Zion E-News (5-16–2019)

Tuesday night this week was the last Consistory meeting of our old Consistory and the first time our new Consistory gathered. These are always some of my favorite meetings as they usually provide opportunity to reflect back on where we have been in the previous three years and look ahead to where we might be three years from now.

This year, we said good-bye to Emily Morehouse, Tricia Leistra, Sarah McAnally and Tracy Lobbes. Each of them have served faithfully and prayerfully in their roles and hopefully will be able to enjoy a well deserved rest from leading in the church. As I thought about their three years on Consistory I was reminded of a comment Doug McClintic, formerly of our Regional Synod and now the head of missions in Europe for the RCA, made about our Consistory. While meeting with us last fall, after everyone else had left he commented that we may have a young Consistory compared to some churches, but they are an exceptional one. They show vision and passion for mission. They are open to change and trying new things. And, they have a deep heart for the people and mission of the church. I think he finished by saying any pastor would be crazy to ever leave a Consistory like that. I could not agree more.

When you see a Consistory member this Sunday, thank them for all their work and let them know you are praying for them. It’s an important job and they do it faithfully.

We look forward to formally ordering and installing our newest Elders and Deacons during worship on June 2.

Connect to God

On Thursday, Jesus was a famous teacher. On Saturday he was dead in the grave and the movement he had started was as good as dead. But when he burst forth from the tomb, Christianity came to life as well. We are and always will be an Easter shaped people. This Sunday, we conclude our reflection on the last few stories from the Gospel of John as we catch some glimpses of the kinds of people God has called us to be as we follow our risen Savior. This Sunday, reflecting on John 21, we remember all of us are broken wandering people graciously restored to God and sent in mission by Jesus.

This Sunday, we celebrate our graduates for 2019:

2019 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES
Luke Austin is graduating from Calvin Christian High School. He will attend the University of Michigan – Dearborn to pursue a major in Biochemistry and plans to make cancer research his career.

Emma DeVries is graduating from Jenison High School. She will attend Northern Michigan University to major in Biology with a concentration in Zoology.

Alyssa Fahner is graduating from Grandville High School. She will attend Dominican University to pursue a major in Psychology and minor in Spanish and also play basketball. Her career interests are Forensic Psychologist or Child Life Specialist.

Sarah Orme is graduating from Grandville High School. She will attend Northern Michigan University but is undecided on a major. Career interests are architecture or graphic design.

2019 COLLEGE GRADUATES
Hayley Landstra graduated from Hope College with a Bachelors of Arts degree. She has a Special Education major and plans to be a Special Education teacher.

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

Please pray for Mike and Sharilyn VanWyhe as Mike will undergo surgery tomorrow,  May 17, to have a cancerous lymph node removed. The surgery is in Ann Arbor and will require a two night stay in the hospital.

Congratulations to Bronson Swan and Ashley Zondlak who will be united in marriage this Saturday afternoon.

Zachary Olger is recovering at home and eating lots of popsicles after having a tonsillectomy on Monday.

Tom Boeve is at home recovering after a minor knee surgery on Monday.

On Saturday, June 29, Grandville will hold its annual Visser Family YMCA Buck Creek Run. If you are interested in running with people from church, please contact Pastor Rick. For more information check out www.visserfamilybuckcreekrun.com.

Serve the World

Camp Zion is an amazing, fun-filled, summer time adventure.  Anyone is welcome to be a part of serving at camp, from teenagers to retirees. Camp runs for seven weeks: June 17 – Aug 1, Monday through Thursday each week, 9am-3pm each day. You can serve one day a week or every day or anything in between. In particular, we are always open to adults who are willing to drive students to and from lunch and field trips. If you would like to know more, please contact Rachel Verbrugge.

We also want to thank all the teens who applied and interviewed to work at Camp Zion this summer. We had another strong group of candidates. Our Camp Zion teen staff this summer will be: Luke Austin (full-time), Kim Verbrugge (full-time), Olivia Davis (part-time), and Julia Reynolds (part-time). Congratulations to all of our summer staff. We look forward to seeing how God will work through you this summer.

Administrative Details

As we continue working with Elevate Studios to develop a plan for remodeling our building to create a larger gathering area and children’s spaces, the Consistory approved final plans for the remodeling of our building and approved authorizing Elevate Studios to go ahead with drawing up the schematic designs. We are also beginning to put some plans in place for a capital campaign that should officially launch in September. We will be able to share detailed plans and hopes for the remodeled space at that time.

Our Children’s Ministry redesign team met with Consistory again on Tuesday this week. After about 2 hours of conversations with the team and among the Consistory, a plan was approved seeking to address concerns about over-taxing our volunteers, right-sizing our children’s ministry staff positions, and to position us for future growth and planting new churches. This decision will be shared on Sunday with the congregation by Elder Tricia Leistra during our morning announcement time.

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:  $543,760.00

Fiscal Year to date contributions: $533,460.12