ZION E-NEWS 12-19-24

AS WE GATHER in person for Worship each Sunday at 9:30am the service can also be viewed on our website at zionreformed.online.church and streaming on our YouTube channel.

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN NOTES: Our Capital Campaign is underway, with a goal of raising $300,000 by May for needed building repairs and updates. Would you consider a year-end gift to help us?  Checks or pledge cards can be placed in the box in the narthex, or gifts can be made online through Breeze. Thank you for helping us prepare our building for the next season of ministry.

PRAYER REQUEST: Pray for Steve Stegeman who will have 2-level spinal fusion surgery on Friday, December 27. Continue to pray for those in our congregation who deal with ongoing health issues.

THE VOICES OF VICTORY quartet will present a concert on December 31 at 7:00PM. The Choral Ambassadors Octet will also be joining us. The concert will be held at Zion Reformed Church. You are invited to come and go as you please any time throughout the night.  Admission is free, but a free-will offering will be collected for Harmony Communities.  Coffee and cookies will be provided.

THE CHURCH OFFICE will be open from 9:00AM – 1:00PM on Monday and Thursday this week.

IT’S NOT TOO LATE!  If you have Christmas Cards you want delivered by the Middle School Youth you can bring them to either service on Dec 22 and place them in the big post office box in the narthex and the youth will sort them and place them in the appropriate church mailbox. In exchange for this service, we ask that you leave a donation in the jar on top of the box to support the students with retreat and/or mission trip costs. Thank You!

JOIN US on Sunday, December 22 at 4:30PM for a special Candlelight Service and Live Nativity’s. We would like to have sugar cookies with decorating supplies, along with hot chocolate to enjoy after the service. If you’d be willing to help make that happen, please connect with Angie.

DONATIONS of the following items (full size – not travel size) are needed for the Personal Care Pantry and can be placed in the box in the narthex marked “pantry donations”.  Laundry Soap,  Bar Soap,   Dish Soap,  Disposable Razors,  Shampoo,  Conditioner,  Toothpaste,  Paper grocery bags, Deodorant, Tampons, Maxi Pads, Paper towels (1 or 2 pack) and  Toilet paper (1-4 pack).

IF YOU need help, either with food, personal care items, or financial needs, please contact Austen DeHaan, our chair of deacons, and he can help connect you with the appropriate resources at Zion. His e-mail is austin331@gmail.com and his phone number is (269) 762-9748

WE CONTINUE to thank God for his provision of all of our needs and the generous support of our congregation with their time, talent, and resources.

2024/25 YTD Budget:  $334.024.61
2024/25 YTD Contributions:  $282.099.17
Giving Last Week: $29,019,73
Capital Campaign Donations received to date: $45,650.00
Capital Campaign Pledges received $46,150.00

ZION E-NEWS (11-14-24)

AS WE GATHER in person for Worship each Sunday at 9:30am the service can also be viewed on our website at zionreformed.online.church and streaming on our YouTube channel.

FOR THE next couple of months, there will be road construction on 36th Street between Kenowa and Canal. While you can drive on 36th currently, the driveways into Zion are affected. Please plan to enter the parking lot from the north side, off Fair Meadow.

PRAYER REQUEST: Alden Deiter is recovering at home from surgery on his hip. We extend our Christian sympathy to Steve and Kathy Northuis in the unexpected passing of Kathy’s father, John Duiven, last Friday. John was also brother-in-law to Dick and Trudy Weber. Please pray for the family as they celebrate, remember and grieve a beloved man. 

WE LOOK FORWARD to celebrating baptism again this Sunday!We will once again have the opportunity to write a blessing for our sweet little one Eleanor MacGraw. You are welcome to bring a blessing written ahead of time at home, or use one of the blessing cards Sunday morning at church.Together, let’s pour out words of love and life over Eleanor!

 

                                                       

 

Musicians: we would like to try something new and have duets and trios of people playing Christmas music in the narthex or hallways as people enter the building during Advent this year. If this is something that interests you, please connect with Pastor Jeremy.

