Happening This Sunday

Sunday, June 2, is Ascension Sunday. During our worship service we will welcome children who have taken the communion class (and have decided) to come to the Lord’s Table. We will also offer a blessing for our Middle and High School graduates.  12th grade graduates, you are encouraged to pick up your Graduation Baskets after the service.

Next Sunday

Next Sunday, June 8 is Pentecost Sunday, and we’ll worship together in the large sanctuary with a combined Basic English and Standard English service. During our service, we will welcome several new members to COS. Afterward, you’re invited to stay for a congregational lunch and Crossing Over listening follow-up.  We will eat together in the café area and have an hour to hear how members feel COS is doing in living out our community covenant made in May 2016.

Youth News

Summer Plans: June 24 -27, 6-8pm: VBS!  Sign up in the café to be a VBS Volunteer!

High School: Save the date- Sunday July 28, for an outing to Cedar Point!

Profession of Faith: Interested?  Public Profession of Faith is a mile marker on our faith journey that we encourage members of our church family to consider.  When we are baptized, God claims us as his child.  When we profess our faith, we claim God as our Creator and Savior.  If you are ready to affirm the promises that God made to you in your baptism—or at least learn more about this process, talk to Annette.  (Note: 2 high school students are currently making plans to profess their faith.  Want to join them?  Talk to me soon!)

Middle Schoolers – Mark your calendars! Outing to the Getty Drive-in Movie Theater, Friday, June 14. (Date subject to change should the Getty not be showing an age-appropriate movie that evening)

Church News

VBS registration is officially open! Register your child online at www.vbspro.events/p/cos    (Dates are June 24-27). VBS would like to borrow large stuffed African animals for decorations, especially lion, giraffe and rhinoceros.  Contact Hope Bradley if you have one we could borrow.

Refugee Families need help getting to church…can you help? Several new families have joined us in BES worship each Sunday, and we praise God for this. However, we need at least two more drivers on Sunday morning who could pick up and return these folks after worship. If you feel called, please contact Paul Brink at 929-0135 or John Bruss at (630) 319-9071.

Registration is open for the June 20-22 Understanding Racism Workshop. This workshop experience is 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 online at CORRnow.org.

Liturgical Dancers – Join us for Pentecost Season beginning June 9. We will dance “Create In Me a Clean Heart” during the confession sequence. Rehearsals will be held Thursday, June 6 at 7PM and Sat., June 8 at 10AM.

Pentecost Choir – You are invited to sing in the choir on Pentecost Sunday in our Prism worship service.  John Witvliet will be conducting and we will have just one rehearsal – 9:00am on Sunday morning, June 9.  We welcome singers of all ages from both SES and BES.  An email will be sent next week to participants with some of the music and links to recordings. If you would like to participate, please either sign up in the music room or email Maria Stapert (music@coscrc.org).  We need an accurate count of who will be singing for setup and to know how many copies of the music to make. 

Is Centering Prayer integral to your spiritual life?  This contemplative practice has (re)formed and meets at the Dominican Center, in the Meditation Room behind the Chapel. We gather on alternate Tuesdays from 12:00-12:40 pm: Jun 2, 16, Jul 2, 16, 30 and beyond. Please join us in this traditional Christian communal silence.

Knitters’ Night Out is moving to Monday evenings for the summer.  The planned dates are 10 June, 15 July, and 12 August. Mark these dates on your calendar and watch for upcoming announcements

The next date for the Double Days for the Meijer Simply Give Spring campaign will be Friday, June 14. For every $10.00 Simply Give card purchase at Cascade Meijer on Double Match Days, Meijer will match this with $20.00, so the COS food pantry will benefit with a $30.00 gift! If you buy a 30.00 Meijer Simply Give card, it will turn into a $90.00 gift to the COS food pantry.  You can purchase the Simply Give cards from Ellen Westrate.

Friendship ESL at COS closed the school year with Achievement Parties and international treats on May 22 and 23.  For the year, 2482 students attended 502 classes, operated by 61 tutors and helpers, along with prayer teams and several high school volunteers working toward Puerto Rico.  Classes start again in September.  Want to help?  New tutors and helpers VERY VERY welcome. 

Two plots left. The COS community garden (behind church, between the solar array and playground) still has two 4-by-8-foot plots available to anyone who will promise to tend their space at least once a week. Gardeners are a mix of native English speakers and refugees, and it’s fun to learn from each other.

ARE YOU IN ONE OF THE 35 (possibly) HOUSEHOLDS? DO YOU WANT TO BE?  Households have always been an important part of life here at COS.  We are trying to get an idea of who is in a household and who is in this household with you.  There are sheets of paper on the labeled table in the café.  Please list your name in the proper household. That’s it. Simple.   There is also a sheet to sign if you want to join one. 

This coming Saturday, June 8 is the Camelot Community Partners annual Ice Cream Social at Camelot Park from 2:00- 3:30 pm. Come and join the fun! Flyers are on the Café counter.

New Head Librarian – A few weeks ago we thanked Marian Kendall for her 30 years of faithful service as COS Librarian. A couple years ago Marian found her replacement, Lori Vanden Bosch. Lori has learned the ropes and will continue to rely on Marian’s keen assistance. Lori was the Librarian at her previous church as well. Please welcome Lori to this role. She and her husband Jeff and two children, Lauren and Jacob, have been members for the past five years. Thank you Lori, for your willingness to serve COS in this important way!