Campus pastor, preacher, pianist, organist and writer, Dale Vander Veen died Oct. 25. He was 80.

The 2023 fall youth retreat in Arden, Ont., attracted the largest number of teens since the retreat was started more than 20 years ago and prompted restarting local, combined youth services throughout the year.

In the Alberta Avenue neighborhood of Edmonton, Alta., the worshiping communities of Avenue Christian Reformed Church, St. Faith’s and St. Mary’s Anglican churches and an Indigenous spiritual community called Standing Stones, together form Lodgepole Communitas.

Former executive secretary of the Council of Christian Reformed Churches in Canada, who also served for 20 years in parish ministry, Rev. Arie Van Eek died Nov. 7. He was 91.

All Nations Church in Lake View Terrace, Calif., hosted “Made to Belong” to equip the next generation of leaders in disability ministry in Korean American churches.

From disagreements over the Christian Reformed Church's 2022 and 2023 synodical decisions on human sexuality to unsettledness over binationality, there are groups making cases for either separation or unity.

With the help of a church-funded grant, Stewards of Kleinstuck, along with volunteers from Third Christian Reformed Church in Kalamazoo, Mich., planted 23 trees in a nearby preserve.

When a group of Christians from diverse backgrounds founded Unity Christian School in South Holland, Ill., they sought to ground their purpose with an educational creed all could affirm.

The services encourage dialogue, questions and sharing to help “people to contemplate how the words of scripture and the call of Christ actually interact with their daily life.”

Church leaders are conducting weekly workshops to train traditional and church leadership in how to promote peace in their communities.

We got a news tip about a British Columbia church celebrating its pastor’s 20th anniversary with that congregation.

A caring pastor and passionate evangelist, the ministry of John Groen, as one friend described, “centered around the truth that we are ‘dead to sin’ and ‘alive to God in Jesus Christ.’” He died Oct. 3, at age 93.

In the last several months, 16 candidates were examined and approved for ministry, two churches moved from emerging to organized status, and five congregations disbanded or disaffiliated from the Christian Reformed Church.

The ecumenical policy advocacy coalition has been releasing regular statements since the October 7 Hamas attacks and shares, “We are grieved by the war between Israel and Hamas. There is still work to do for peace and justice.”

More than 100 organizations have partnered with Fuller Theological Seminary to address the loss of 1 million young people from faith each year.

“Stop thinking that the best use of your time is to advocate for something in politics, or advocate for something far away,” said Seth Kaplan, author of Fragile Neighborhoods: Repairing American Society, One ZIP Code at a Time.

A modest, humble man with a great sense of humor, Fred Heslinga pastored six churches and was an active pastor of visitation until he died Sept. 26. He was 77.

A minister, a U.S. Army National Guard chaplain, and first director of the Christian Reformed Church’s Committee on Disability Concerns, Ted Verseput died Sept. 19. He was 96.

The Oct. 11-13 meeting of the Christian Reformed Church’s Council of Delegates was the first for new Connections, Governance, and ministry committees, and a clearer delineation of ecclesiastical and organizational governance.

The Canada Ministry Board sets next Canada-wide Conversation, while the U.S. Ministry Board grants purchase and sale power for CRCNA building.

There has been no offer yet for the available property at 1700 28th Street SE in Grand Rapids, Mich., but the Christian Reformed Church’s U.S. Ministry Board has empowered its officers to act if there is one.

Indigenous Christian Fellowship in Regina, Sask., remade an empty, contaminated lot into an enclosed outdoor gathering space.

When Broken Walls, an internationally known Christian Indigenous band led by Jonathan Maracle, performed at Maranatha Christian Reformed Church in Belleville, Ont., it was the group’s first performance in Maracle’s home region.