Following Jesus during the time of COVID is discombobulating.
As cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus first recognized in Wuhan, China in December 2019, grow in North America, ongoing news is expected from the Christian Reformed Church's congregations and ministries. These are stories connected to the virus, disease, and public health response.
Surveying pastors in the United States in April and July, LifeWay Research found an increase in the reporting of disagreement and conflict as high pressure points in ministry.
Members of the Neland Stitchers group at Neland Avenue Christian Reformed Church, in Grand Rapids, Mich., are sewing and sharing face masks for use during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Our current moment in history has laid bare my insecurities, deficiencies, and anxieties of being a pastor.
Amid concerns of “how the COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic crisis have continued to destroy lives and livelihood around the world,” four Christian organizations propose economic changes for consideration at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in November 2020.
As community health responses to COVID-19 impose restrictions on gatherings and border crossings, three examples from Christian Reformed Churches in British Columbia show how pastors have been a ministry of presence to families needing a different kind of memorial.
Churches blessed with families welcoming a new baby at this time have had to consider how to enfold the new child into community.
- August 4, 2020| |
The question isn’t just simply about what is “safe” or “not safe.”
No camp? No problem. Two Christian Reformed churches and a Christian university share how they made meaningful connections for kids this summer.
Michelle DePooter-Francis, a commissioned pastor with the CRC and chaplain to the Ministry to Seafarers in the Port of Montreal, describes changes in the ministry and difficulties faced by those who work at sea.
As people deal with the impacts of the pandemic and civil unrest, many Christian leaders, organizations and churches are providing resources to care for members’ mental, as well as spiritual and physical, health.
Youth Unlimited adapted its annual summer mission trips due to the COVID-19 pandemic. About half the usual number of churches signed up for SERVE@Home, but even some of those plans had to change.
Two pastors in Ontario and one in Wisconsin talk about the experience of reopening their churches for in-person worship after widespread closures to keep people socially distanced during COVID-19.
Immanuel CRC members Mike Earls and Gerry Gysbers in Hamilton, Ont., often take their band Deservedly So into local nursing homes to perform for residents. During COVID-19, they’ve kept the sing-along going with an online concert.
For two weeks out of every winter, Ann Arbor (Mich.) CRC hosts additional shelter space for the Shelter Association of Washtenaw. This year, their second week of hosting turned into 12 weeks, benefitting the church and the men.
Restrictions on the use of the Christian Reformed Church’s office buildings in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Burlington, Ont., have been updated and continue to be in place.
From replacing school nutrition programs to large-scale food pantry distribution, three Christian Reformed churches in three cities are using community partnerships to help fill gaps.
I’ve just finished riding all the roller coasters at Canada’s Wonderland. All seventeen.
Even a few months ago, predicting the rise of drive-in churches was laughable.
Bethel Christian Reformed Church, on Navajo land in New Mexico, has increased its food bank service four-fold and also coordinated a bulk food distribution, thanks in part from a grant from World Renew.
Work has moved online for most who are still working. Social distancing and the “stay-at-home” order isolates us, making us feel out of touch and socially disconnected.
I am a risk, not a certainty. If the coronavirus comes for me, the doctors could use their point system to give a ventilator to someone else instead.
Holland Christian Homes’ Grace Manor in Brampton was one of five long-term care homes in the province of Ontario cited in a harsh report about conditions in the facilities. Having addressed the relatively minor citations at Grace Manor, the facility is not subject to the Ontario government appointment of temporary management as at the other four homes.
From participating in the Lord’s Supper every week, to making the sharing of the sacrament less frequent, to holding off on the practice altogether until in-person fellowship resumes, a few British Columbia churches told The Banner of their pandemic-related adjustments in worship.