Just over 140 Christian Reformed churches, 530 congregations overall, have contributed to an ongoing study about how worship practices of U.S. churches were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A farmers market, running twice a month on the grounds of New Era (Mich.) Christian Reformed Church, provides a community-connecting place for live music, children’s activities, and even a vaccination clinic.

At its General Conference on July 9, the African Methodist Episcopal Church resolved to appoint a committee of 40 members to make recommendations to the denomination about matters of human sexuality, including how they relate to people who are LGBTQ. 

The gathering’s organizers said the internationally focused event provides a rare example of bipartisan support in an era known for partisan rift.

“Officers in the Presbyterian Church in America must be above reproach in their walk and Christlike in their character. Those who profess an identity ... that undermines or contradicts their identity as new creations in Christ ... are not qualified for ordained office.”

Meadowlands Fellowship Christian Reformed Church in Ancaster, Ont., passed a mandate for a new ministry team in May, forming a group it believes to be the first of its kind in the denomination.

Habitus Community, started by Christian Reformed pastor Phil Reinders, is helping Christians to devote themselves “to the recovery of regular but radical Christianity” by living a “rule of life.”

Citing differing ideas about future “goals and objectives” the Christian Reformed Church in North America Canada Corporation said Darren Roorda, Canadian Ministries director, will no longer serve in that position, effective immediately.

In a judicial review of a government of Canada decision about eligibility for Canadian summer jobs funding, the Federal Court of Canada found in favor of Redeemer University.

A Lifeway Research study, which analyzed church data from 34 Protestant denominations and groups, found that 4,500 churches closed in 2019, while about 3,000 new congregations were started.

At its Covenant Annual Connection on June 25 the Evangelical Covenant Church became the latest Protestant denomination in the United States to repudiate the doctrine that provided a theological justification for the “discovery” and domination by European Christians of lands already inhabited by Indigenous peoples.

Once a month since January, volunteers from Brookside Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., have set up noon hour drive-thru prayer to address heightened tensions and serve their community.

When Hope Community Christian Reformed Church in Lawrence, Ind., formally closed in December, the church council chose to bless others with remaining funds.

Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have unanimously sided with a Catholic foster care agency that says its religious views prevent it from working with same-sex couples.

Redeemer University in Ancaster, Ont., and Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Mich., have made recent programming changes, including dropping majors in certain languages and launching new business degrees.

Celebrating joyful moments like the receiving of candidates for ministry and addressing weighty matters like requests for church discipline, the Christian Reformed Church’s Council of Delegates met June 15 and 16.

Responding to a request from a Christian Reformed congregation to Synod 2021, the CRC’s Council of Delegates has asked the denomination’s executive director to develop a mechanism that would allow LGBTQ voices to be heard by delegates to the next synod with regard to the human sexuality report.

In place of Synod 2021 the Christian Reformed Church’s Council of Delegates, with some discussion, left unchanged an earlier decision to remove adoption agency Bethany Christian Services from its list of approved organizations for offerings.

Over an online video meeting, streamed to YouTube, the Christian Reformed Church’s Council of Delegates received new candidates for ministry and blessed them as they take up God’s assigned work. 

Acting in lieu of Synod 2021 the Christian Reformed Church’s Council of Delegates chose to defer requests for discipline and not rescind an earlier letter of concern. In a new communication it urges synod to “be mindful of the three marks of the true and vital church.”

The Christian Reformed Church’s Council of Delegates received a final report on work toward preventing abuse of power and requested a review of the denomination’s current appeal process.

Two regional groups of churches in Canada had asked to stop moves toward restructuring. Considering those requests on behalf of synod, the Council said no.

A pastor in the Christian Reformed Church since 1983, Rich Hamstra led his congregations with energy, enthusiasm, and love.