Happening This Sunday

The Joyful Noise Orchestra will be leading the music in our large sanctuary worship Feb. 10. Also, some of those who participated in the African Drumming Class with Leah Ivory last year have been invited to lead a couple of songs during communion.

Next Sunday

GPS will meet next Sunday morning at 9am, and will be the second in a two part event hosted by the CRCNA Climate Witness Project. For more information, see the announcement on the reverse page.

February 17 and 24 –the Justice Class will meet as “usual” to finish the “proximate justice” series we have been doing for the last few sessions, based on readings from the Public Justice Review, published by the Center for Public Justice, Vol. 8, Issue 4, 2018, “Making Peace With Proximate Pluralism” — Https://Www.Cpjustice.Org/Public/Page/Content/Public_justice_review . We will address essays 2, 3 & 4 on the 17th (Chaplin, Chaplin & Walsh) and essays 5 & 6 on the 24th (Berkeley and Covington).

Youth News

Sun. Feb. 10-17 – Meet with small groups
Sat. – Sun. Feb. 23-24 – High School Winter Retreat! We will leave COS at 10am on Sat., Feb. 22 to go to the Beversluis cottage in N. Muskegon, and return to COS around 2:30pm Sunday. All high school students are invited to attend! Our topic: Gender, Sexuality, and the Church—continued. Mr. Larry Borst will guide us through discussions around this topic, looking at what scripture says, and help us learn how to navigate discussions with people who hold different viewpoints.
RSVP required! Contact Annette.ediger@coscrc.org to reserve your spot.

Church News
Please have bulletin announcements in by noon on Wednesday, February 13 this week. Thank you.

The Thursday Bible study meets this week Thurs. February 14, 2019. We will be studying RUTH and ESTHER, using a study by Kathleen B. Nielson, Crossway Books. This week’s study: Ruth 1, Returning to Bethlehem. We meet Thursdays, 9:30–11am, in the café area. Childcare provided. ALL ARE WELCOME!

Where will you be on Sunday, April 7? Well, right here of course, at the COS PRISM service. And after, you will participate in the all-church dinner. But then, immediately after dinner we will push back chairs and tables to make room for music, singing and dancing! It’s a BES birthday party, and you are all invited, so save the date! #bes10thbirthdayparty

With Michigan’s blood supply levels at a critically low point, we are urging all our donors to come to our next drive at COS on Monday, March 11. There are 40 appointment slots between 2:00-7:00pm and we’d like to fill ALL of them! Make an appointment online at versiti.org/michigan or on the scheduling poster in the cafe next week. Questions? Contact Beth Karanicola or Ruth Huisman. Thank you!

Save the Date for VBS! Mark your calendars for June 24th – 27th (Monday – Thursday) for Vacation Bible School. Last year, our VBS drew in over 100 children, 80% of whom were from outside our church. We will need MANY volunteers! Theme and times will be released soon.

Simply give update – We are delighted to report that the 2018 Simply Give campaign generated $22,870 for the COS food pantry! Thank you!!
Parents of Children in K-12 Christian Schools: If you are in need of financial assistance, remember to apply for the tuition assistance program for the 2019/2020 school year. Updated step-by-step instructions can be found here: coscrc.org/education. Application is completed online; you will find the direct link to the COS FACTS page on the website. Don’t wait for your taxes; apply now using 2017 taxes and meet the earlier deadlines!
Important deadlines:
• You should have submitted your name using the online form by Feb 1
• Submit FACTS app and documentation by March 1.
• Mandatory Face-to-face meeting will take place March 20 between 6-9 pm. After your application has been received you will get an email to sign up for a meeting time.

QPR Training—February 13, 2019—6:30pm-8:00pm. Chances are you’re familiar with CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), a well-established emergency procedure used to save lives when a person is in cardiac arrest. But have you ever heard of QPR? QPR stands for “Question, Persuade, and Refer” and it’s used to intervene to prevent suicide. What’s really interesting about this approach is that you don’t have to be a mental health professional to use it. In fact, QPR is designed to train anyone how to offer hope and take action when they are concerned that someone may be at risk for suicide. To sign up for the training go to coscrc.org/qpr or contact Chris Klein (chris.klein@coscrc.org).

Registration is open for the February 21-23 and March 7-9 Understanding Racism Workshops. These workshop experiences are designed to explore the deep racial complexity of the United States and begin to explore paths for reconciliation. Our goal is to gain insight in understanding systemic racism through the eyes of faith and Scripture.
We encourage all leaders and members at Church of the Servant to attend one of these workshops. This effort helps us to become focused and work together to address one of our country’s greatest troubles. Register on line at CORRnow.org. Questions? Contact Janice Mcwhertor