8-29-21 Announcements

This week has been filled with difficult images to process. Earthquakes and torrential rain in Haiti. The fall of Afghanistan and crowds fleeing to safety. Including images too troubling to reference. I am particularly concerned for both the women and children in Afghanistan and the soldiers and their families who sacrificed so much for both our country and Afghanistan. And you can add to those the ongoing tensions of school starting and mask requirements and rising Covid cases. And more close to home for many of us, the unexpected loss of people we knew and loved.

Studies show we take in the equivalent of 174 newspapers of information everyday. This is more information than we can process consciously, so most of what we experience gets processed by our brain without us even knowing it. it is often too much for our brains to handle, especially the emotionally charged images of this past week, and so we go numb. Our compassion runs out. We tune out. We simply need to stop caring because it is too heavy for us brains to handle.

I was feeling this sense of the weight of the brokenness and needs in our world when I came across a word of wisdom from Chuck DeGroat. He said recently that when it feels like too much.
“That’s right. It is. So take it slow. Choose one thing. And hold it before God.”

As you think about the things that can weight you down, what’s the one thing you can focus on and bring it before God. Rather than being overwhelmed by all the needs, what is the one need you can step into with the grace and love of Jesus?

– Greg

Connect to God
This Sunday we will gather in person at 9:30 am and online at 9:30 and 11 am. If you are joining us outside, you will want to bring chairs. The online service will be pre-recorded and abbreviated as we will not be live-streaming our outdoor services over the summer. You can find the services either on our Facebook page or at zionreformed.online.church. We will also rebroadcast a version of the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 4pm next Sunday.

We live in an increasingly isolated world. People spend their days commuting to work, staring at screens, and can go days and weeks without talking with those nearest us. And yet, many of us have isolated ourselves from unbelieving neighbors. This is true not only locally. This Sunday, Pastor Jeremy continues our series on the Art of Neighboring as we consider one of the biggest excuses we can all make: busyness.

We will also welcome Dr. Rachael Pastel-Brown from Bursley Elementary to share with us the impact of Kids Hope and investing just 30 minutes to an hour in the life of a child.

Grow in Community
We express our deep sympathy to Dianne Zandbergen in the sudden passing of her husband Steve Zandbergen early this morning. And also to Steve’s aunts and uncles Don and Marcia Osterink & Tom and Arlene Zandbergen and numerous cousins from Zion. Please pray for peace and comfort for the entire Zandbergen family during this difficult time.  Funeral arrangements are pending and will be shared when they become available.

We will be kicking off our education year on September 12 with a bit of a party after church. Lunch will be catered by Brann’s. There will be a bounce house and other games for kids. Threads will hold an open house for everyone to see their space and learn more about this new ministry at Zion. Because the food will be catered, we are asking people to sign up ahead o fit if they plan to attend. (Obviously, we would never turn anyone away from a meal! But signing up will help us plan for the day.) You can sign up here.

Our regular Kids Ministry begins on Sunday morning, Sept. 12! I’m excited about the caliber of our teachers and helpers. We do, however, still need one more teacher, and one more helper for our 4th & 5th grade Preteen group. They are a great, small group of kids. Who else do we want investing in them? Kids Ministry training for adult & teen volunteers will be at the following times:
Preschool & K-3rd class after worship on Sunday, Aug. 29;
Preteen (4th & 5th grades) at 4:00pm on Sunday, Aug. 29
Nursery training after worship on Sunday, Sept. 19.

All training will include a “Keeping Kids Safe” portion, which is required for all adults 18 yrs. old and above, prior to serving with children. Please let Rachel Brower know if you are unable to be there.

We are reading through the New Testament over the next year as a congregation. The reading schedule for this coming week is below:
8/23    Monday        1 Timothy 1
8/24    Tuesday       1 Timothy 2
8/25    Wednesday  1 Timothy 3
8/26    Thursday      1 Timothy 4
8/27    Friday           1 Timothy 5

You can also find the reading schedule on our website under the Ministries tab.

Serve the World
Threads Announcement: Thank you for all of your donations thus far! The first shopping day for Threads families will be on Tuesday, September 14. At this time we are in need of:
new and gently used clothing / shoes for girls and boys sizes infant through teen.
New underwear for boys (all sizes)
New underwear for men (all sizes)
Monetary donations are always welcome to purchase these needs.

If you need help, either with food, personal care items, help grocery shopping, or with financial needs, please contact Jerrod Holzgen, our chair of deacons, and he can help connect you with the appropriate resources at Zion. His e-mail is Jholzgen@yahoo.com and his phone number is 616-520-1771.

Administration
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 2021/22 Budget:  $123,312.97
Fiscal Year 2021/22 Contributions: $78,168.55
Giving Last Week: $7,528.00
Bathroom Building Fund (total given): $127,519.00

Normally, I begin the E-News with some sort of personal reflection or thought from my week. But this week, I want to give you an update eon our latest Consistory meeting.

Your Consistory met Tuesday night for our regular August meeting and made some decisions of which I want you to be aware.