THREADS UPDATE: We had a steady flow of shoppers at Threads during the shopping day on Tuesday, November 5.  We also welcomed 6 new families who were first-time shoppers at Threads.  Here are the numbers from the November 5 shopping day at Threads.

• 57 Families Shopped (6 of these were new families)
• 184 People received clothing
• 741 Pieces of clothing were given away
• 121 Accessories were given away
• 50 Families used the PCP Store
• 0 Haircuts given (no volunteer hairstylists available)

This was the third month of the fall quarter (September – November), and we gave away over 3,200 articles of clothing during this quarter!  What a blessing to be able to serve our community through this ministry and to be able to show Christ’s love and compassion to them.

Thank you to the service day groups who made frozen meals and baked goods for the struggling Threads’ families.  These meals were extremely appreciated.  Also, thank you to the service group who picked up donated clothing from the surrounding neighborhood.  These donations, which included new socks and underwear, helped restock the Boutique.

Threads is not only about helping meet clothing needs, but it is about building relationships.  This past month one of the moms that shops at Threads decided to come and help sort clothing with us on our sorting night.  She wanted to find a way to give back in a way that she could.  She then showed up a couple of weeks later with her daughter, so they could both help sort.  What a beautiful way for her to serve and give back!

We continue to covet your prayers for this ministry and everyone involved in it.  We especially ask for prayers for three of the moms who are battling cancer and for the husband of one of our volunteers who is also battling cancer.  Please faithfully pray for these families.              ~Jill
ZION FAMILY CAMP: It’s time to start planning for our Family Camp for 2025! We will be going back to Dunes Harbor in Silver Lake, MI   on September 19-21. We have tentatively reserved campsites and rustic cabins, so there is something for everyone. This will be the weekend   of  their fall fest, so there is Trick or Treating for kids, as well as the camp’s other planned activities. There is more information and a sign-up   outside the church office for those who are interested in joining. (You will be asked to finalize your reservation later this year with your   camping payment.) If you have questions, please talk to Rick or Jonell VanderWall (616-635-1743). We hope you will join us for this fun   weekend!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

OUR THANKSGIVING EVE Service will be held on Nov 27 at 6:30 PM. As we enter this season of thanks, we invite you to give generously to the Thanksgiving offering that will support these ministries who are loving people in the name of Jesus both locally and around the world.

CHURCH-WIDE BIBLE MEMORY: Led by our children, who regularly memorize Scripture for “Say It” days, we will be working together on a church-wide Bible memory challenge this fall. Our text is Philippians 2:1-4 from the New International Version: “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

IF ANYONE is willing to help put a few Christmas lights on a couple of trees/bushes outside in the front of the church please connect with Angie Walker. We’d like this done by December 1st.

YOUTH FUNDRAISERS: Our youth are selling 2025 God’s Creation Calendars ($10) and Key Card Books ($30).  If you haven’t been contacted and would like to purchase one of these items you can call the church office at 616-534-7533.

DONATIONS of the following items (full size – not travel size) are needed for the Personal Care Pantry and can be placed in the box in the narthex marked “pantry donations”.  Laundry Soap,  Bar Soap,   Dish Soap,  Disposable Razors,  Shampoo,  Conditioner,  Toothpaste,  Paper grocery bags, Deodorant, Tampons, Maxi Pads, Paper towels (1 or 2 pack) and  Toilet paper (1-4 pack).

IF YOU need help, either with food, personal care items, or financial needs, please contact Austen DeHaan, our chair of deacons, and he can help connect you with the appropriate resources at Zion. His e-mail is austin331@gmail.com and his phone number is (269) 762-9748

WE CONTINUE to thank God for his provision of all of our needs and the generous support of our congregation with their time, talent, and resources.

2024/25 YTD Budget:  $276,434.16
2024/25 YTD Contributions:  $217,830.25
Giving Last Week:  $8,989.73