Interim Editor of The Banner Appointed
Lora Copley has been appointed to the position of interim editor of The Banner starting Dec. 1. This follows a robust search process for the position.
Copley, an ordained minister of the Word, is currently serving as director of Areopagus Campus Ministry at Iowa State University. She will continue to serve that ministry, although in a lesser capacity, as she steps into the half-time, interim editor role. Copley is married to Joel, her husband of 26 years, and they have four children.
Copley is the first woman to be appointed to The Banner editor role in the magazine’s 160-year history. She is also stepping into leadership at a time when the publication is clarifying how it will function in support of the Christian Reformed Church as it moves into the future.
Synod 2025 spent time discussing the magazine’s mandate and asked that it “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 publication.” Synod didn’t change The Banner’s guideline to provide “a vehicle through which church members can express their views and opinions on pertinent issues” but stressed that while presenting these ideas, it should show the positions held by the CRCNA.
Dean Heetderks, The Banner’s art director and director of CRC Ministry Support Services, the umbrella group under which The Banner is structured operationally, has been managing the magazine since the former editor resigned. He chaired the search team for this position and noted, “For 160 years, The Banner has been serving the Christian Reformed Church by offering a space to tell stories about what is happening across the denomination, to celebrate milestones as a community, and to dig deep into the issues of the day. While Synod 2025 provided revised parameters on how to do this, having an interim editor who can help interpret the revised mandate will be essential.”
Copley said that the revised mandate gives her clarity for her role in leadership. “I see the mandate as given with a positive intent in good faith to build trust, and I resonate with that desire to build trust,” she said in a conversation with Banner news editor, Alissa Vernon. “I hope to be a team player, to bear good fruit toward that end.”
Copley earned a bachelor of arts degree in theology at Dordt University and a master of divinity degree at Calvin Theological Seminary. She has worked as a coordinator and instructor for the Leadership Development Network, a CRC initiative in Classis Red Mesa. She taught doctrine at Rehoboth Christian High School in Rehoboth, N.Mex. She has served in a variety of roles in several congregations—from worship and preaching to youth ministry and congregational care.
“I'm one of these folks who has had the opportunity to live in many different places,” Copley said. “I’ve lived in Illinois and Texas; in Mount Vernon, Washington, and in Grand Rapids; in Florida and New Mexico—and now I live here, in central Iowa. In all those diverse places—and there have been some internally divided places as well—I have been grateful because God has taught me different skills and postures. My primary posture is one of encouragement and learning, and of staying as close and as faithful as I can to God's good Word.”
Her writing experience includes Teach Us to Pray: Scripture-Centered Family Worship through the Year, which she coauthored with Elizabeth Vander Haagen, and articles for the Center for Excellence in Preaching, Reformed Worship, and the Abide Project. She has also served as a synodical delegate and on several denominational boards and committees.
“We are really excited to welcome Lora to this role,” said Zach King, general secretary of the CRCNA and a member of the hiring team. “In her time with the Leadership Development Network, the CRC Candidacy Committee, the Council of Delegates, and at various synods, she has proven herself to be wise, pastoral, and discerning. I think she will be a great fit for this interim role.”
Heetderks agreed, adding, “The Banner staff has been working extremely well together, but it’s a small staff, and the new interim editor’s opinions and discernment—especially with the revised mandate—will be most welcome. Preparations for The Banner's 160th anniversary next year will also benefit from another set of hands.”
In materials provided to the search team, Copley shared that her sense of God’s call included ministries of prayer, motherhood, discipleship, and encouragement to Jesus’ church and a hurting world. She said she is excited to live out this calling now through the role of interim editor of The Banner.
Copley’s appointment was endorsed by the Council of Delegates executive team in a special meeting on Nov. 18.
