ZION E-NEWS (10-5-23)

It happened again this week. It happens every fall, in fact.

I was outdoors doing some chores, and the 83 degree sun was beating down on me. I was sweating. And getting annoyed. When I came in the house, I commented to my husband Jonathan, “I know I say this every year, but I am DONE with summer. It’s October for goodness sake. I’m sick of being hot!”

One year, I posted this annoyance-with-fall-heat sentiment on Facebook, and was met with a wide variety of reactions. My summer-loving friends were aghast. What??  Summer in Michigan is the best!  Why would you want to be done with this?  Do you know what fall means?  Yes, yes I do. It means winter is coming. No, I am not ready for snow and cloudy skies. But I AM ready for fall!  Some of my friends agreed with me. Summer is wonderful, but it’s time for something new. Bring on the sweatshirts and jeans, the pumpkin spice lattes and chili suppers. Snuggle up in cozy blankets to watch football, take a hike surrounded by the beauty of changing leaves. I’m eager for all of it!

It has been said that the only constant in life is change. Seasons come to a close, and new seasons begin. Sometimes we are not ready to let go of a current season. It has been beautiful and joy-filled. Other times, we are ready to leave a season behind. It has been challenging for any number of reasons. We eagerly await something new. Most of the time, we are holding a mixture of emotions. We may be grieving the loss of some parts of the past season, while also looking forward with anticipation to the goodness yet to come.

Thankfully, we have a God who is with us in all of it. A God who can hold all of our different emotions at once; a God who is tender with our grief and fears, and who also strengthens us with encouragement and hope.  One of my favorite Bible verses is Isaiah 41:10: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

We are in a new season here at Zion. And perhaps some of us are in new seasons as individuals or families too. Let’s make space for each other as we process the emotions that change can bring. And let’s also continue to point each other to the God who holds all it, and each of us, in his hands.

~Pastor Marcia

CONNECT TO GOD
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. We will also rebroadcast a version of the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 10:30AM on Sunday. The service will continue to be available on YouTube to watch at your convenience.

David: The Complicated King David was known as the “Man After God’s Own Heart” but he was anything but perfect. His life was filled with courage, joy and success, but also many heartaches and personal failures. Yet through it all, one thing was constant: his dependence on God and trust in God’s unfailing love. Join us at Zion this fall as we explore the life of David and find encouragement to bring our own complicated lives to the God who loves us.

ZION KIDS: All kids birth through 5th grade must be signed in at the Zion Kids Check-In Kiosk located in the lobby before the service. The nursery will be staffed for kids birth – 3 yrs.  Preschoolers meet in room 206.  K-2nd graders meet in room 205. 3rd – 5th graders meet in room 207.  Please bring the corresponding tag to pick up your child after worship. We’re excited to begin the year!

ZION YOUTH: Regular Weekly youth group meetings are on Sunday’s at the following times:
High School Youth(9-12 grade) meet from 4:00 – 5:30 pm.
Middle School Youth (6-8th grade) meet from 5:45 – 7:15 pm.

GROW IN COMMUNITY
PRAYER REQUEST: Mary Evans is currently in rehab at The Oaks of Byron Center following a hospital stay.  She is waiting for tests that will hopefully provide answers and a plan for the future. Please pray for healing, discernment, comfort and peace. Steve Landstra has not been feeling well the past several weeks. A new brain MRI revealed several new small spots. Please pray for Steve to find some relief from these symptoms. Please also pray for clarity in how to proceed with treatment. Most of all please boldly pray for a miracle of complete healing! Continue to pray for those in our congregation with ongoing health issues.

THE MOTT FAMILY has been dealing with a lot lately with the recent passing of Amy’s mom and the health problems and hospitalization of Steve’s mom Carolyn. Steve’s mom was released from the hospital and will be living with Steve and Amy as she recovers. A friend started a meal train for them to try to help lighten the load. If you would like to help out with a meal you can sign up here: https://takethemameal.com/CYZU9241?fbclid=IwAR3mW8dchPHr4TEsm1XrP-POxRZO_CsCp_Z4UoR9K3jwRtwnstZTXKm_XxE

THE INSTALLATION SERVICE for our new Lead Pastor, Rev. Marcia Pratt, will be held on Sunday, October 22 during our morning worship service. We are excited about the future ministry of our church under Pastor Marcia’s leadership and look forward to celebrating this occasion as a church family.

