In Memoriam: Rev. Douglas Arthur Warners
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.
Stories from people, congregations and ministries of the CRCNA, including reporting from The Banner's news editor and freelance correspondents, Classis Watch, pastor memoriams, Community Snapshots, and Church Worldwide news from the Religion News Service. Send news tips to news@thebanner.org.
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.”
A pastor and broadcaster who served in ministries in Canada, the Netherlands, and Cyprus, Jack Hielema’s life was marked by deep care for people. He died March 10, at age 94.
A missionary who remained active in various Grand Rapids, Mich., ministries until his death at age 84. Epke Vander Berg died Feb. 27.
The report suggests “framing membership as a ‘journey’ in which formal admission to membership is only one milestone in a walk with Christ that includes … continual repentance from sin, joyful embrace of godly living, public commitment to Christ, participation in the Lord’s Supper, and a desire to share in the work of the church.”
Religion and public life think tank Cardus and the Canadian Bible Society published a study on the evolving relationship between religion and young Canadians.
As Volunteers in Service in Kent County, Mich., marks 40 years, it encouraged 40 days of individual acts of service during Lent.
Office of General Secretary staff member Catheryn Jo’s recent trip to The Loving Church in Tucson, Ariz., surprised her with a sense of peace—“something I had never quite felt in other homeless communities.”
Bethel Community CRC in Edmonton, Alta., launched in-person meals and conversation combined with in-between online resources to encourage families in home-based discipleship this year.
Multisite expressions can serve the CRCNA’s calling to faithful worship and contextual mission” says a synodically appointed task force, while recommending ways to retain Reformed ecclesiology and congregational flourishing.
Describing himself as a servant in terms of occupation, Matthew Le planted one Vietnamese congregation and served a merged congregation for 28 years. He died Jan. 27, 2025, at the age of 68.
A pastor, chaplain, and supervisor of Clinical Pastoral Education, Jim Kok ‘was a giant of a man in both stature and kindness.’
Exeter (Ont.) Christian Reformed Church hosted its city’s ‘Coldest Night of the Year’ walk, advancing the cause of vulnerable support services across Canada.
New Life Christian Reformed Church in Abbotsford, B.C., builds connections over small-group meals with “Let’s Do Lunch” Sundays.