First, late last month, Zion received an anonymous donation of $125,000 to go toward remodeling the two bathrooms near the church office. This is obviously a huge gift and completely unexpected. As a staff, Consistory, and congregation we want to extend our thanks to this donor.

Second, in conversations between our architect, Pastor Rick, and the donor, we determined we could gut and remodel the bathrooms without knocking down any walls and still be able to use our master building plan we had previously developed. Therefore, Consistory approved a plan last night to remodel the bathrooms without changing their existing footprint and using the remaining funds to update the women’s bathroom in the basement to become a family bathroom, which will be very helpful for Threads and any other events in our basement.

Third, we also approved funds to re-carpet and paint the education wing hallways, lobby, and youth room as well as updating the furniture in our youth room, cry room, and the lobby. These funds will come from our cash reserves and any remaining funds from those given to the building fund after the updates mentions in options one and two.

While this is not the extensive remodel we had discussed as a congregation throughout 2019, we believe these changes focused on 40 year old bathrooms and 15 year old carpet will provide the “biggest bang” for our dollars and represent faithful care of the property God has entrusted to us.

Fourth, we will be holding an open house on September 12 for our new Threads ministry. Everyone from church is invited on this day following worship to tour and check out this new ministry to love our neighbors. As this is also the first week of our regular education ministry year, we are also planning some food and other actives following worship. It is a day you will not want to miss.

Fifth, on Sundays September 19 and 26, at 6 pm, I will be holding informational sessions for those interested in learning more about General Synod (our national governing body meeting). General Synod this year may be making some significant decisions related to tensions in our denomination around issues like LGBTQ+, the role of women in the church, and baptism. The first week, we will talk about how decisions get made in our denomination. The second week, we will discuss the recommendations being brought to General Synod. You are welcome to attend just one event or both. I know for many the temptation might be to only come the second week, but, personally, I think the first week is more helpful in understanding how to move forward as a church no matter what may happen at General Synod.

If you see a Consistory member, make a point to thank them for their thoughtfulness and leadership of our church. They work really hard and we are blessed to have each of them serving.

– Greg

Connect to God
This Sunday we will gather in person at 9:30 am and online at 9:30 and 11 am. If you are joining us outside, you will want to bring chairs. The online service will be pre-recorded and abbreviated as we will not be live-streaming our outdoor services over the summer. You can find the services either on our Facebook page or at zionreformed.online.church. We will also rebroadcast a version of the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 4pm next Sunday.

We live in an increasingly isolated world. People spend their days commuting to work, staring at screens, and can go days and weeks without talking with those nearest us. And yet, many of us have isolated ourselves from unbelieving neighbors. This is true not only locally. This Sunday Chris and Christie Winkler from Wycliffe Bible translators join us to talk about how neighbor love is instrumental in the work of mission across the globe.

We will also celebrate with Andrew and Ellen Moore the baptism of their son Elliot.  As they celebrate his life, we give thanks to God for the gift of new life he has made available to all who believe. We thank God as well for the covenant he has established all the way back with Abraham to include children in his family. We honor this faithful God as we welcome  these children into the covenant community at Zion.

Grow in Community
Congratulations to Danny and Ashley Copron on the birth of their daughter Aria Louise. Aria was born on Monday, August 9 at 11:57PM weighing 7lbs 3oz. Both mom and baby are doing well. She will be welcomed home by her big brother Odin. We give thanks and praise to God for this precious gift.

Our regular Kids Ministry begins on Sunday morning, Sept. 12! I’m excited about the caliber of our teachers and helpers. We do, however, still need one more teacher, and one more helper for our 4th & 5th grade Preteen group. They are a great, small group of kids. Who else do we want investing in them? Kids Ministry training for adult & teen volunteers will be at the following times:
Preschool & K-3rd class after worship on Sunday, Aug. 29;
Preteen (4th & 5th grades) at 4:00pm on Sunday, Aug. 29
Nursery training after worship on Sunday, Sept. 19.

All training will include a “Keeping Kids Safe” portion, which is required for all adults 18 yrs. old and above, prior to serving with children. Please let Rachel Brower know if you are unable to be there.

We are reading through the New Testament over the next year as a congregation. The reading schedule for this coming week is below:
8/9    Monday         1 Thessalonians 4
8/10    Tuesday      1 Thessalonians 5
8/11    Wednesday  2 Thessalonians 1
8/12    Thursday      2 Thessalonians 2
8/13    Friday           2 Thessalonians 3

You can also find the reading schedule on our website under the Ministries tab.

Serve the World
If you need help, either with food, personal care items, help grocery shopping, or with financial needs, please contact Jerrod Holzgen, our chair of deacons, and he can help connect you with the appropriate resources at Zion. His e-mail is Jholzgen@yahoo.com and his phone number is 616-520-1771.

Administration
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 2021/22 Budget:  $112,102.70
Fiscal Year 2021/22 Contributions: $70,640.55
Giving Last Week: $6,634.07
Bathroom Building Fund (total given): $127,499.00