NURSERY COORDINATOR: We are looking to hire a Nursery Coordinator. If you are interested in this position you can view the job description here. If you have questions or would like to know more, please contact Shanda VandePol (our P&A chair) at: shandavandepol@yahoo.com or at 616-308-0700.

YOUTH FUNDRAISERS: Our youth are selling Key Card Books ($30) and 2024 God’s Creation Calendars ($10).  If you haven’t been contacted and would like to purchase either of these items please contact any one of our youth or call the church office at 616-534-7533.

SERVE THE WORLD
THREADS UPDATE: Here are the numbers from the Threads Shopping Day on October 3:

• 46 Families Shopped (5 were new families)
• 156 People received clothing
• 675 pieces of clothing were given away
• 75 accessories were given away
• 19 Haircuts were given
• 41 Families used the PCP Store

A HUGE thank you to each one of you for donating your time and talents to love on and care for the people that walk through the Threads’ door!

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, help grocery shopping, or with financial needs, please contact Tom MacGraw, our chair of deacons, and he can help connect you with the appropriate resources at Zion. His e-mail is thomas.m.macgraw@gmail.com and his phone number is (616) 315-7938.

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 2023/24 Budget:  $207,773.10
Fiscal Year 2023/24 Contributions:  $172,831.22
Giving Last Week: $11,394.73  Benevolent Fund:  $721.00

ZION E-NEWS (9-28-23)

Tips For Welcoming A New Pastor

When a congregation welcomes a new pastor, it is an exciting time, a new beginning for both the congregation and the new minister. Sunday is a big day in the life of Zion Reformed Church as we welcome our new Lead Pastor, Rev. Marcia Pratt.

Here are a few tips on how to welcome a new pastor:

• Pray for your new pastor.  In most of the churches I know, members pray for the Pastor Search Team throughout the search process, and they pray for the pastor even before they know the identity of their new minister. And they pray for their new pastor in the pastor’s inaugural days of ministry. However, I suggest making a commitment to pray daily for your pastor throughout the duration of his or her ministry. Once the honeymoon period is over, and the daily grind of ministry begins, praying for your pastor will strengthen your pastor’s ministry and will fortify your bond with your pastor.

• Pray for your new pastor’s family. Your pastor’s family faces unique challenges and makes many sacrifices. They are leaving their former church community behind and starting over. They may be excited to join this new church family but may also be grieving what they are leaving behind. Pray for them to make meaningful friendships and for Zion to feel like a place they can call home.

• Send your pastor a welcome note or email. No expectations or personal agendas. Just offer a brief note, introducing yourself and/or family, and offering a heartfelt welcome. When I moved to may last pastorate, I received over a 100 such notes, and these notes confirmed and intensified my excitement about my new place of service.

• Mention your name on your first several encounters with your new pastor. Once your new pastor arrives, make sure to offer your name in each greeting for the first few weeks.  Wear name tags. Even if name tags are not a tradition, the congregation can wear them for a few weeks to help the pastor learn names. And be sure not to embarrass the pastor by quizzing, “Do you remember my name?” Keep in mind they are learning a couple hundred new names and faces. Give your pastor the opportunity to learn your name, and over time, to learn a part of your life story.

• Embrace the uniqueness of your pastor.  Your pastor has a distinct personality, a unique set of spiritual gifts, and a diverse set of experiences.  When the Spirit leads a church to a new pastor, the Spirit seldom leads a church or committee to a person just like the previous pastor or the beloved pastor from the church’s history.  To compare your new pastor to any other is to disrespect the Spirit’s role in guiding you to your new pastor in the first place.

• Give your pastor permission to fail.  The best pastors don’t succeed 100% of the time.  A few weeks into one of my pastoral assignments, a sincere church member said to me, “I am glad you’re here.  Every pastor I have had has disappointed me.  I hope you never disappoint me.”  I quickly countered, “Let me just disappoint you right now and get it out of the way. Like you I am an imperfect human being who will make mistakes. But if we forgive one another as God has forgiven us, we will get along just fine.” I must admit, I think my response disappointed this well-intentioned member.  Don’t hold your pastor to a standard of perfection that is impossible to maintain.  Allow your minister room to make mistakes.

