Zion E-News (8-26-2021)
Several years ago now, I received an e-mail ominously titled: How They See Us. A member of our church wrote to summarize a recent conversation they had with a new attender. The e-mail highlighted a variety of areas of our church ministry upon which we could improve. Reading the e-mail, I had to first take a few deep breaths to ensure I could hear the feedback without getting immediately defensive. (Do you ever have to do that? I do.) As I reflected on the e-mail, much of what was shared was either something I had not thought of, a misperception because of poor communication, or a frustration I already shared. Taking the time to reflect on the feedback allowed me to respond helpfully and improved the impact of our ministries.
I share that stories because earlier this week, I had an alternately fascinating and troubling conversation with someone who lives deeply in the teen culture of our community. They were sharing the perceptions of church going teens of their own churches. It was not pretty. Several of the teens this person knows are already planning on leaving church and not coming back when they are out of the house. They do not seem to dislike Jesus, but have been turned off by the church and thus dislike for many has grown in the last year and a half.
They identified three stumbling blocks for teens in claiming their parents faith as their own.
Biblical Illiteracy: Both the teens and their parents have limited Bible knowledge, limited ability to use scripture to interpret scripture when they come across hard passages, and rarely read their Bibles. Basically, their worldview is shaped by something other than scripture.
Christian Nationalism: They experience church as an odd mixture of Christianity, patriotism and ethnic pride. They do not see the people in church caring for those who are not like them or living out of a vision of God’s global church.
Anger: They see the social media feeds of church members and listen to sermons that seem more angry than grace filled, quicker to make a verbal dig than find common ground, faster to disparage than offer grace.
I don’t have any specific solutions to these challenges. I do not believe these concerns all fully apply to our church or to everyone in our church. But, I found them convicting. I offer them up as food for your thought.
– Greg
Connect to God
This Sunday we will gather in indoors and in person at 9:30 am and online at 9:30 and 11 am. The online service will be pre-recorded and abbreviated as we will not be live-streaming 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. Beginning Labor Day Weekend, however, we will once again by live-streaming our worship services each week at 9:30 and rebroadcasting again at 11.
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. We have worried about sin and failed to see them as Jesus does, What might God do if we embraced the lost art of neighboring and loved those nearest us as followers of Jesus?
Grow in Community
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.
Kids Ministry training for adult & teen volunteers will be at the following times:
Preschool & K-3rd class after worship TODAY, Aug. 29th. Meet in the sanctuary.
Preteen (4th & 5th grades) at 4:00pm TODAY, Aug. 29th. Meet in Room 207.
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.
We are reading through the New Testament over the next year as a congregation. The reading schedule for this coming week is below:
8/30 Monday 1 Timothy 6
8/31 Tuesday 2 Timothy 1
9/1 Wednesday 2 Timothy 2
9/2 Thursday 2 Timothy 3
9/3 Friday 2 Timothy 4
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: $134,523.24
Fiscal Year 2021/22 Contributions: $81,694.55
Giving Last Week: $3,526.00
Bathroom Building Fund (total given): $127,539.00
