Zion E-News (7-7-2022)
My older brother, Jeff, and his two kids arrived late last Friday from Pittsburgh. We’ve had a lot of Zoet family time over the past week, sharing many meals, talking together more than usual, and doing fun activities together. As we’ve been together for portions of days and full days over the last week, I’ve noticed something that I also saw on our Alaska Mission Trip. People are more likely to step out of their comfort zone to be brave when they are in a group of people and there is love and trust amongst that group of people. 

In the last week I’ve seen my daughter, niece and nephews drive my parents’ go-cart and 4-wheeler who have otherwise been scared to, I’ve seen cousins talk more bravely and openly with each other and with aunts and uncles, I’ve seen parents surprised that their child went on a roller coaster because a cousin invited and encouraged them to go, and I’ve seen care and loving concern when someone was upset or hurt. And best of all, I’ve seen my older brothers kids, whose parents went through a divorce this past year, thrive in our family environment from the moment they arrived. His kids used to take time to warm up to the family and were much more hesitant to try new things in the past. But you can tell that they LOVE being with our family and are having one of the best weeks of their life. This is a big answer to prayer!

On our mission trip to Alaska I saw so many youth and adults try so many things for the first time on work sites and during free time. I don’t want to say too much before this Sunday’s youth group-led worship service, but I’ll just say rope swings, playing with little kids, climbing mountains, using chainsaws or lawn mowers or weed whackers, painting, sharing deep personal things about one’s life, flying on a plane for the first time, and eating moose meat are just a few of the brave new things encountered on our mission trip through a loving and trusting group environment.

Creating loving and trusting environments takes effort on everyone’s part. I wonder where we will be able to head as a church body at Zion if we continue to nurture loving and trusting group environments. Will we see Zion become a brave space? Will we be a place where pastors and Zion kids leaders and elders and deacons and First Impressions teams become brave to get out of their comfort zone? I think we will. Over the years we have become a place where it is encouraged to be brave. We can try new things. We can fail and be encouraged through our failures. We can succeed and encourage one another in our success. We can bravely invite new people into our lives and the life at Zion. Let’s pray together for a brave Zion over this next year of transition!

– Jeremy

Connect to God
This week we will gather for worship at 9:30 am. This weeks service will be at zionreformed.online.church and streaming on our YouTube channel. We will also rebroadcast a version of the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 4pm next Sunday. The service will continue to be available on YouTube to watch at your convenience.

We will not be having a sermon series for the summer. Instead we look forward to stand alone messages from a variety of voices:

July 10: Alaska Mission Trip Service – Six of our youth: Ella Bond, Noah Brower, Hope Eriks, Samantha Eriks, Emily Verbrugge, and Josh Verbrugge will be preaching 5 minute sermons spaced throughout the worship service.

July 17: Pastor Rick Vanderwall

July 24: Pastor Jeremy Zoet

July 31: Andrew Moore (Zion Member who is an ordained pastor in the RCA)

August 7: Eddy Aleman (General Secretary of the RCA)

August 14: Randy Weener (RCA Director of Church Multiplication)

August 21: Transition Pastor: Steve Petroelje

August 28: Transition Pastor: Steve Petroelje

Grow in Community
SHAREHOLDERS: This Sunday, July 10 is the Shareholder’s appreciation lunch.  It will be held in the sanctuary following the youth led worship service (approximately 11:15am).  During dessert you will be matched up with your student so that you can hear all about their trip.  The only thing you need to bring is your appetite.

A PARK PLAYDATE at Zion’s playground is being planned for Tuesday, August 2 from 10 to 11:30am. There will also be a bounce house and popsicles! This is a great opportunity to invite a friend!

Summer is a great time to try out new ways to serve in at Zion. If you are interested in serving on one of our welcome teams, now is the time to try it out a few times over the summer! If you are already on a team or want to try it out, you can sign up to serve as an usher, greeter, or to help at the child check in station here.

We have switched to our summer mode in Zion Kids! We’ll be running a nursery, and a simplified program for kids 3 yrs.-going into 3rd grade (all together). We read Bible stories to kids in small groups, pray, do crafts & play with them.  It’s really fun, and a great way to get to know the kids!  To make this happen, we need your help! Would you be willing to serve In kids ministry two times over the summer months?  We’re looking for young grandparents, teenagers, parents, and people who enjoy being around kids.  We’ll make sure to pair summer volunteers alongside our regular kids ministry people.   All adults over 18 years old must go through Keeping Kids Safe training and a background check prior to serving with kids.  If needed, Pastor Jeremy will contact you to set up a time to go over our policies. These really are fun Summer Sundays with extra time to get to know the kids a bit more! You can sign up through the links below, or via a sign up sheet outside of Room 205, or by texting Katie Wagner at 616-994-2880 or Jacki Deiter at 616-437-4791.  Thanks for considering supporting our kids & young families!
Summer Kids Ministry  
Nursery

Serve the World
Camp Zion met on Wednesday and Thursday this week, watching Bible skits, rotating through different desert themed activity groups, and playing giant versions of classic games. The theme verse for the year is Luke 10:27 which says: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” In addition, the campers will be studying the 10 commandments over the 6 weeks of camp. If you are interested in helping out with Camp Zion, there are sign-ups below for donations and volunteering.
Camp Zion Snack Donations
Camp Zion Amazon Wish List
Camp Zion Volunteer Sign Ups

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 look forward to our Transition Pastor, Steve Petroelje, starting at Zion on Monday, August 15.

