Thank you to everyone who filled out a feedback survey or participated in our forum on Sunday to discuss the recent decision to move Sunday School for 1st though 5th grade to during church next fall. The feedback given from the congregation through the survey was put into a single spaced document of about 30 pages which Consistory members read before our meeting on Tuesday night.

Reading through the comments, the care and concern for the kids and the ministry of Zion Reformed church came through clearly from people with varying opinions on the decision. This is not surprising because we know how much Zion cares about the kids whom God has entrusted to us and we know this issue brings several differing values into play: discipling our children and classroom instruction time, welcoming of new people into the church, while caring for existing attenders, volunteer capacity and growing ministry needs, and probably more. Sometimes two or more good values can run into conflict and we have to choose which to emphasize at a moment in time. It is normal for good Christian people who care about the mission of the church to not always agree on how to rightly prioritize these competing values.

In reviewing the feedback, Consistory offers the following observations and commitments.

1. Several people remain concerned about how we will continue caring for and discipling our 6-8th grade students who will no longer have Sunday School. Matt Eling and Pastor Greg have been in discussion regarding some options to address this concern. While there are several options, we are currently talking about ways to include teens in our discipleship triads and expanding our profession of faith class for teens to include more extensive study and teaching of Reformed theology.
2. Several people expressed concern that having a 4-week rotation of volunteers in Children’s ministry will reduce the depth of the relational connection between teachers and students. This is a legitimate concern and potential loss in this change. While we assume we will have a 4 week schedule, there is nothing keeping someone from volunteering every other week as several people already did this to fill our many volunteer spots last year.
3. Someone asked at the forum how we will evaluate the effectiveness of this change. This is a great question for which we do not have a clear answer. But, we do commit to continue engaging our congregation throughout the year as we evaluate this change. We will be asking for feedback both in December and in May as we assess this different model of Children’s programming and look forward to your feedback.
4. We also noticed some confusion about vision and mission at Zion. We will be looking for opportunities to share stories in the months ahead of how God is reaching people with the gospel and transforming people’s lives through our efforts to saturate our community with the gospel and develop the leadership capacity of our members and attenders. God is truly changing lives at Zion in some deep and profound ways.

Thank you again for your engagement in these changes at Zion and your ongoing support of God’s work through our church.

Connect to God
After Jesus ascended into Heaven, 10 days later the Holy Spirit came just as Jesus promised. On this Pentecost Sunday we are reminded that the power of the Holy Spirit is still significant for each one of us today. This power enables us to do things for Christ that we just cannot do on our own. This morning we look at some of those things that make a difference in our lives.

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

Our church recently signed up to give everyone access to RightNow Media. You may have received an invitation to RightNow in an e-mail this week and wondered if it was spam. It’s not spam. But, it is free access to some great Bible study resources, leadership training, and Christian videos for children. Rachel and I have been using RightNow media to help us disciple our kids in our devotions together and in our personal growth as well. It is worth your time to check out, especially the Read Scripture series under Zion Reformed Church from the Bible Project.

As a member or regular attender of Zion you get free access to all these resources. RightNow media can be accessed through a computer, your smart phone or tablet, apple tv, Roku, Fire TV, and more. If you did not receive an invite, double check your spam folder and if you still can’t find the invite, send Connie Stegeman an e-mail and he will send you a new invitation.

During the summer, we take a break from our regular children’s programming to allow our teachers have a break from prepping lessons each week. Instead, we show age appropriate Christian videos for kids ages 3 years old through 3rd grade. We are still looking for a few volunteers. Please consider volunteering to help over the summer! It’s a great way to get to know some of the awesome children in our church! You can sign up via the link below, or there’s a sign-up sheet outside of Room 205. Rachel Brower will meet with volunteers each Sunday before church so they know how to run the video. You must have gone through Keeping Kids Safe training and a background check in order to volunteer. If not, Rachel can meet with you to go over our policy. You sign-up through the link below:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e044cafad2ca2ff2-summer1

We also have a more flexible schedule for our First Impressions Team (ushers, greeters, and others) who so graciously welcome us every week, If you would like to try serving on one of these teams over the summer, you can sign up through the link below.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409054AAEAE23A6FD0-summer

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 just over a week away. Please be in prayer for Camp Director Rachel Verbrugge, our summer staff, volunteers, and especially for the kids who will be attending. Camp Zion is a mixture of academic support, fun games, and Bible stories. Each of these foci meet the needs of some of our camp kids as som struggle in school, some have minimal resources at home, and others come homes without a Christian influence. Please be in prayer that these 140 hours of time with kids will be used by God to build relationships, disciple children, and model God’s love for our neighborhood.

Administrative Details

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: $11,091.82

Fiscal Year to date contributions: $22,544.00

On Sunday, I shared one of may all-time favorite devotionals, which comes from Chuck Swindoll’s devotional In the Seasons of Life. We had some technical difficulties with the video of Sunday’s service, so I share the devotional below for your personal reflection as well.

On a dangerous seacoast notorious for shipwrecks, there was a crude little lifesaving station. Actually, the station was merely a hut with only one boat . . . but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the turbulent sea. With little thought for themselves, they would go out day and night tirelessly searching for those in danger as well as the lost. Many, many lives were saved by this brave band of men who faithfully worked as a team in and out of the lifesaving station. By and by, it became a famous place.

