Happening This Sunday
There will be no Sunday School or Adult Ed programs Sunday, May 26.
We welcome Rev. Jack Roeda to the pulpit at our Standard English Service in the large sanctuary and in our BES service in room 4, we welcome Nicole Romero to the pulpit. Nicole is working as a seminary intern here at Church of the Servant, and attends Calvin Theological Seminary as a first year student.
Next Sunday
Next Sunday, June 2 is Ascension Sunday. During our worship service we will offer a blessing for our Middle and High School graduates. 12th grade graduates will be able to pick up their Graduation Baskets after the service.
Youth News
High School: Brian Leahy’s Small Group: We’re going to worship together at BES today. We’ll have a row reserved for our group. After the service, we’ll meet in the fellowship area to plan out summer activities. Come with ideas, including a service project idea.
Summer Plans: June 24 -27, 6-8pm: VBS! Sign up in the café to be a VBS Volunteer!
High School and Middle School: Fri. May 31, 6-10pm—Movies with Meaning –a double feature!
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
Please mark your calendars for Sunday, June 8 for a congregational lunch and Crossing Over listening follow-up. We will have lunch together after the am services and have an hour to hear how members feel COS is doing in living out our community covenant made in May 2016.
General Fund Giving Report – Our giving for Sunday Service 05/19 including (the weekly online giving) totaled $19,550.11. Our giving for the month of May is currently at $71,299.04
Take a couple hours on Thursday evening, May 30, to hear how diverse congregations have learned to work together to provide leadership training and civics education to poor and moderate-income people across the USA and give them the will and skill to make the change they want to see in their community. Ernesto Cortés, Jr., co-chair of the national Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), and executive director of the West/Southwest IAF, will be speaking on Thursday evening, May 30th at 7 p.m. at St. Francis Xavier Gymnasium, 250 Brown St. SE, (north of Burton, west of Madison). To sign up, go to The Micah Center Facebook page.
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? Three 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.
Senior high school graduation baskets – COS members are invited to celebrate the achievements of our graduating COS students by signing up in the café to provide an item for each of our seniors in our annual “Senior Grad Basket” (Grad baskets will be available June 2).
COS is seeking a part-time Children’s Ministry Coordinator. We wish Andrea Saul and her family God’s richest blessings as they move to North Carolina where Garrett will serve as the pastor of a church. Her departure leaves us with a vacancy that should be filled soon. If you have a desire to nurture the faith of young children, please consider applying for this position. The Children’s Ministry Coordinator (CMC) will work with the Minister of Faith Formation to provide visionary leadership and oversight of the faith formation ministries that directly serve the children of the congregation ages 2½-years-old – 6th grade. The CMC equips and encourages children’s ministry volunteers and the wholecongregation* to instruct and nurture the faith of children at COS to the end that we all become and make faithful disciples of Jesus. (*At COS, congregation includes 2 worshiping bodies: 10am service in main worship space and 10am Basic English Service in Fellowship Space.) This position is 15-17 hours/week for 46-48 weeks/year. A complete job description is available by clicking coscrc.org/jobs Applications are being accepted through (tomorrow) May 27. Please submit resume and cover letter to annette.ediger@coscrc.org
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.
One of the Double Days for the Meijer Simply Give Spring campaign will be Friday May 31. 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. Today you can purchase the Simply Give cards at the table at the café or from Ellen Westrate.
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. For the next 3 weeks there will be sheets of paper on the labeled table in the café. Please list your name in the proper household. That’s it. Simple. There will also be a sheet to sign if you want to join one.
The summer volunteer schedule was placed in mailboxes last week. If you are scheduled for serving coffee, providing communion elements, or serving in nursery, please check the date and if you have a conflict, find someone to switch with and let Diane Jonker know – diane.jonker@coscrc.org – 956-7611. You can also find the new schedule on the COS website. Thank you!