October 2023
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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As Christian Reformed folk Americanized and Canadianized, they became part of networks of North American Christianity.
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If we do not respect the historical, cultural, and linguistic differences between us and Scripture, we are in danger of distorting whatever insights we might get out of it
News
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Mike Hogeterp, founding director of the Christian Reformed Centre for Public Dialogue in Canada is leaving to take a position with NAIITS, an Indigenous learning community.
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Two men with a heart for Haiti are working to build up leaders and plant Haitian churches in southern Florida.
In Memoriam: Rev. Bernard Dykstra
1942-2023READ MOREA quiet man who loved the Lord and his family, Berny Dykstra died May 17. He was 80 years old.
In Memoriam: Rev. E. Robert Tigchelaar
1942-2023READ MOREA hard-working and faithful minister of the gospel, Bob Tigchelaar loved each congregation and community to which he was called. He died June 25 at age 81.
In Memoriam: Rev. Jerome Burton
1957-2023READ MOREA humble, passionate, streetwise pastor dedicated to his community congregation, local school, and the Belknap neighborhood in Grand Rapids, Mich., Jerome Burton died July 6. He was 66.
In Memoriam: Rev. John Rop
1950-2023READ MOREAs one who faced challenges with resoluteness, humor, and a reliance on Jesus, John Rop was described as a “heart” preacher who understood brokenness. He died July 2 at age 72.
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Bethany Christian Reformed Church in Muskegon, Mich., launched “Common Grounds,” a no-cost pop-up coffee stand to connect with students at Muskegon Community College.
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Stanley Jim, a Minister of the Word in the Christian Reformed Church since 1996, has led and helped develop Native American ministry leadership for decades. He plans to retire Sept 1.
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“As you age, your world starts to shrink. You feel isolated.” Wellspring Adult Day Services, operating out of Reeman Christian Reformed Church in Fremont, Mich., seeks to offset that.
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“You’re always going to be involved with people who are different from you.” Calvin Theological Seminary students do cross-cultural internships while completing Master of Divinity degrees.
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The 2023 CRCNA Congregant Survey shows respondents pray or do devotions alone most of the time.
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Named for a place where fresh water and salt water mix, Estuary is a movement of conversation groups, and Pastor Paul VanderKlay thinks every church should have one.
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Diane Wendt has led the Coffee and Comfort grief group at Orland Park Christian Reformed Church since 1980. As long as God can use her, she says, she’ll keep doing the work of walking with people through their grief.
Columns
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During our drive to church, I peeked at the picture a few times. It brought a smile to my face each time.
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Understanding what we have in common helps me not only to understand my own cognitive function, but to better support those living with dementia.
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Exploring the interconnectedness of faith and love.
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Explorando la interconexión de la fe con el amor.
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The Banner’s Mixed Media editor suggests four books to read for Hispanic Heritage Month, including a modern classic set in the Dominican Republic.
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My college-aged children seem to focus mostly on hobbies. I want them to find joy and fulfillment, but I’m concerned about their ability to pay their bills in the future. How do I bring up my concerns with them?
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Our Christian Reformed church called a minister from the Reformed Church in America, and the RCA church in town called a CRC minister. Is that allowed?
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See some of our top picks for reading and watching for October 2023.
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If I could capture the time I have spent driving to appointments and occupying medical offices, it would amaze me how much it adds up.
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God himself is beauty, and God creates beautiful things.
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Does God want us to create computers with artificial intelligence even though he gave us perfectly good brains to do the work ourselves?
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Rest, whether it’s sleeping or just taking a break, is important for our physical and spiritual health.
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Confused and disoriented, he was making his way home from the grocery store.
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James 2:26 (“Faith without deeds is dead”) seems to contradict Galatians 2:16 (we are “justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law”).
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신앙과 사랑의 상호 연관성을 탐구하는 것
Our Shared Ministry
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Without enough rain, her crops were failing—and her much-needed income was diminishing.
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With guns at the ready, men in military uniforms were running through his family’s compound in South Sudan.
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Despite Rajan’s high status and material success, his actions left him feeling spiritually exhausted and even afraid.
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In response to the cultural mandate, Calvin has been committed to interdisciplinary sustainability work for a half century.
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Four Christian Reformed congregations and one Reformed Church in America church committed to working together over a 13-month period to make their churches more welcoming and accessible for people with disabilities.
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Este sencillo concepto de shalom como "el modo en que deberían ser las cosas" me ha dado mucha satisfacción personal en el trabajo que hemos hecho en nuestra casa.
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This simple concept of shalom as “the way things ought to be” has given me a lot of personal satisfaction in the work we have done on our home.
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“만물이 존재해야 할 상태로 있는 것”이 샬롬이라는 이 단순한 개념은 제가 집을 수리하는 과정에서 개인적으로 많은 만족감을 주었습니다.
