The Council of Delegates of the CRC met May 6 to 8 in Grand Rapids, Mich., saying goodbye to those finishing their terms, appreciating retiring denominational leaders, and forwarding many items on to synod in June.

Mike Johnson, chair of the COD’s Resonate Global Mission Committee, introduced discussion of the proposed plan with a sense of incredulous gratitude: Last year at this time we were discussing cutting grants for church planting, and now we’re close to approving a full church-planting plan.

Lee Carter, a member of Bethel Christian Reformed Church in Lansing, Ill., and past executive VP of scriptural engagement at Bible League International, has been approved to lead the CRC’s Thrive ministry.

With a celebration of immigrant congregations from over a dozen nationalities now worshiping under the Christian Reformed umbrella, churches in the Greater Los Angeles area marked the legacy of the CRC’s oldest institution, Calvin Theological Seminary.

‘The Lord is using ReFrame to get his word out far and wide.’

The Banner has been without an editor-in-chief since June 2025. Interim editor Lora Copley is the Council of Delegates’ recommendation to synod for the long-term appointment.

Amanda Roozeboom, former commissioned pastor in the Christian Reformed Church, is the new executive director of youth and young adult-focused ThereforeGo Ministries.

“Peace in Sudan will not come through weapons or foreign interests, but through deliberate, inclusive and just peace processes rooted in the dignity of every Sudanese,” Catholic Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille said.

After 107 years, the original sanctuary of New Holland (S.D.) Christian Reformed Church, will come down in May, making way for a larger construction to house the church.

Calvin Christian Reformed Church in Rock Valley, Iowa, has been “exalting God through loving worship for 75 years.”

Emo (Ont.) Christian Reformed Church hosts a pancake breakfast during its town’s Spring Fever Days to raise funds for “worthy local causes.”

A teacher and pastor who loved people and truly cared deeply for others, Doug Warners lived for several years with dementia and died March 19 at age 84.

A Worthington, Minn.,-based aviation training program for missionary pilots found support and available housing for its students in an unused parsonage.

The community of Lynden, Wash., was invited to a 28-hour-long hymn singing marathon April 6 to 10.

Did you know the Christian Reformed Church synod has approved eight specific Bible translations for use in worship by Christian Reformed congregations?

Rev. Kurt Selles plans to retire in July after 14 years as director of ReFrame Ministries, the media ministry of the Christian Reformed Church.

Retiring as director of Thrive May 29, Lesli van Milligan looks back on 30 years of ministry.

Two of the biggest items on the Synod 2026 agenda: receiving a 10-year proposal for church planting and renewal and figuring out how to pay for that and the rest of the denomination’s costs.

Actions of classes (regional groups of churches) in the past several months include nine candidates examined and approved for ministry, 33 ministers released from ministry, and 15 disaffiliated churches.

On a recent trip to a pastors’ conference in Kabala, Sierra Leone, Joel Ringma, pastor of Terrace (B.C.) Christian Reformed Church, had an emotional reconnection with two former pastor-trainees.

Fort Wingate (N.M.) Christian Reformed Church is exploring a new ministry model that would reach the community as a retreat center.

Are board games part of your potlucks? Maggie Peckford of Williamsburg (Ont.) CRC says they’re helpful for including “people like me who find it hard to engage in a conversation.”

A report addressing accountability in pastoral misconduct, in response to a formal request from 2024, has nine recommendations for “churches to grow in their ability to act as instruments of Christ’s redemption and healing.”