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June Issue
I've been reading the June Banner while listening, watching, and reading about synod. I first read that ministry share income is down 63% since 2018. I then read that Synod 2023 requested a “strategy and plan to arrest and reverse the trend of decline … of membership.” That seems to be a moot point now, as Synod 2024 just voted to suspend or recommend discipline for churches, pastors, officebearers, and even individual members of the Christian Reformed Church: Churches on the front line of ministry, working in their communities to reach the lost with the good news of Jesus Christ. Pastors who are leading, guiding, teaching, and shepherding their congregations. Officebearers who are likely working full-time jobs and/or raising families and still devote countless hours caring for their congregation and community. And CRC members—many of us lifetime members!—following the commands of Christ the best we can and ultimately contributing to those ministry shares. Membership and ministry shares can only continue their downward trend after Synod 2024.
Jane E. Hilbrand // Hudsonville, Mich.
Hell and Back
I appreciate how the article “Seven Miles Into Hell” (March 2024) explored what the writers of the Apostles’ Creed might have meant in saying that Christ “descended into hell.” If I might add: How about the cross? “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Perhaps Jesus simply stated these words to say, “I’m fulfilling this psalm right now.” But if Jesus isn’t just quoting Scripture, then it sounds like he’s speaking to the Father. Can one member of the triune God truly experience separation from another? If it is possible that Jesus was forsaken by the Father in that moment, did he not temporarily experience hell? If we reject our heavenly Father and choose separation from him, we will experience hell eternally. However, there is no greater hope than to know we do not have to experience this because Christ not only knows the isolation of hell but has emerged from it victorious.
Darrin Matter // Blaine, Wash.
Flippant Greetings
I just read with great amusement the article by Ken Nydam, with whom I attended Calvin centuries ago, about “flippant greeting disorder” (May 2024). Since the pandemic, during which many people were somewhat afraid to hear the answer to “How are you?”, I’ve almost always responded, “Moderately functional.” That usually generates at least a smile.
Jim Shade // Grand Rapids, Mich.
The article “Flippant Greeting Disorder” was a very trivial article, not even worthy of space. With all the mountainous problems in this world, you write a five-paragraph article on this? Tackle a worthwhile topic. This article was not.
Jean Oosterheert // Grandville, Mich.
Vaccines
I am disappointed that you allowed the article about the mRNA COVID vaccine (“Big Questions,” April 2024). By including it, you seem to support the point that the COVID mRNA inoculation is an excellent vaccine choice, a “blessing from God and a way to obey Jesus’ command to care for the sick.” I humbly suggest that it would have been wiser to print nothing.
John A. Versfelt // Port Coquitlam, B.C.
Selective Reading
Shiao Chong’s editorial in the May 2024 Banner (“Jesus’ Selective Reading”) gave me a lot of insight into the comments Jesus made in the synagogue in Nazareth, mentioned in Luke 4:16-30. In the Complete Jewish Bible, a translation by the Messianic Jewish theologian David H. Stern, a footnote on this passage says that Isaiah 61:1-3 is a haftara (conclusion), a regular reading on Shabbat. The reading of the haftara was an honor given to a special guest. Thus Jesus was more or less obliged by tradition to read the second half of Isaiah 61:2 as a part of this particular haftara. But he omitted the second portion, and then he said the passage had been fulfilled as he was speaking it! This was the first time I realized it might have been the omission of the vengeance phrase that had triggered the anger of the worshipers. Many thanks for clarifying the meaning of this passage for us!
Dave Learned // Ann Arbor, Mich.
Tell Your Story
I appreciated Michelle VanderMeer’s column about telling our stories (“Would You Share Your Story?”, May 2024)—telling the generations who follow us the wonderful things God has done in our own past! About three years ago, my children gifted me with Storyworth. The program invites children to ask a question each week. At the end of a year, responses are bound into a book. But I already had a lot of stories and photos collected in a scrapbook, plus genealogy back to the 1700s and more. I could have it all bound together! I could tell our story and weave in God’s story as a testimony to generations to come! I included Psalm 126:3 and Psalm 78:1-7 in my introduction. And when all was said and done, I had a beautiful hardcover book with over 240 photos and 480 pages to pass along!
Philip Stel // Grand Rapids, Mich.
