The 75 Year History of Today

The Today devotional is celebrating 75 years. In January 1950, The Back to God Hour, now known as ReFrame Ministries, sent the first 5,000 copies of the new daily devotional booklet, originally titled The Family Altar. Immediately, the radio ministry began to receive requests for even more of the devotional booklet. Three months later, the program shipped 30,000 copies in one month. In 2025, Today reaches hundreds of thousands of readers and listeners worldwide in four languages. Today is still available as a little booklet, but Today also reaches readers on the web, email, mobile app, radio, podcast, social media, and even virtual assistant (e.g., Alexa). 

We thank God for blessing readers and listeners with Today for more than seven decades. From the beginnings, the devotional's purpose has been to help readers spend time with God each day, reading and reflecting on the Bible, and speaking with God in prayer. Today plays a key role in advancing ReFrame Ministries’ mission to share the good news of Jesus Christ, disciple believers, and strengthen the church worldwide using media. We ask the Lord for another 75 years and a greater harvest of readers and listeners who are refreshed, refocused, and renewed in God’s Word each day with Today. 

The Family Altar 

The history of Today begins with The Back to God Hour, ReFrame Ministries’ very first media program. As an outward speaking voice of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, the radio show began in 1939 as an innovative means to reach a broad audience with the good news of Jesus Christ and encourage believers with teachings from the Word of God within the Reformed tradition. Almost immediately, requests poured in for additional, follow-up materials for the weekly preaching program. Producers used printed versions of The Back to God Hour sermons in an early effort to meet this demand. In the late 1940s, they introduced a daily Bible reading calendar called “Daily Manna.” It became so popular that radio minister Peter Eldersveld and his team decided to produce a monthly booklet of daily devotional readings to go deeper with readers. The first issue appeared in January 1950 under the title “The Back to God Hour Family Altar,” later abbreviated to simply The Family Altar. 

One author, one month, one theme

The first author was Rev. John Vander Ploeg, pastor of the First Christian Reformed Church in Lansing, Illinois. His series developed a single biblical theme over the course of the month. This became the hallmark of Today: one theologically trained author would compose all the devotions in the month based on one theme. The founding editors sought “to make each month a unit in itself, so that the reader would follow a consistent line of Scripture exposition throughout the days of that month, and would have a unified picture of the material covered in the daily meditations.” They also wanted to make the devotions accessible to the average reader, as many Back to God Hour listeners were new to the Christian faith and unfamiliar with the Scriptures. 

Today continues with this model. Since 1950, Today has published more than 900 devotional series on a wide range of biblical topics. Each series is like a month-long Bible study. Many have delved into the books of the Bible, guiding readers through key, personal-level insights found in both Old and New Testament books. Others explored major theological doctrines and concepts, such as creation, sin, salvation, and eternal life, always from a standpoint of the reader’s personal relationship with God.

Ministry milestones

As the Back to God Hour expanded, the daily devotional booklet expanded in tandem with it. By the 1960s, churches and local volunteers distributed more than 100,000 issues each month in churches, businesses, shelters, jails, and prisons. The ministry mailed individual copies to subscribers across the United States, Canada, and around the globe. As BTGH increased its language ministry offerings, local teams around the world either translated the Today devotions or wrote devotions in their own languages in the spirit of Today. Currently, Today is also available in Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Urdu.

In June 1971, Ministry director Joel Nederhood decide to change the title of the daily devotional from The Family Altar to Today. Initially this change was made as a test to see if the new title would make it easier to offer the devotional over the air. The title test was a success, and the devotional has been called Today ever since. Interestingly, The Family Altar remained a subtitle until 2010, in part for continuity, but mainly due to US Mail rules and government regulations concerning nonprofits. It was in 2010 that Today adopted the “refresh, refocus, renew” tagline, which is used today.

In 1976, Today underwent a format change as a cost-saving measure. The booklets would be published bimonthly instead of monthly. Printing every other month made it cheaper to print and mail the Today booklets. 

In 2008, the Back to God Hour ministry changed its name to Back to God Ministries International (BTGMI) and Today would be edited and produced by the English language ministry, ReFrame Media.

For several years, audio versions of Today were distributed on cassette and later on compact disc. In the early 2000s, readers could listen to the devotions on our website. In 2011, ReFrame Media began producing a two-minute version of Today for radio, titled This Is Today, which was later retitled simply Today. The radio version gained popularity quickly and can be heard today on approximately 283 radio outlets worldwide. Currently, listeners can stream the full-length readings of their Today devotions on their favorite podcast platform, the Today website, and the Today app.

In the years preceding the first airing of The Back to God Hour in the 1930s, innovative leaders recognized that radio was a “gift from God” to fulfill the Great Commission. Modern media continues to be a gift from God for sharing his Word and encouraging his people. By 2020, the number of people reading or listening to Today digitally far exceeded the number of physical copies being printed. The web, email, mobile app, and podcast platforms have dramatically increased the accessibility of Today. These media outlets also improved Today’s ability to reach new readers and listeners. In the last ten years, the Today team has been able to offer ebooks and digital collections that draw from Today’s vast Devotional Library to address the specific needs or concerns of individuals. These include seasonal collections for Lent, Easter, and Advent, for example, or more personal needs, such as seeking God in seasons of suffering, finding hope in Christ alone during turbulent times, or answering any of a myriad biblical and theological questions. Across 75 years, millions of people have found Today through pathways made possible through God’s gift of modern media.

Another 75 years of Today tomorrow

Celebrating 75 years of Today, we thank God for his wonderful provision and ask him to continue to grow Today. We ask him to open new channels for his Word to go out via Today. In 1950, ReFrame Ministries established a daily devotional to help put God’s Word in the hands of radio listeners who wanted more. The devotional helped people open their Bibles on a regular basis and encouraged them to deepen their personal relationships with God. Today continues that mission in 2025, and with God’s blessing, from now until the year 2100 and beyond.

To learn more about Today’s 75th anniversary, visit todaydevotional.com/75years. 

Explore Today    

You can read each day’s devotion on todaydevotional.com. You can also subscribe to receive Today in your email inbox, download the mobile app, or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Today’s online Devotional Library contains every series and devotion published since July 2005. The entire catalog of devotionals, under both titles—The Family Altar (January 1950 - May 1971) and Today (June 1971 to present)—can be found in bound format at the Hekman Library at Calvin University, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Digitized copies can be obtained from the library by request and for a modest fee. Contact the library for more information.