up by early Christians.
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지난 해는 힘든 한 해였습니다. 하지만 소망이 있습니다.
Our Shared Ministry
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Years in the making, the program launched in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the fall of 2020 as students tuned in online.
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A glimpse of CRC congregations and agencies working toward this goal
CARD: Today, as people move throughout the world and various cultures collide, the denomination has an opportunity to worship God and seek God’s shalom together as a diverse family of Christ.
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Actualmente, las congregaciones que cuentan con diversidad se están volviendo cada vez más comunes en la Iglesia Cristiana Reformada.
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A hospital chaplain vividly remembers the fear, disorientation, and confusion she and others felt as the hospital shifted to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Today, diverse congregations are becoming more and more commonplace in the Christian Reformed Church.
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Ayan and her four children arrived in Canada as refugees in the midst of the pandemic.
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오늘날 북미주 개혁교회에는 다양한 사람들로 구성된 교회들이 점점 더 많아지고 있습니다.