Having adopted a new mission statement and chosen the tagline “Christ, Community, Compassion” to accompany its logo, the Canadian Council of Churches begins its 75th year asking members “What’s the place of Christianity in Canada today?”

A bag of take-home object lessons or a passport to mark their spiritual journey helps families at Community Christian Reformed Church connect faith formation to the church calendar.

Hope Community Church in Flagstaff, Ariz., home to four different ministering communities, has been making space for the Flagstaff Community Shelter each winter, taking a turn with other churches to host shelter staff and 20 people who need a warm place to sleep.

Kenosis Community groups formed in Canada through the help of the Race Relations office of the Christian Reformed Church help members study how culture shapes their life in fellowship.

Classis Georgetown, a regional group of Christian Reformed congregations near Grand Rapids, Mich., debuted REV Talks last fall. Patterned after the worldwide phenomenon TED talks, the speaker series aimed to tap in to pastors’ treasure trove of experience.

In Whitby, Ont., Hebron Christian Reformed Church’s ministry to the city’s large Mandarin-speaking population has grown into a one-congregation, two-language model.

In a letter to the Prime Minister of Canada, member churches of the Canadian Council of Churches requested that Canada sign on to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

As a Christian university with strong ties to the Christian Reformed Church, The King’s University in Edmonton, Alta., had conversations this fall and winter with churches questioning its choice to operate without explicit positional statements on marriage and sexuality.

In Philadelphia, a design competition called Sacred Places/Civic Spaces wanted to show how three houses of worship could be redesigned to realize their potential for both congregational and community programming.

A “Big Night of Worship,” gathering up to 200 teens from six Chicago-area congregations, is one of the ways a youth ministry champion is energizing youth ministry in his classis. 

In October, as part of an ongoing partnership, a team from New Hope Fellowship Christian Reformed Church in Monroe, Wash., visited an orphanage under construction in southern India. The partnership began because of the persistent plea of one teenage girl requesting help.

Shorter speeches. More delegate and leadership training. More time for intentional dialogue. Those are some of the recommendations coming from the Synod Review Task Force appointed by Synod 2016.

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and others are welcoming changes to the federal government’s summer jobs program that remove language interpreted by many to require support for abortion.

Since September, River Terrace Christian Reformed Church in East Lansing, Mich., has offered free yoga classes. Pastor Ken Bieber reads psalms or meditations while a certified yoga instructor leads the twice-weekly sessions.

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As the Ontario municipality of Emo held its first meeting with its newly elected municipal council in December, three members of Emo Christian Reformed Church were sworn in to new or continuing roles.

From Dec. 10-26, riders on horseback traced a 330-mile journey through South Dakota and Minnesota to remember history and pray for reconciliation. Elmer Yazzie, a Navajo artist from New Mexico, is riding and sketching with the group this year.

For nearly 50 years, the Christian Reformed Church’s Ministry to Seafarers has been making sure sailors in the port of Vancouver, B.C., receive Christmas hospitality.

A one-day summit on sexual abuse organized by the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College featured writers, leaders, and pastors sharing stories and asking the church to do better.

Grace and Peace Community Center, a ministry in Chicago, Ill., offers an annual Christmas store where gifts are accessible to families in need.

Immanuel Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, Calif., has made a December caroling hayride an annual tradition. The hayride brings sacred Christmas music to people who are homebound or have difficulty getting out.

A survey on Faith in the Public Square conducted by polling firm Angus Reid and faith-based think tank Cardus found that 75 percent of Canadians like having people of diverse religious backgrounds in their community.

John Nash was a trailblazer, a pastor and church planter at a time when there were few African-American leaders in the Christian Reformed Church. He died on Nov. 3 at age 71.