• Speak positively about your pastor publicly and privately. One of the ways we bring out the best in our ministers is to speak well of them publicly and privately. With most pastors, it is easy to find something to criticize, because every minister has weaknesses. “He is too loud.” “She is too soft-spoken.” “He uses big words I don’t understand.” “She is not a people person.” Being a pastor requires having a widely diverse skill set. However, every pastor has more strengths than weaknesses.  A healthy pastoral tenure is nurtured when we magnify around our pastor’s strengths, and then minimize and compensate for our pastor’s weaknesses.

There are many other ways to welcome your new pastor and to launch your pastor into an effective and healthy tenure.  If you compare them to your favorite football coach and expect them to “win every game,” not only will you be disappointed, you will make your minister miserable and ultimately ineffective.

But if you receive your new pastor as a spiritual leader sent to encourage your faithfulness, challenge your presuppositions, and to bring out God’s best in you, the relationship between your pastor and your congregation will be vibrant and effective.

As church members, we are privileged to co-labor with our pastor in the transformative work of demonstrating grace, sharing the good news, and equipping disciples.

Adapted from: The Center for Healthy Churches

CONNECT TO GOD
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. We will also rebroadcast a version of the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 10:30AM on Sunday. The service will continue to be available on YouTube to watch at your convenience.

ZION KIDS: All kids birth through 5th grade must be signed in at the Zion Kids Check-In Kiosk located in the lobby before the service. The nursery will be staffed for kids birth – 3 yrs.  Preschoolers meet in room 206.  K-2nd graders meet in room 205. 3rd – 5th graders meet in room 207.  Please bring the corresponding tag to pick up your child after worship. We’re excited to begin the year!

ZION YOUTH: Regular Weekly youth group meetings are on Sunday’s at the following times:
High School Youth(9-12 grade) meet from 4:00 – 5:30 pm.
Middle School Youth (6-8th grade) meet from 5:45 – 7:15 pm.

GROW IN COMMUNITY
A big thanks to Rick and Jonell VanderWall for putting together this year’s church campout at Dunes Harbor Family Camp! We had a great time eating meals together, talking around a campfire, making s’mores, swimming, playing games, getting ice cream, and trick or treating!
What I appreciate about events like a church campout is a time to just be with people. Conversations on Sunday mornings before or after church can feel rushed, they can get interrupted, and we can have a tendency to keep our conversations on a surface level. So it was nice for all of us on the campout to just be together, to joke around, to share fun stories, to make some memories, to encourage each other, and to talk about some real things going on in our lives. 
It was also a warm and sunny weekend. Spending most of our time outside in nature was good for the soul. Being in creation helps me to see God and reminds me of what Paul says in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” When we see God’s creation, we see God. We see God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. I encourage you to get outside in the days ahead and take some time to reflect on what God has created. Soak in who God is—powerful and divine—and find rest for your soul. -Pastor Jeremy

PRAYER REQUEST: Continue to pray for those in our congregation who deal with ongoing health issues.

ALL BUILDING AND GROUNDS issues or concerns should be directed to Troy Austin. You can reach him via email at troymaustin@gmail.com or call or text him at (616) 914-0141.

NURSERY COORDINATOR: We are looking to hire a Nursery Coordinator. If you are interested in this position you can view the job description here. If you have questions or would like to know more, please contact Shanda VandePol (our P&A chair) at: shandavandepol@yahoo.com or at 616-308-0700.

YOUTH FUNDRAISERS: Our youth are selling Key Card Books ($30) and 2024 God’s Creation Calendars ($10).  If you haven’t been contacted and would like to purchase either of these items please contact any one of our youth or call the church office at 616-534-7533.

SERVE THE WORLD
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, help grocery shopping, or with financial needs, please contact Tom MacGraw, our chair of deacons, and he can help connect you with the appropriate resources at Zion. His e-mail is thomas.m.macgraw@gmail.com and his phone number is (616) 315-7938.

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 2023/24 Budget:  $196,230.15
Fiscal Year 2023/24 Contributions:  $161,436.49
Giving Last Week: $5,553.73