Chong Resigns as Banner Editor
Shiao Chong has resigned from his role as editor-in-chief of The Banner after nearly nine years of service. His resignation follows a robust debate at Synod 2025 that resulted in changes to The Banner’s mandate.
Chong, a commissioned pastor, was hired to the Banner editor role by Synod 2016. He had served previously as a campus pastor at York University in North York, Ont. At the time of his hiring, Chong said that he felt the role would involve being in the middle.
Recounting a story from his university chaplain days, Chong told Synod 2016 that he had witnessed groups of Jewish students and Middle Eastern students at the university holding opposing demonstrations. Two students quietly wedged themselves into the middle of the conflict, each holding a simple homemade sign reading “Peace.”
“It was like a parable,” Chong explained. “God was telling me to be in the middle; this is my ministry. I’m supposed to go in the middle and proclaim God’s peace. That’s what I have tried to do ever since, to be a bridge builder.”
Chong acknowledged that it wouldn’t be easy to be in the middle as the CRC faced tough issues. “I feel that that’s where I’m supposed to be. Not that I relish it. I’d be lying if I say that I’m not afraid,” he told Synod 2016. “In the middle of everyone’s slings and bullets, most likely you’ll get hurt, but I have to follow what I believe God is calling me to do. I’m going to call people to remember our unity in Christ. Whether we like it or not, Christ has united us. That’s a gift of God, and we are accountable to that.”
This commitment has underlined Chong’s service to the denomination for the past nine years. He wrote numerous editorials and guided the magazine in a way that urged people to talk to each other and consider multiple perspectives as they navigated various issues facing the denomination.
Last week, Synod 2025 received overtures from two classes regarding The Banner’s mandate, specifically asking that it be revised to focus more on official CRCNA positions. The council of First Christian Reformed Church of Artesia, Calif., asked synod to “create a committee to rewrite, in full, The Banner mandate. The new mandate should be written in such a way as to foster strict adherence to our confessional documents, rather than debate about them.” Similarly, Classis Heartland overtured Synod 2025 to “amend the synodical mandate and guidelines of The Banner . . . to reflect its representative public nature.”
Synod discussed these recommendations and ultimately decided to amend The Banner’s mandate in response.
The amendments include adding responsibility to “represent the denomination publicly to the broader Christian church and to the world at large by speaking from a distinctly Reformed perspective in line with our confessions and synodical decisions, representing the CRCNA as its official position.” Synod 2025 also asked that as the magazine provides “a biblically prophetic and responsible criticism and evaluation of trends within the church and society and of actions, decisions, policies, programs, etc., being considered by or already approved by ecclesiastical assemblies and agencies,” it do so “with proper acknowledgment and respect for the official positions of the CRCNA and within the confines of our confessional covenant commitments.” In addition, it deleted from The Banner’s mandate a responsibility to reflect “diverse positions” and “various views.”
As a result of these changes, Chong said he felt his specific calling to editorially lead the magazine was no longer a good fit for the magazine’s future.
“We are grateful to Chong for his many years of service and his prophetic witness to Banner readers and our entire denomination,” said Zachary King, general secretary, noting that Chong would be missed. “The Banner has been a cherished part of our denomination for almost 160 years. We trust that it will continue to be a meaningful ministry in the years to come, and we pray for its staff as it navigates these new instructions from synod and continues its journalistic ministry into the future.”
Chong’s last day as Banner editor will be July 11.
