In August, 2012, Rachel Brower started working as our Children’s Director after having volunteered in Children’s ministry here for years.  She did not seek out the position. Our search team sought her out, asked her to apply, interviewed and hired her and it has been a beautiful fit since then.  Back when Rachel started, our Children’s Ministry did not have the numbers of kids that it has today.

Fast forward to today.

A few weeks ago, we had 90 children in our children’s ministry programs, birth through 5th grade. Praise God! 90. That is not even counting all the babies and toddlers who were in the sanctuary.  

In 2017, we averaged 52 children each week. Since September, we’ve had an average of 72 kids involved in our Children’s Ministry each week. It takes approximately 94 volunteers each month to run our Children’s Ministries programs and nurseries.  That is unbelievable growth. It feels like a Christmas miracle, especially for some of us who remember how few kids we had just a few years ago.

In light of this wonderful growth, in late December, the consistory of Zion voted unanimously to grant Rachel Brower a six-week sabbatical.  Rachel’s sabbatical will start on Jan 2 and end on Feb. 12. This time is for Rachel to catch her breath, rest, and focus on renewal. During this time we will not see Rachel at church or she may be tempted to jump right back into her role and not get the rest she needs.

After Feb. 12, Rachel has a agreed to a six-week Research Period on behalf of Zion Ref.  During this Research Period Rachel will be visiting other churches to see how they run their Children’s Ministry.  She will be meeting with other Children’s directors to research best practices. Basically, Rachel will be doing research on our behalf to see how we can make our Children’s Ministry its absolute best AND make sure it is sustainable for our kids, staff and volunteers. With rapid growth you risk burning out your staff or your volunteers.  The consistory does not want to do either, so Rachel will be working in this Research Period to think and dream how we might best organize our Children’s Ministry for sustainability.

During the Research Period Rachel will be working with a small team of people from Zion to write a proposal how our Children’s Ministry might look into the future. Also, during this Research Period we will likely not regularly see Rachel in church as she’ll be out, visiting other churches, researching, and gathering ideas and best practices.  But we will get regular reports on her progress at consistory, and we will do our best to communicate her work during the Research Period with the congregation.

Some of you may be wondering how we are going to function during the six week sabbatical and the six week Research Period. That is an excellent question. Sarah McAnally, Shanda VandePol and Tricia Leistra have agreed to help organize and facilitate Children’s Ministry during this time, but they are going to need help. They will be making calls, asking people to step up in new ways or help out and pitch in.

We are thankful to Rachel for her leadership, passion, love of the kids, and faithful service. But, most of all though, we give thanks to God for his blessings, his wisdom, the spirit of unity and trust he’s given to our leadership, the resources to make this happen, and the way he is – even now – spreading the news and hope of salvation through Jesus into a new generation here at Zion.

(edited from an announcement made by Elder Tricia Leistra on December 23, 2018)

Connect to God
As we begin a new year, God begins a new thing in Jesus. While Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell many of the same stories of Jesus, John tells many different stories and in the process give a unique theological view of who Jesus is and how he now calls us to live. We begin our study of John this year by studying the 7 signs of John. The first sign occurs at a wedding in Cana. Partway through, disaster occurs. They run out of wine, but Jesus saves the day by turning ritual water into wine. What does it tell us that Jesus’ first miracle was not healing the sick or raising the dead, but turning water into wine? Perhaps Jesus is inviting us to a party the likes of which we have never seen and letting us know that this time the drinks are on him.

If you would like a copy of the worship service, you can receive a complete copy by contacting Tom Verbrugge or you can find the weekly messages on our website.

Grow in Community
Next week Saturday, January 12, we will once again host Zion Links. This is a great tradition at Zion as we turn our church into a miniature golf course. This event is free for everyone and is an especially easy way to invite your friends or family to a church event and introduce them to Zion. Mini-golf will be open from 12:30 to 3:30. See you there!

If you are interested in thinking more about how to be a Christian presence in a culture fueled often by outrage and anger, check out this great learning opportunity on January 14 from 12:30-3:30. Ed Stetzer will be giving a talk on Church Leaders in an Age of Outrage at Corinth Reformed Church. Ed is a leader in church planting and evangelism in the US, the Billy Graham Distinguished Chair of Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton College and Executive Director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. All proceeds from this event will go to support Doug McClintic from our Regional Synod and friend of Zion as he transitions to a new role leading the missions efforts of the RCA in Europe. This is such  great opportunity that Zion will cover the costs of the event for you. Simply e-mail Pastor Greg by January 10 and he will buy you a ticket.

Throughout this fall, many people in our church have participated in a 729 Group. These groups commit to meet together for a meal once a month for three months. It is a great way to get to know some new people in church. I have heard numerous people tell me how much they have enjoyed getting to know people in their group. If you are looking to make some new connections over the winter, new to Zion, or wondering who some of these new people are, sign-up through the connections beginning on January 6 for our next round of 729 Groups.

On January 7 at 8 pm, our new women’s exercise class will meet for the first time. It will be a great time to both get some exercise and connect with other women at Zion.See you then!

Serve the World
One of the great joys of the Christmas and New Year season is hearing updates from the various missionaries whom we support at Zion. Following are just a couple of exciting things happening through your support:

From Good News Nepal a Christmas miracle:

Another miracle has happened in Nepalgunj Nepal!  GNN has received permission from schools there to come in and share the Gospel!  So far our missionaries have gone to 2 schools.  You can see the crowd of students and also teachers. There are 15 schools to minister to, so Pastor Philip has spread the work between the GNN managers stationed in Nepalgunj.

In total more than 8,000 people will hear the Good News clearly taught!  Please pray for Gods Holy Spirit to touch many hearts.  Our managers are all on fire for God, but need constant prayer for inspiration and protection.

Also from Nepal through the work of Jibit Asha we have seen 30 people come to faith from Christmas outreach events alone. God is on the move in Nepal!

Lifeline Community Church continues to experience slow and steady growth and effective ministry in Wyoming. They are currently planning a mission trip to Guatemala with members from the church from June 19-26. The trip will cost an average of $2,000 per person which for many of their members is a huge cost. To help defray these costs, Benefit Twice will be holding a special sale January 23-26 and March 20-23. This will only be at the Wyoming store in Rogers Plaza, so mark your calendars and do a little shopping for a great cause and some good deals!

Administrative Details
Our next Leaders Meeting will be on January 27 from 5-7 pm. We look forward to a great evening of fellowship, worship, and some training. The large group training will focus on discussing and responding to the vision for Zion shared during the morning service on the 27th. Ministries teams will also break up into smaller groups for some ministry specific training as well. Anyone volunteering in any capacity at Zion is encouraged to attend.

We continue to thank God for his provision of all of our needs and for the generous support of our congregation with their time, talent, and treasures.
Fiscal Year to date budget: $337,131.20
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $335,710.22
Building Fund Contributions in 2018: $13,178.00