The Banner

Synod 2024 appointed a task force to study multisite churches with a mandate to research current iterations of these churches and report back to Synod 2026.

Kent Hendricks used digitized agendas from the Hekman Library website to find the average number of words per overture for nine different years going back to 1944.

While church leaders are understandably concerned about the church’s future, most people today are instead asking about what the gospel means for them in their life.

A stuntman works to solve a murder and win back the woman he loves.

In his first children’s book, the bestselling author of Relationship Goals shares a tender story that helps kids understand how our families are strengthened by God’s love.

In an inspiring story about self-expression, quirky and artistic Joan harnesses the power of friendship and the bravery of her namesake, Joan of Arc, to embrace her creative nature.

Synod 2024 heard appeals of several classis rulings in closed session. President Derek Buikema read synod’s decisions into the public record.

Derek Buikema tells synod delegates “gentleness is strong” and urges them to refrain from acrimony and slander as they head back to their home congregations.

Trish Borgdorff shared words of farewell to the denomination at Synod 2024.

Synod declared that churches, members, and officebearers who have an “in protest with ecclesiastical intent” status shall be entered into the process of discipline.

Synod 2024 considered requests to require delegates to re-sign the Covenant for Officebearers at synod, choosing instead to have the re-signing of the covenant yearly at the classis level.

Synod 2024 adopted a proposal to extend the denomination’s current ministry plan by five years, but it wants a revision of the “Grow in Diversity” milestone to emphasize “hospitality” over “ethnic quotas.”

Synod 2024’s young adult representatives shared with The Banner their motivations for attending synod and their experiences at the assembly.

Synod 2024 declined to make a statement calling specific matters “a salvation issue,” saying Scripture is already clear that all sin is a salvation issue.

Synod 2024 addressed recommendations related to the denomination’s efforts to prevent abuse of power, adopting an addition to Church Order that holds all officebearers to its “standards of behavior.”

Considering several requests about administering discipline for churches contradicting decisions of recent synods, Synod 2024 asked for repentance from those congregations and communicated suspension for their officebearers.

Ten years after the Christian Reformed Church in North America and the Reformed Church in America strengthened ties with a historic joint synod, the CRC’s Synod 2024 wants to know if the RCA is still the same church.

After clarifying the use of confessional-difficulty gravamina for church officebearers, Synod 2024 addressed Calvin University’s confessional difficulty process for faculty—asking the board to report to Synod 2025.

In discussions that stretched across two days, Synod 2024 tightened the process for church councils to receive officebearers’ confessional difficulties and limited the time of struggling with a doctrine to three years.

As Pavlo arrived for class on the LCC International University campus in Lithuania, his ears rang with the news being passed between students and staff: Ukraine was under attack

Traditionally hosted to honor retiring leaders in the Christian Reformed Church, the 2024 synod banquet instead focused on two minority-culture ministry networks.

Ecumenical guests addressed Synod 2024 from the Christian Reformed Church in Nigeria, the Reformed Church in America, the Reformed Church of East Africa, and the Sudanese Reformed Church in South Sudan.

Before introducing 25 new candidates for ministry of the Word in the CRC, Susan LaClear, director of Candidacy, was frank with Synod 2024 about some challenges for emerging leaders.