The Agenda for Synod 2024 was published online last week, two months ahead of Christian Reformed delegates coming together in Grand Rapids, Mich., to attend to the various reports, requests, nominations, and communications. Synod 2024 will convene in one online session May 29 to elect officers and h
Twelve-year-old Hercules Beal hates his name. After all, he’s short and not intrepid like the physically imposing and heroic mythical Hercules. But it’s the name his parents gave him, and now he’s stuck with it. There’s one thing, though, that Hercules (the boy) has in common with Hercules (the myth
Do you remember A Town like Alice with Bryan Brown? If the actor in one of my most beloved stories is in a new Acorn TV show, you can bet I’m watching. Darby and Joan won’t disappoint. The premise is great—and so is the bond of friendship.First, the premise. Co-protagonist Joan Kirkhope chats by pho
Former Harvard University president Drew Gilpin Faust had previously written a beautiful book on the first photographs that came from the killing fields of the Civil War. These photos captured the deep destruction of death that changed the national attitude about dying on American soil. Faust has no
When you think of evangelism, what do you picture? Someone standing on a street corner or going door to door to hand out tracts? Do you imagine awkward conversations? If so, it’s no wonder the idea of sharing our faith might seem scary.Julia Kooy is a campus minister in Ontario who sympathizes with
In sparse, lyrical prose, Mitali Perkins—renowned Christian author of young adult novels and children’s picture books such as Bare Tree and Little Wind: A Story for Holy Week and Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border—imagines God creating the world: “One day, Creator came— / to sort
Winsome, humorous, and insightful, this first chapter book in author Kate DiCamillo’s upcoming trilogy for children ages 5-8 explores the wonder and delight of an extraordinary friendship between unlikely partners.Orris the rat is happy to be left alone in a quiet barn in his nest with his treasures
God is a great recycler. When God said in Genesis, “Let dry ground appear,” God created solid, recyclable material. Do you know what I’m talking about?Rocks! Rocks are being recycled all the time, just really, really slowly.It doesn’t matter where you start the recycling process, so let’s start with
When someone needs help, is praying for them enough? Or should Christians do more to directly help?Though Christians often struggle with prayer, praying for someone in need can seem much easier than doing something to help them, especially when doing something requires sacrifice. Yet the gospel clea
I was often puzzled by the sudden turn in the crowd’s mood in Luke 4:16-30. Jesus was in his hometown, Nazareth, and read the scroll of Isaiah 61 in the synagogue. Verse 22 says, “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.” But within a few minutes, the mood
I recently served on the pastoral search committee at my church. An initial task for our team was to determine what kind of person the congregation wanted as a pastor. The questions on past congregational surveys surprised me. Our congregation had been asked about their comfort level with different
Gratitude: Why Giving Thanks Is the Key to Our Well-BeingBy Cornelius PlantingaReviewed by Sonya VanderVeen FeddemaThroughout his insightful, accessible exploration of gratitude, Cornelius Plantinga reiterates the amazing fact that “gratitude is the single best predictor of human well-being.”Plantin
As a Korean American mother of two, I’ve made it a priority to fill our shelves at home with children’s books celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander stories and cultures.Over the years, a few titles have become favorites. Here are five books my children ask to read over and over again.Bee-b
Included in Calvin Theological Seminary’s report to the Christian Reformed Church’s Synod 2024 is a faculty statement of confessional commitment, shared in part as a response to a recommendation that was before Synod 2023 but deferred to Synod 2024. But “the topic,” says the report, “had already bee
Members of Clinton (Ont.) Christian Reformed Church went on a history hunt in April, discovering interesting things about their congregation’s past as they participated in Hunt75, one of many 75th-anniversary events designed to help the congregation be “Rooted in Faith, Growing in Hope, and Serving
In this first book published by the recently launched Reformed Journal Books, author Jeffrey Munroe explores a concept he learned from the late Frederick Buechner, an author and pastor who coined the phrase “the stewardship of pain.” Munroe does so by sharing the stories of people who have experienc
Sarah Arthur, author of numerous nonfiction titles including The Year of Small Things: Radical Faith for the Rest of Us and A Light so Lovely: The Spiritual Legacy of Madeleine L’Engle, offers young-adult readers her first novel, a tale of queens and faraway lands and mysterious happenings.Eva Joyce
Many of us know what it’s like to get a letter in the mail informing us that we’ve been chosen to fulfill our civic responsibility as a juror. Some of us have very good reasons why we can’t serve and so we call the court to explain our reasons, or we hope that when we call, the court case has alread
After Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Mich., announced a leadership transition in late February, saying president Wiebe Boer resigned his position, there have been questions about due process for Boer who was the subject of a report alleging “unwelcome and inappropriate communication and attentio
“How do you pastorally tell the truth of the Good Friday story without retraumatizing and injuring those in your midst?”The question stumped the panel. Between the six of us, we figured out that we had a septugenarian’s worth of years of experience in leading worship ministry in the church. Yet this