Editor Rev. John Vander Ploeg, 1956-1970

Note: This online-only article is part of a series showcasing past Banner editors. You can read all the content celebrating The Banner’s 160th anniversary here.

When Rev. John Vander Ploeg took his place in The Banner’s editor’s chair in 1956, his leadership rounded out the first century of the Christian Reformed Church’s official magazine. At 14 years, his was also the shortest tenure at that point, ending the tradition of decades-long service of his predecessors.

Vander Ploeg came to The Banner with a wealth of writing experience. In his welcome, his predecessor Rev. Henry Kuiper noted that already in his first church Vander Ploeg wrote articles for the Sunday School Newsie, a mission paper, which Kuiper said revealed his talent as a popular and interesting writer. “He has been a regular contributor to our Sunday school papers,” Kuiper wrote. Vander Ploeg was in charge of the “We Believe” column in The Banner because, as Kuiper put it, “(We realized) that articles on doctrine must be interesting to attract a worthwhile number of readers.”

Vander Ploeg was a staunch conservative, dedicated to preserving the CRC’s Calvinistic heritage.

One of the first controversies that faced the church when he became editor was the infallibility of Scripture issue. “If there was anything that was close to Vander Ploeg’s heart, it was his love for the Word of God and his unswerving desire to see Scripture upheld as the infallible and inerrant Word of God,” wrote his son-in-law Henry Vanden Heuvel.

In a tribute to Vander Ploeg, Rev. Clarence Boomsma wrote, “Obviously differences of opinion exist among our denomination, and an editor is bound to differ with various minds in the church if he exercises responsible leadership. As were his predecessors, Vander Ploeg has known adverse criticism and sharp disagreement at times for his editorial comment and criticism.”

Boomsma described Vander Ploeg as a congenial, warm, and friendly person, by temperament not given to be contentious nor taking pleasure in controversy. “When he spoke out strongly on controversial issues, or exposed what he believed were dangerous trends and positions in the church, it was a display of real courage and came out of the depth of his convictions. We respect him for his courage and integrity.”

That congeniality was not on display when, at the end of his editorship, two Calvin College seniors published a spoof of The Banner, called The Bananer. Vander Ploeg was lampooned as Rev. Vander Phlegm. His reaction was strong and immediate in the form of a lengthy, scathing editorial in The Banner. The college president, William Spoelhof, suggested that Vander Ploeg overreacted.

As he grew older, he grew disenchanted with the Calvin Seminary, according to Vanden Heuvel. “He felt that the teaching of the Calvin Seminary did not satisfy the need for a strong defense of the Reformed faith and commitment to the inerrancy of the Scriptures,” he wrote. He campaigned for the start of a new seminary. His efforts resulted in the establishment of the Mid-America Reformed Seminary in Dyer, Ind., a conservative seminary that currently hosts 40 students, according to its website.

Vanden Heuvel said his father-in-law continued his efforts to “correct what he firmly believed were errors in Calvin Seminary.” Even though he promoted the new seminary, Vanden Heuvel wrote, “He loved Calvin Seminary and it was his fervent desire to see a return to a strong biblical commitment there.”

Even as his health failed, Vander Ploeg continued to write, mainly for The Torch and Trumpet (now called Outlook), another conservative publication in the Reformed tradition.

Upon Vander Ploeg’s death, Banner editor Rev. Kuyvenhoven wrote, “When I became editor he said to me, ‘The editorial page is now your pulpit.’ This is always his understanding of the office of editor. Toward the end of his editorial career, he perceived serious attacks on the reliability of the Scriptures. And although his defense may be judged in different ways, his motivation and love for the Word are beyond dispute.”

Writing in The Banner about editors she had known, longtime Banner employee Gertrude Haan remembered telling Vander Ploeg that although she didn’t always see eye to eye with his opinions, she would always remember him as a man of unquestioned integrity. His reply? “I would rather be known as that than anything else.”