A quiet man who loved the Lord and his family, Berny Dykstra died May 17. He was 80 years old.

A humble, passionate, streetwise pastor dedicated to his community congregation, local school, and the Belknap neighborhood in Grand Rapids, Mich., Jerome Burton died July 6. He was 66.

Stanley Jim, a Minister of the Word in the Christian Reformed Church since 1996, has led and helped develop Native American ministry leadership for decades. He plans to retire Sept 1.

Brian Houston, co-founder of the now global Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia, had been charged with concealing a serious indictable offense of another person.

A member of Immanuel Christian Reformed Church in Fort Collins, Colo., started nonprofit “Secret Garden” after seeing how picking and delivering bouquets to the neighborhood assisted-living home lifted people’s spirits.

The Christian Parenting and Caregiving Initiative, funded by Lilly Endowment Inc., has awarded 77 grants of up to $1.25 million each “to help interested parents and other caregivers share their Christian faith and values with their children.” The CRCNA is one of the grantees.

Lake City (Mich.) CRC transformed its building into a life-size version of the popular children’s board game Candy Land as part of its summer ministry for kids.

When given 28 suggestions and the prompt “To me, the term ‘Christian Reformed’ means

With the help of students from the University of Nebraska College of Architecture, F Street Neighborhood Church in Lincoln, Neb., is rebuilding a historic chapel into community art space.

“As you age, your world starts to shrink. You feel isolated.” Wellspring Adult Day Services, operating out of Reeman Christian Reformed Church in Fremont, Mich., seeks to offset that.

A hard-working and faithful minister of the gospel, Bob Tigchelaar loved each congregation and community to which he was called. He died June 25 at age 81.

“You’re always going to be involved with people who are different from you.” Calvin Theological Seminary students do cross-cultural internships while completing Master of Divinity degrees.

As one who faced challenges with resoluteness, humor, and a reliance on Jesus, John Rop was described as a “heart” preacher who understood brokenness. He died July 2 at age 72.

The goal of the University of Southern California colleagues working in the school’s Information Sciences Institute is to target ‘very low-resource languages that are not even in the top 500.’

Reader satisfaction with The Banner has gone up over the past three years, according to data from reader surveys in 2020 and 2023.

Two men with a heart for Haiti are working to build up leaders and plant Haitian churches in southern Florida.

Yeshiva University in New York has launched a master’s degree program intended specifically for Christian students who want to learn more about Judaism. It’s part of a growing number of interfaith academic collaborations at U.S. Christian and Jewish schools.

A pastor and professor with a gentle demeanor and respect for others as God’s image bearers, Phil Holtrop was a trusted confidant and mentor to many. He died June 12, aged 89.

David Zandstra, 83, living in Marietta, Ga., is charged with “criminal homicide, murder of the first, second, and third degree, as well as kidnapping of a minor” in connection with the 1975 murder of 8-year old Gretchen Harrington in Marple, Penn.

In February 2021, Classis Chicago South commissioned a team to promote racial reconciliation. They hosted a unity service May 21 at Chicago Christian High School.

A pastor “passionate about welcoming everyone and their stories into the family of God,” Harvey Brink died May 26. He was 78.

Got Bibles? An ad placed in The Banner caught the attention of a Grand Rapids, Mich., reader. With no Michigan drop-off for the Neoga, Ill.-based Project Bible Runners, she decided to offer one.

An active pastor of the Indonesian Christian Reformed Fellowship in Dover, N.H., Michael Lapian died June 25. He was 61.