Faith Alive Christian Resources

Faith Alive Christian Resources, one of the leading publishers of Reformed resources in North America, is a ministry of the Christian Reformed Church. More than half of Faith Alive’s sales are to churches outside the CRC, enabling us to produce more products in more categories than would otherwise be possible.

Faith Alive publishes resources for children and youth ministries, small groups, leadership, worship, prayer, evangelism, special needs, and more. It also publishes The Banner, Reformed Worship, an extensive line of Spanish books (under the imprint Libros Desafío), and titles in other languages.

Name Change

In April, CRC Publications changed its name to Faith Alive Christian Resources (Faith Alive, for short). The move was intended to reduce confusion about the two names: CRC Publications (the agency name) and Faith Alive (the main publishing imprint).

New Leadership

In December, Rev. Leonard Vander Zee became editor in chief of the church resources published by Faith Alive. Vander Zee has served as pastor in five Christian Reformed churches, most recently South Bend (Ind.) Christian Reformed Church.

Discipleship

This fall Faith Alive introduced Disciples—a multiyear faith formation curriculum
for adults. In addition to small group studies, the program offers accompanying worship services and daily readings to help launch a church-wide focus on discipleship. For details, visit www.GrowDisciples.org.

Kid Connection

Also this fall, Faith Alive launched Kid Connection—a curriculum written especially for small Sunday schools and midweek programs. “There’s nothing else like it in the North American curriculum landscape,” says Ruth VanderHart, managing editor of Faith Alive. For details, visit www.KidConnectionOnline.org.

Other New Releases

In addition to the resources mentioned above, Faith Alive published the following new titles during the past year: the leader’s edition of Sing With Me (a children’s songbook); The Reformed Handbook; Origins: A Reformed Look at Creation, Design, & Evolution; Signs and Wonders: A Reformed Look at the Spirit’s Ongoing Work; Christian: What It Means, Why It Matters; HC and Me Year 2 (a high school catechism course); The Seven Deadly Sins (another high school course); Grace Through Every Generation (to celebrate the CRC’s 150th anniversary); Born for You and Me (a Christmas drama); and several new titles in the Discover Your Bible and Word Alive series.

The Banner

The Banner received a great deal of affirmation this past year on the still-recent change to an every-household magazine. A major, independent survey of Banner readers confirmed that readership of the magazine has risen dramatically, including many younger readers and those who are new to the denomination. The denomination’s magazine is on solid financial footing, thanks in large part to the generosity of readers. Future plans include a Banner blog and downloadable audio archives.

Libros Desafío

Libros Desafío, the Spanish imprint of World Literature Ministries, helps transform lives and communities worldwide. The 30,000 books that are purchased each year, many of them at great financial sacrifice, help leaders throughout Latin and North America increase their knowledge of the Bible, of doctrine, and of ministry as understood within the Reformed tradition. Some of the most recent titles include the following: