This Sunday at COS:
On this Ascension Sunday, Rev. Len Vander Zee will preach from Luke 24:44-53 and Ephesians 1:15-23 in the Tree of Life worship service in the large sanctuary. Ruth Lemmen will preach in the All Nations Worship service in room 4.
The 10 am Tree of Life service will also be broadcast via Zoom. Sign up for our Newsletter to receive the Zoom links.
Faith Formation:
IGSS: Join us in the COS café at 9 am on Pentecost Sunday, May 19 for Intergenerational Sunday School (IGSS). We will spend time around tables connecting with new or familiar faces of COS as we explore and celebrate Pentecost. And yes, coffee & donuts will be provided. Note: weather permitting, we will spend some of our time outdoors—so dress accordingly! Following our Prism combined worship service next Sunday, please stick around for our all-church meal in the café!
Wednesday Night Programming Reminder: Wed. Night Dinners and all our programs for students in grades 2-12 (WNL, WNLX, Wed. Night Hype—formerly known as Boys Club, and Next Generation—formerly known as Girls Club) are on a break until Wednesday, June 19.
Bibles for 2nd Grade Graduates on June 2 – On June 2 our 2nd graders will each receive a New International Readers Version (NIRV) Adventure Bible to mark the milestone of graduating from our Children’s Worship program. This will be the last day they’ll be dismissed to continue worship in the children’s wing, where they’ll explore their new Bibles and prepare to join in congregational worship the following week. If your child is in 2nd grade but doesn’t attend Children’s Worship, please send Jo a note at Jo.Howe@coscrc.org, so she can be sure they’re on the list to receive a Bible.
Toothbrushes & Toothpaste: The May COS Food Pantry Items of the Month.
Please consider donating or more toothbrush and/or toothpaste during the month of May to help restock our food pantry with these essential. Baskets for collecting these items are at the children’s check-in station between the main church entrance and the coat racks. Thank you!
Children at the Lord’s Supper Class on June 2, 11:45pm-12:45pm. Through our baptism we are welcomed to the table for the Lord’s Supper, but most COS children spend part of the worship service in Little Lambs and Children’s Worship through the 2nd grade. So, we offer this class for graduating 2nd graders and baptized children of any age who would like to participate in the Lord’s Supper. Together we explore the meaning of the sacraments and how God meets us in the sacraments. We practice how we participate in communion at COS, and we invite the children to join in the feast! Please send Jo Howe an email at jo.howe@coscrc.org, if you and your child(ren) plan to participate. She will respond with further details about the class. We plan to welcome children to the table on June 9.
Stewardship:
Thirteen refugees have benefited from the Jack and Carol Roeda Refugee Higher Education Fund since it began in 2012, many of them having graduated from college. For this we thank God. In the last several years, however, COS has welcomed many more refugees with large families. Seven of our many teenagers and one working father are hoping to attend GRCC this coming fall! We do not have enough funds to support all these students, so we need to refill our coffers for this next year and the following ones. To assist these students is one way in which you can be part of COS’s mission to “share gifts of refugee, fellowship, and hope.” Please designate any gift you can give to the “Jack and Carol Roeda Refugee Higher Education Fund.”
Online Giving Portal at COS has a new look. If you give or have given to COS through our online portal and it looks different, that is because our giving portal has been updated. The new look includes Church of the Servant in the top left-hand corner and our contact information in the bottom left corner. Your credentials to access the portal are still the same, but the way you choose to give has changed. You will use the drop down to select which fund you would like to donate to and then the frequency of the donation and if you plan to give to more than one fund, you will add the chosen fund and frequency for that gift to your basket. If you are donating to only one fund you will choose the fund and frequency and click, give now. If you are unsure if you completed the process correctly or have any questions, please feel free to contact AJ Zahrt by email or phone.
Outreach and Congregational Life
Camping – Mark your calendars! After a nearly 30-year hiatus, COS invites all church members to join for a COS Camping Trip. We have reserved a block of campsites and cabins at Wabasis Lake Campground for this coming fall, Sept. 27-29. Details are still being worked out, but if you want to reserve a campsite now, contact Annette (Annette.ediger@coscrc.org) or Ben (Ben.videtich@coscrc.org).
Thank You, Blood Donors! We met our goal of 28 units at Monday’s drive, and surpassed it by six more, for a total of 34 pints collected! That’s an impact of 102 patients receiving life-saving blood!🩸Special callout to Mindy Hamstra for reaching 2 gallons, and Joe Karanicola for reaching 4 gallons in donations! Our next drive is on Monday, July 29. Hope to see you there!
Meijer Simply Give: COS is delighted to once again partner with Meijer Simply Give in support of our in-house Food Pantry. Simply Give runs until June 29, 2024. During this time, you may purchase $10 Simply Give cards at the Cascade Meijer, and that money goes to the COS food pantry. The Double Match Day will be June 15. This means every $10 card purchased on June 15 will result in $30 for the COS food pantry. If you would like COS to purchase the cards on the double match day on your behalf, please drop your donation in the Sunday offering and label your gift “Simply Give.”
Looking for a new recycling opportunity? The COS Creation Care Team will be recycling oral care products through a program established by Crest and Oral B. Bring your toothbrushes, electric toothbrush heads, toothpaste tubes (caps on), dental floss containers, floss string, floss picks, and mouthwash containers to the marked collection bin in the cafe area, near the library. These products can be recycled as roofing or insulation materials. For more information, visit their website. Any brand of these products will be accepted. Thanks for participating in our effort to reduce plastic waste. If you have questions, contact Ginny Kuilema.
Office and Facilities:
COS is hiring a Campus Facilities Assistant. The Campus Facilities Assistant is responsible for maintaining COS’s outdoor campus and organizing volunteers to assist where needed. This is a ten-hour-per-week position. Contact Monica for the full job description.
Our annual Spring Workday will be held on Saturday, May 11 (rescheduled from the rained-out date). If you would like to help ready the facility for the change in seasons, join other COSers at 9:00 am. If you have volunteered as an adopt-a-garden ”parent”, this would be a great time to start your gardening tasks. We will have assignments for all ages and skill levels, including both indoor and outdoor tasks. We should finish around 11:30 am.
Council:
A few weeks ago, the COS Council shared an update on some big questions facing COS. If you missed it, read it in last week’s bulletin. The announcement included dates to remember, but some of these have been updated below:
- Town Hall – Sunday, May 12
- Budget Q&A – Sunday, June 23
- Annual Congregational Meeting – budget approval and Council slate of office bearers’ approval – Sunday, June 30
Worship:
Preaching Schedule
May 19 Prism combined service – Lucy Gitau
May 26 ANWS – Rev. Andrew Mead, TOL – Rev. Len Vander Zee
June 2 ANWS – Albert Strydhorst, TOL – Rev. Andrew Mead
June 9 ANWS – Mtarambirwa Alexis, TOL – Rev. Len Vander Zee
Join the dancers for the first half of Pentecost season beginning May 19. We will dance the closing “Let the Fire”. A rehearsal will be held Saturday, May 18 at 10:30 am. Any questions, contact Julie Yonkers.
Summer Jam Sessions – Wednesday evening programming is finished for this school year, but the demand for jam sessions continues! If you like to strum, pick, sing, hit, shake, or play folksy/Americana melodies by ear, you are welcome to join these summer jam sessions. Observers and learners are welcome, too! Chords and lyrics will be provided. The jam sessions will be held in the sanctuary from 6:30-8:00 pm on Wednesdays, June 5, June 26, July 10, and August 7. (Summer Wednesday evening programming will also take place on June 26 and July 10. So come at 5:30 for dinner before jamming.)