On Sunday, July 5, we will continue to worship in homes, individually, but still as one body as we seek to be prisms of God’s light in liturgy and in life. This week Pastor Karen Campbell will bring us a message based on the scriptures of Genesis 24: 34-38, 42-48 and Romans 7:15-25a. Each week we will add a new post that includes a house church liturgy, messages from the pastors, resources for leaders, and media to accompany worship. Resources, videos, and liturgies can be found on the Church of the Servant website at coscrc.org/category/housechurch

Youth

If you haven’t found a way to help celebrate our 13 high school seniors IT’S NOT TOO LATE!  You still have 2 weeks to:

  • Send money to COS designated for “HS Grad Gift.”  This money will be used to purchase gift cards for each of our grads to help them get items they need for the next phase of their lives.  Any amount will help!  You can make checks out to Church of the Servant with “HS Grad Gift” in the memo line, or make a donation online to COS by going to the “Giving” section of our website. Be sure to click on the box indicating the donation is for the HS Grad Gift.
  • Send notes to our graduates that will be placed in their Bibles from COS.  Notes can be mailed or emailed to me and I will place them in their Bibles.  (Annette Ediger, 6244 New Holland St., Hudsonville, MI 49426 or Annette.ediger@coscrc.org)
  • Deadline: July 12 We will be holding an event to celebrate our Seniors the week of July 19—so please send notes and/or money by July 12!

For a list of the names of our 13 seniors, contact Annette or check bulletins from the first few weeks of June.

Children’s Ministry

Pentecost Books! As we raise kids in America, we know the social forces that shape them—including, too often, the church—assign meaning to skin color that undermines the dignity and humanity of people of color. Over the summer, I will be recording videos of Children’s Storybooks that help our kids interpret skin color difference as God’s creative work. In this small way, I hope our church can help kids and families have more conversations that give kids the tools they will need to fight internalized racial superiority and internalized racial oppression and take their place as change-agents and peacemakers in our community. Look for a story on the COS website and Facebook page on Wednesdays or Thursdays. 

Sunday Sing-Along from 9:50-10 am: Join the Sunday worship Zoom call a little early to sing along with Karen Saupe, John Verbrugge, and Meg Voetberg! This is a great way for the kids to sing songs they love and see church leaders they miss.  

                                                Church News

Facilities Coordinator:
Church of the Servant is looking to hire a full time (36 hrs /week) person to join our staff team and be responsible for our building’s operation and maintenance needs.  Strong Facility Management experience preferred. Start date: August 17, 2020. 

See the position description here. Please send your letter of interest and resume to: lori.wiersma@coscrc.org by July 17, 2020.

Dark Times: Deep Grace Join us on Facebook live in the COS Facebook group each Wednesday at 8.30 pm as we read psalms of lament and pray in creative ways together. The time together includes songs, art, and words of lament as we navigate these difficult times with a sense of deep grace. This week’s artist is Paul Stoub.

Financial Update – Last week’s offering and online giving:  $5,649.51
Total Giving for the month of June$ 70,270.22(est).
Our monthly General Fund budget is $119,028.

The Church of the Servant (COS) Antiracism and Reconciliation (ARRT) team, along with the Prisoners in Christ (PinC) team, commit to take action with a greater sense of urgency, and make a plea to other members of Church of the Servant to join them. Please read the entire letter on the COS website.

The whole worship event finds its setting within the context of the baptismal bath that gathers and sends the community … Worship is always an immersion, a plunge into the mystery of God!’

– Mittman Worship in the Shape of Scripture 2009

Frank Lloyd Wright had an organic understanding of architecture where form follows function.  At Church of the Servant, we have an organic understanding of our worshipping lives where the Word and Sacrament organically relate to each part of our lives.  This ongoing conversation begins with our baptism where the congregation acknowledges God’s divine action on an individual’s life.  It is from that place, the covenant family vow to grow into their baptismal identity.  Over the summer we will have an opportunity to witness the joy of baptism within our community, albeit virtually.  However since an important part of this sacrament is our corporate commitment to each other we ask you to consider sending in a digital image that reflects your baptismal identity in Christ.  This might be the moment you were baptized or it might be a current photograph of how you continue to live out your baptismal identity.  We would like a wide variety of people to participate: young and old, recent baptisms as well as those who have lived their baptismal identity all their lives.

We hope this may be an invitation to participate in the corporate memory of how we have all been plunged ‘into the mystery of God!’

Please email photos to Maria Stapert (maria.stapert@coscrc.org) by Sunday, July 5.

A word from the Missions Support Team: The Faith-Promise pledge drive for COS missions support launched recently. Please check out coscrc.org/missions for an updated, colorful, and inspiring overview of the missionaries we support.  The coscrc.org/missions link is also on the COS House Church Resources, along with the Pledge form coscrc.org/faithpromisepledge and the Faith-Promise Brochure coscrc.org/faithpromise2020.

Prayer and requests

The COS Anti-Racism and Reconciliation Team and the Prisoners in Christ Team will be suggesting a prayer weekly that focuses on the call to racial justice to be included in our congregational prayer in Sunday worship. We invite you to make the prayer your own this week:
We continue to pray for our country and our world as we seek to dismantle systemic racism and establish public justice. This week we specifically pray for law enforcement officers and civic leaders in this difficult time …that the community and the police will be listening to each other. We pray that law enforcement officers of color feel like equals with their peers and that their voices will be heard … and particular for safety in general, because they know that they may end up in a position where what they do could be a matter of life or death. We pray that the police will use good judgement and that the community continues to support peaceful resolution to the current conflicts.

This week’s missionary focus is Lillian Samuel. Please pray:

  • Praise for technology that allows Lilian and three people from other universities to meet and pray for international students in their ministries.
  • Thank God for a graduate from Davenport University who is helping full-time with the ministry with international students at Grand Valley.
  • Pray that international students who have returned to their countries will remember the gospel of Jesus and his love.
  • Pray for new ways to reach out to international students during this extraordinary time.