Open Doors keeps an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most persecution for their faith. North Korea tops the list for the 20th consecutive year.

The executive committee of the Christian Reformed Church’s Council of Delegates has approved hiring Tim Rietkerk as the next director of the CRC’s Chaplaincy and Care Ministry.

C.I.A. (Christ in Action) boys club, founded at Sunlight Community Church in Port Saint Lucie, Fla., in 2019, is “helping boys connect deeper with God, learn and understand the gospel, and grow into men who live out their lives in passionate response to the good news.”

African American leaders and seminary presidents said they had an ‘honest and open conversation’ during the virtual meeting last week.

A man of perseverance and empathy who pastored several Christian Reformed congregations in Canada, Henry Jonker died Dec. 9.

Meg Jenista Kuykendall and Katie Ritsema-Roelofs, ministers at Washington, DC Christian Reformed Church, say events this week, while national news, are moments of pastoral concern and care for the congregation that is 60% federal employees or contractors.

‘In this time of uncertainty and fear, Christians around the globe turn to Scripture and turn to song for comfort,’ according to the website Hymnary.org.

Amanda Benckhuysen, a professor of Old Testament at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Mich., is leaving that position to become director of the Christian Reformed Church’s Safe Church Ministry.

Committees that look to support students pursuing an education in ministry are meeting together to learn how best to do that.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a reminder for many Christians that their worship is an in-person experience at its core.

In November, coinciding with the Christian social justice agency’s 50th anniversary, Sojourners named executive director Adam Taylor its new president, succeeding founder Jim Wallis.

The Banner shares a glimpse of the experience of three women, in New York and in British Columbia, serving in essential health services through the pandemic.

The Vision 2020 team, appointed by the Reformed Church in America’s 2018 General Synod, is making three recommendations to be considered by General Synod 2021.

Darrel L. Delaney’s “10 Things to Give Up For Lent That Aren’t Diet Coke” and nine other popular articles from the past 12 months. Thanks for reading!

Five local churches in Exeter, Ont., shared the story of Christ’s birth in an outdoor, drive-thru style setting. Exeter Christian Reformed Church was the final stop.

In a December year in review, the online Bible search and reading tool describes four main themes revealed in its users’ searches.

Approachable and kind, Kiwoong Kim pastored in Korean and Korean American churches for almost three decades. He died Nov. 24 after a sudden illness with COVID-19.

Earl Marlink, pastor and interim ministry specialist, lived a life embodying 1 Corinthians 15:58: “Always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Marlink died Nov. 19.

Worthington (Minn.) Christian Reformed Church is working through an Advent sermon series “From Wrecked to Redeemed” and staying connected with distributed kits containing 20 daily readings.

A mission-focused conference started in 2019 moved online in 2020 to continue building “missional DNA at the local church level.”

Christian and Muslim leaders have stepped up interfaith dialogue in hopes of reining in the bus attacks and other threats to the border region’s small Christian community.

An extra session of the Christian Reformed Church’s Council of Delegates was convened Dec. 7. Closed to everyone but delegates, it was prompted after the Council’s executive committee reviewed additional legal advice regarding restructuring of the CRC’s governance structure.

Ken Slager, a man of integrity who loved the Lord and the Christian Reformed Church, died Nov. 18 at the age of 95.