Let’s Play “Banner Editor for a Day”

I am highly biased (aren't we all?), but I would love to see more celebration of the impact we have on the secular and institutional world around us -- particularly the work done by our growing number of chaplains (nearly 150 endorsed, plus many campus chaplains and pastors serving part time as hospice, hospital or police chaplains). This is a significant missional aspect of the church influencing many institutions, agencies and individuals outside the church -- one that at times seems not fully embraced by the church. If 10 - 15% of our ordained clergy are finding their way into this arena that provides great opportunities for ministry at the "fringes," with very little cost to the organized church; might this not be something we wish to be more aware of and deliberate about? 

Ron Klimp - Director of Chaplaincy and Care Ministry

My header would be, "The fallacy of climate change and what we can do to stop the madness"

“Paul’s Letter to the Colossians: The CRC’s Uplifting Mission To Downcast People”

I would like to see an editorial about how Canadian Christians, and other international Christians, struggle to identify with a Christian faith that seems to be shaped more and more by American politics, especially those of the Republican Party.  

On another political note, I'd be interested in seeing a comment on how political parties can become idols. How can Christians protect themselves from total devotion to a political ideology, while still engaging in the political process in a meaningful way?  

Congratulations Shiao Chong and Welcome!  

I’m hoping for sensitivity in the language  we use for our Beloved Creator.  Too often we worship as if God’s name were ‘He”.  As if the Divine were exclusively male.  

For some of us, God is both Mother and Father, yet God’s face as reflected in our mothers and daughters is rendered virtually invisible by the language we use.

Blessings,

JoMae Spoelhof

How are we together now that what held us together no longer holds?

Congratulations on your new role. The issue I would like to see addressed is why leaders of the evangelical community such as Robert Jeffress, Jerry Falwall, Jr and James Dobson are supportive of Donald Trump. Do they have a different Bible, interpret it differently or are we just so much more sophisticated than our brothers in Christ?

Not the topic of an editorial, but an idea for an issue:  When I was growing up in the sixties and early seventies one of the summer Banners was a "vacation Banner"...a week of devotions to use while traveling, additional Kids Pages to keep us busy in the car, and other things that I can't recall 45 years later.  It was, as my Aunt Florence wrote in, "a gem".