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It seems Banner readers in 2023 were once again hungry for news from the denomination’s annual general assembly, synod. In 2022, about half of the most-accessed articles were connected to synod and in 2023 that climbed to 17 of the top 25 articles, including 15 news stories, the synod “In Our View” article, and an As I Was Saying reflection blog. 

Four Cross Examination columns—“How Do We Know Christianity Is the Only True Religion?,” “Did God Order Genocide in the Old Testament?,” “Is There Misogyny in the Bible?,” and “Is Atheism a Religion?” made the list.

A feature from May, exploring “The Culture War-ification of the CRC,” found a spot at number 25 and two earlier features, one from April 2020 and one from December 2019, were still attracting readers this year. 

Thanks for reading! The Banner team looks forward to continuing to offer readers news coverage, inspiring features, editorials to chew over, media to linger over, and columns to strengthen your faith in 2024.

These are the 25 most-accessed articles on thebanner.org between January and December 2023, in order of most views to fewer:

1 Delegate Leaves Synod in Protest (News, June 15, 2023)

2 Synod 2023 Rejects Neland Avenue CRC’s Appeal (News, June 15, 2023)

3 How Do We Know Christianity Is the Only True Religion? (Cross Examination, Nov. 16, 2020)

4 Synod Says ‘No’ to Delaying Action on Human Sexuality Report (News, June 14, 2023)

5 Synod 2023’s Discussion of ‘Confessional Difficulties’ Cut Short; Delegates Protest; Matter Pushed to Synod 2024 (News, June 15, 2023)

6 Synod Upholds ‘Confessional Status’ on Interpretation of Unchastity (News, June 15, 2023)

7  (News, July 26, 2023)

8 Synod 2023: Incomplete and Broken (News: In Our View, June 19, 2023)

9 Why I’m Not a Christian Zionist (Feature, Dec. 16, 2019)

10 Synod Upholds Appeal of Michigan Consistory (News, June 14, 2023)

11 The Spiritual Significance of Trees (Feature, April 13, 2020)

12 Did God Order Genocide in the Old Testament? (Cross Examination, July 12, 2022)

13 Synod 2023 'Urges' Churches to Show Love, Inclusion (News, June 15, 2023)

14 LGBTQ+ Ally Group Gathers to Worship on Calvin Campus (News, June 12, 2023)

15 Synod 2023 Adopts Modified Code of Conduct for Ministry Leaders (News, June 14, 2023)

16 Synod 2023 Has Lengthy Conversations About How to Address Membership Decline (News, June 13, 2023)

17 Four Pastors Elected as Officers of Synod 2023 (News, June 9, 2023)

18 Synod 2023 Asks Regional Groups to 'Guide Into Compliance' Erring Officebearers (News, June 15, 2023)

19 Synod Will No Longer Read Aloud ‘Repetitious Notes’ From Complementarian* Classes (News, June 12, 2023)

20 Is There Misogyny in the Bible? (Cross Examination, Jan. 23, 2023)

21  The Difficult Synod of 2023 and What it Says About the CRC (As I Was Saying, July 28, 2023)

22 Is Atheism a Religion? (Cross Examination, Jan. 21, 2019)

23 Neland Avenue CRC Hosts Congregational Conversations to ‘Journey Together’ After Events of Synod 2023 (Religion News Service, July 13, 2023)

24 Synod 2023 Will Keep its Doors Open (News, June 10, 2023)

25 The Culture War-ification of the CRC (Feature, May 15, 2023)

Pageviews counted by Google analytics, referenced Dec. 1, 2023.