Some of those who had been saved as well as others along the seacoast wanted to become associated with this little station. They were willing to give their time and energy and money in support of its objectives. New boats were purchased. New crews were trained. The station that was once obscure and crude and virtually insignificant began to grow. Some of its members were unhappy that the hut was so unattractive and poorly equipped. They felt a more comfortable place should be provided. Emergency cots were replaced with lovely furniture. Rough, hand-made equipment was discarded and sophisticated, classy systems were installed. The hut, of course, had to be torn down to make room for all the additional equipment, furniture, systems, and appointments. By its completion, the life-saving station had become a popular gathering place, and its objectives had begun to shift. It was now used as sort of a clubhouse, an attractive building for public gatherings. Saving lives, feeding the hungry, strengthening the fearful, and calming the disturbed rarely occurred by now. 

Fewer members were now interested in braving the sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired professional lifeboat crews to do this work. The original goal of the station wasn’t altogether forgotten, however. The lifesaving motifs still prevailed in the club’s decorations. In fact, there was a liturgical lifeboat preserved in the Room of Sweet Memories with soft, indirect lighting, which helped hide the layer of dust upon the once-used vessel. 

About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast and the boat crews brought in loads of cold, wet, half-drowned people. They were dirty, some terribly sick and lonely. Others were “different” from the majority of the club members. The beautiful new club suddenly became messy and cluttered. A special committee saw to it that a shower house was immediately built outside and away from the club so victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside. 

At the next meeting there were strong words and angry feelings, which resulted in a division among the members. Most of the people wanted to stop the club’s lifesaving activities and all involvements with shipwreck victims . . . (“it’s too unpleasant, it’s a hindrance to our social life, it’s opening the door to folks who are not our kind”). As you’d expect, some still insisted upon saving lives, that this was their primary objective—that their only reason for existence was ministering to anyone needing help regardless of their club’s beauty or size or decorations. They were voted down and told if they wanted to save the lives of various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own lifesaving station down the coast! They did. 

As years passed, the new station experienced the same old changes. It evolved into another club . . . and yet another lifesaving station was begun. History continued to repeat itself . . . and if you visit that coast today you’ll find a large number of exclusive, impressive clubs along the shoreline owned and operated by slick professionals who have lost all involvement with the saving of lives. 

Shipwrecks still occur in those waters, but now most of the victims are not saved. Every day they drown at sea, and so few seem to care . . . so very few.

Do you?

Connect to God

At a time when the first-century church had been invaded by false teachers, John knew Christians who are not sure of God’s truth could wander away, never to return. He wrote 1 John to help these early believers not only to know the real truth, but to be confident of it, and to rest upon it. If then, why not today? We all urgently need to hear and obey God’s loving message in 1 John and let God’s love shape how we live in this world as light in the darkness bringing hope to the hopeless. In the second chapter of 1 John, we consider the call to love like Jesus even in the midst of conflict and tension.

This Sunday, we celebrate the ordination and installation of Brandon Deiter and Steve Boersma as Elders and Robbi Boeve and Dan Sundberg as Deacons. During the service we will lay hands on them and pray for God’s spirit to fill and guide them in these roles and will renew our promises both to and with the Consistory God has given us as a congregation. We are thankful for all who serve and lead in our congregation and particularly for our Consistory as we ordain these newest members.

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

Our church recently signed up to give everyone access to RightNow Media. You may have received an invitation to RightNow in an e-mail this week and wondered if it was spam. It’s no spamt. But, it is free access to some great Bible study resources, leadership training, and Christian videos for children. Rachel and I have been using RightNow media to help us disciple our kids in our devotions together and in our personal growth as well. It is worth your time to check out, especially the Read Scripture series under Zion Reformed Church from the Bible Project.

As a member or regular attender of Zion you get free access to all these resources. RightNow media can be accessed through a computer, your smart phone or tablet, apple tv, Roku, Fire TV, and more. If you did not receive an invite, double check your spam folder and if you still can’t find the invite, send Pastor Gregan e-mail and he will send you a new invitation.

During the summer, we take a break from our regular children’s programming to allow our teachers have a break from prepping lessons each week. Instead, we show age appropriate Christian videos for kids ages 3 years old through 3rd grade. We are still looking for a few volunteers. Please consider volunteering to help over the summer! It’s a great way to get to know some of the awesome children in our church! You can sign up via the link below, or there’s a sign-up sheet outside of Room 205. Rachel Brower will meet with volunteers each Sunday before church so they know how to run the video. You must have gone through Keeping Kids Safe training and a background check in order to volunteer. If not, Rachel can meet with you to go over our policy. You sign-up through the link below:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e044cafad2ca2ff2-summer1

We also have a more flexible schedule for our First Impressions Team (ushers, greeters, and others) who so graciously welcome us every week, If you would like to try serving on one of these teams over the summer, you can sign up through the link below.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409054AAEAE23A6FD0-summer

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.

Administrative Details

There will be a Town Hall meeting on Sunday, June 2 following worship to share the reasons and rational behind Consistory’s decision to move Sunday School to during church beginning next fall. After the meeting a survey will be e-mailed to our congregation to which we encourage you to respond. Following the informational forum, a paper copy of the survey will be available for those who don’t have internet access. To ensure you receive the survey please include your email on the Connection Card or email Connie this week at cstegeman@zionreformed.org.

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: $565,510.40

Fiscal Year to date contributions: $548,801.12