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: $51,305.85
Fiscal Year 2021/22 Contributions: $46,467.47
Giving Last Week: $5,654.50

7-3-22 Bulletin

Preparing to write this final E-news introduction, I reflected on all the E-news I have written over  the years. This whole weekly newsletter started back in 2014 as a way to keep our Consistory informed of what was happening over the summer. Many people enjoy camping, cottages, and vacations over the summer and I wanted to make sure our Consistory still were aware of any important events at church. Rich Ribbens, who was the Vice-President of Consistory at the time, started forwarding the weekly e-mail to his friends and then word got out and people asked to be added to the list. By August the list had grown and we switched to using mail chimp to send the E-news.

I am feeling particularly nostalgic lately and have read through many of those E-newses (what is the plural of E-news?), a little over 350 weekly updates in total. It feels a bit like reading a journal as sometimes there are reflections on current events, an article I appreciated, an important church update, or a reflection on frogs, and always an annual top ten list of books.

As I look back on these last 17 years, I am struck by one simple thought: this has been a joyous journey with you all. I have loved being your pastor. I have enjoyed each Consistory with whom I have been privileged to work. Our staff are not only co-workers, but dear friends. Coming up with a new sermon each week always stressed me out, but I am a little proud to say I never preached the same sermon twice (you might be surprised how many pastors have done so and no one noticed). Though, as a few have discovered, I did steal some sermon series ideas on occasion when my creativity ran out.

I will save my stories for Sunday, but for now, i just want to say, thank you. Thank you for taking a chance on someone who had only preached 12 sermons total before coming to Zion. Thank you for loving my family so well all these years. Thank you for trying so many new things together and having grace when some didn’t go so well. Thank you for laughing with me when sermon illustrations didn’t turn out as I expected. Thank you for being beloved co-workers in Christ.

Thank you for the last 17 years we have journeyed together.

– Greg

Connect to God
This week we will gather for worship at 9:30 am. This weeks service will be at zionreformed.online.church and streaming on our YouTube channel. We will also rebroadcast a version of the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 4pm next Sunday. The service will continue to be available on YouTube to watch at your convenience.

This week, we celebrate the last 17 years of our life and ministry together with the Brower family. As we thank God for the ways we have shared our lives together, we also look with anticipation to the work to which God has called Pastor Greg and the new work God will be doing among us as we receive a new Transition Pastor in Pastor Steve and look forward to receiving whomever God has prepared to be our next pastor.

This Sunday we celebrate with Kyle and Shanda VandePol the baptism of their son Pierce Calvin and with Austen and Olivia DeHaan the baptism of their daughter Ruby Sue. As they celebrate the life of their children, 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 Pierce Calvin and Ruby Sue into the covenant community at Zion.

We will also be celebrating the conclusion of 17 years of ministry at Zion for the Brower family. There will be a reception following church for those who desire to wish the Browers well as God calls Greg to lead our Classis.

Grow in Community
Some of you may be wondering who will be in charge of Zion Kids now that Rachel Brower will no longer be in that role. Thankfully, many of our leaders have been quick to step up and fill the gap. Following are those who have stepped up and what they will be doing to help us in this time of transition.
Nursery Coordinator – Becky Harkes
Summer Kids Coordinator – Katie Wagner with recruiting help from Jacki Dieter
Child CheckIn Coordinator – Kelly Osterink
Summer Events – Heidi Ondersma
Pre-school Coordinator – Tami Hewitt
K-3rd Coordinator – Heidi Ondersma
Pre-teen Coordinator – Jerrod Holzgen
Christmas Program Director – Emily Morehouse
Administrative/Tech Coordinator – Matt Eling and various staff

Thank you to everyone who has stepped up to help Zion Kids continue to disciple and care for the youngest members of our church.

Next week is the 4th of July Holiday weekend! Zion Kids will not be meeting next week Sunday. This means people ages 3 years old will be staying through the entire service. We will be holding nursery as we do every week.

Serve the World
Camp Zion starts Monday!! Currently, we have 45 kids registered for camp. Two-thirds are returning campers and one-third are new campers from West and Grandview elementary. The theme verse for the year is Luke 10:27 which says: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” IN addition, the campers will be studying the 10 commandments over the 6 weeks of camp. If you are interested in helping out with Camp Zion, there are sign-ups below fro donations and volunteering.
Camp Zion Snack Donations
Camp Zion Amazon Wish List
Camp Zion Volunteer Sign Ups

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
Our consistory met on Tuesday this week to sign some formal documents ending Pastor Greg’s call to Zion and to officially hire Becky Harkes as our new nursery coordinator. This is not a new position as Zion has had a paid nursery coordinator since at least 2004, with the exception of these past two years of Covid when Rachel Brower also led the nursery. We are so thankful for Becky’s sense of call to this role and look forward to the ways she will help us welcome and love the smallest members of Zion.

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: $30,783.51
Fiscal Year 2021/22 Contributions: $34,375.67
Giving Last Week: $4,642.50