This Sunday:
This Sunday, March 27, in worship at COS, Rev. Len Vander Zee will preach from Ephesians 1:15-23, 3:1-13 and Isaiah 42:5-9 in the standard English service. Rev. Ruth Lemmen will preach from 1 Tim 6:11-16 in the Basic English Service in Room 5.
Following the services, you’re welcome to join us in the sanctuary for our panel discussion of chapter 5 of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together.If you missed last week’s discussion of chapter 4, you can view a recording here
Both the 10 am Standard English Service and the 11:45 GPS adult ed session will be streamed via Zoom.
Sign up for our Newsletter to receive the Zoom links.
Holy Week:
Palm Sunday – April 10, 10 am – Palm Processional and Passion Reading
Maundy Thursday – April 14, 7 pm – Service of the Upper Room with communion in the Fellowship space
Good Friday – April 15, 12:15 and 12:30 pm – Walk the Stations of the Cross along the COS Nature Trail
Easter Sunday – April 17, 10 am – Prism worship beginning with a flower processional, and Easter Brunch following the service
Easter Evening – April 17, 6 pm – Testimonies of Easter Resurrection
Learn more about these services on the COS website.
For the Easter Brunch: It is once again time for our annual Easter brunch after a 2-year hiatus. This is held in the café right after the morning service on Easter Sunday. Please see next Sunday’s bulletin or the Friday email for further details.
Church News:
Weekly Giving: $16,226.77
Current Giving for the month of March: $86,667.36
Giving for the month of February: $99,382.23
Monthly budgeted General Fund Giving is: $118,873
During Spring Break (April 1-8), several COS staff members will be away. Pastor Jack Roeda has offered to be available for pastoral care needs that arise. Additionally, with several staff members away, the bulletin and email newsletter will be delayed next week. Expect to see the usual newsletter on Saturday.
Seeking Shalom: Affordable Housing and Immigration Practical Next Steps: Do you long for your church to do more about justice issues such as affordable housing and immigration? If so, please save 7 to 9 p.m., Tuesday, April 26, 2022, for this important event featuring Keynote Speaker: Artie Lindsay, TCC pastor of spiritual formation and Grand Rapids Nehemiah Center president, and Panelists who include: Affordable housing experts from ICCF, LINC UP, and 70×7; Immigration experts from Church World Services, Interfaith Immigration Coalition, and Samaritas. Registration is free. Register online here.
We invite you to subscribe to “Setting the Table”. “Setting the Table” is our weekly worship email that provides recipients with a snapshot of where we are in the liturgical calendar, a glimpse of the upcoming sermon, the week’s scripture passage, and interesting bits of information about our current liturgy. These emails help to prepare ourselves for Sunday worship and can be used as part of your weekly devotions. Learn more and subscribe here.
Are you new or relatively new to Church of the Servant? If you’re interested in either officially joining COS or in learning more about the mission and ministries here, you’re warmly invited to participate in the Spring New Members Class. We will meet in the Living Room at the COS building from 11:45am-12:30pm four Sundays in a row beginning April 24th, ending on May 15th. If you choose to join as a member, vows are on Pentecost – June 5th. Even during these late pandemic days, the church is moving forward, so if you are interested in learning more or signing up, contact Ben Videtich at ben.videtich@coscrc.org. Note to families: child care is provided.
Social Seniors continues to meet on Tuesdays at 10:00 via Zoom. All are welcome. For more information, contact Corrie Vos.
Meeting ID: 832 6366 9013
Passcode: COS
Tree of Life artwork…..Sept 17-18, 2022. Save the date. Start creating!
COS Artists/creatives: You’re invited to be part of the COS Anniversary celebration by creating a wonderful work with the theme “Tree of Life.” The Artery is reserved for this special exhibit for September and October. Paintings, drawings, weavings, fiber—-all kinds of 2-D art. If you have 3-D work you would like to exhibit, please let us know so we can figure display issues. Reserve Sept 17 and 18 for the 50th Anniversary celebration. Many wonderful, memorable events will take place then. The show itself will go up the week before Sept. 17 and remain on display thru Oct. 23.
More details will follow, but art takes time to create so the committee wanted you to get the wheels turning. If you have questions before that contact Betsy Ratzsch. Be saving your pennies so your beautiful art can be framed and presented for the big event. Liturgical art from the past will also be on display as well throughout the church.
Resonate Match Campaign: Double Your Impact – Resonate Global Mission has a great opportunity for your giving to God’s mission through the Christian Reformed Church! April 1-30, any amount you give for our special campaign will be matched, dollar for dollar, by a generous donor! Learn more at www.resonateglobalmission.org/MatchMyGift. Additionally, Carol Roeda has offered additional incentive to support Resonate this Month. She has many copies of Fragile by Howard Buffett – a collection of photographs documenting life in 65 countries. If you donate to resonate this month and let Carol know, she’ll send you a free copy of the book.
It’s Grad Basket season! Every year, COS has the tradition of giving gifts to our graduating high school seniors to prepare them for the next step of their journey. This year we will be celebrating 15 graduates! Armed with a Bible, a laundry basket, and gift cards we are hopeful that our seniors will take their next steps knowing that their church family loves them and that God will be with them. For the month of April, Annette will be collecting money for these graduates. The money will be used to purchase gift cards, Bibles, and laundry baskets for each of the students. Donations can be made by the grad basket table in the Café, through Venmo (@churchoftheservant), online (Grad Basket link), or by writing “Grad Basket” in the memo line of a check made payable to Church of the Servant. Thanks in advance for caring so well for these children of the church!
Truth and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland: An Artistic Response
The COS Artery has mounted a new exhibition developed in response to study abroad in Northern Ireland. In January 2019 and 2020, two groups of Calvin University students along with instructors, Gail and Ken Heffner traveled to Belfast, Northern Ireland, to learn about reconciliation and peace building. We learned about the religious roots of the conflict in Northern Ireland and the political, social, and economic factors which led to the Protestant-Catholic conflict. We also learned about the important work of reconciliation that has been unfolding in Northern Ireland and the role the Christian community has played in the peace-building process. We also had the privilege of listening to the stories of many people from all walks of life in Northern Ireland. Students worked in small groups to develop an artistic response to what they experienced and learned in Northern Ireland. This exhibition portrays students’ collaborative artistic responses to what they gathered from this rich learning experience and includes visual art, music, film, and poetry. The exhibition will run from March 28 – April 20, 2022.
Please join us for an artist conversation after morning worship on Palm Sunday, April 10 at 11:30 AM in the worship space. This will be a good introduction for anyone considering the COS trip to Northern Ireland in 2023.