Excerpts from the COS Bulletin. For the full bulletin, please visit the Members and Friends portal.

Happening This Sunday

College-Age Ministry – If you’re a post-high school young adult, you’re invited to the Mead’s for a home cooked meal this Snday afternoon following the worship service. The Mead’s home is just a short drive from church at 2630 Heathcliff St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI, 49546. After the service, you’ll find a group gathering between the welcome kiosk and cafe windows near the front entrance of the church. There should be plenty of room for those who didn’t drive.

Next Sunday

Next Sunday, December 2, marks the first Sunday in Advent. Come at 9am for Intergenerational Sunday School and then move into our Prism worship service, where we will worship in the large sanctuary together with both BES and SES brothers and sisters. During the service we will be welcoming several new members and afterward we will continue our fellowship with a Christmas brunch immediately following worship. Please bring food to sharemuffins, and egg dish, or something sweet.

Youth News

Reminder: Sunday School and WNL will not meet this Sunday or this Wednesday.

Our Puerto Rico Mission Trip signup is technically fullbut we can still accept a few more participants! Contact Annette today if you want to claim one!

4 for 4 (4 activities on the 4th Sunday) meets Sunday, Nov. 25, 12-2pm ALL High School students are invited to join us for a free lunch followed by 4 different activities: sports, discussion, gaming, and baking/crafting. Assistance with transportation home available, if needed. Join us!

Serve 1st will actually be Serve 2nd in December! Your help is needed at the Angel Tree Christmas Party on Dec. 8 from 4:30-6:30pm at COS! So instead of doing a service project on the first Saturday of the month, we will be doing it on the second Saturday. Contact Annette or Lucie Marsden if you are available to help run games for the kids who attend the party. lucie.marsden@gmail.com

Youth Auction Donations Needed! Our Youth Group Fundraising Auction is taking place on Wed., Dec. 5. I am requesting that all youth in grades 7-12 consider donating 2 items/services. This auction helps raise money for our international mission trips which occur once every 4 years. Contact Annette about your donations.

Youth Auction Help Needed! Students, parents, and leaders – Your help is needed to make our Youth Auction a success! Let Annette know where you can help:

  •   Set up tables on Sunday, Dec. 2, after COS Christmas Brunch
  •   Set up auction items on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 3-5pm
  •   Help with meal prep on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 3-5pm
  •   Help “closing tables” and distributing items during auction
  •   Help cleaning up after auction (7-8:30pm)

Church News

In this time of gratitude, the COS council asks you to consider gifts to COS above and beyond what you might normally give. Our ministries are full, our building is busy, and we are blessed with amazing staff who have heard God’s call to work in our midst. We have had a wonderful year together. But our giving has been under budget we have some catching up to do to meet operating needs. It would be a blessing and encouragement to end the year at or above budgeted giving. Please consider a consider helping us reach that goal over the next several weeks.

There will be no Wednesday night programming this Wednesday.

A Friendly reminderPlease fill in the open gaps of seating in the large sanctuary space so seats can more easily be found by visitors and latecomers. Thank you!

Snow Piles will soon be in our parking lot. We will need all the parking spots available. If you are able bodied and do not have young children, please park in the two medical office parking lots between our two entrances. There are paved pathways leading to the COS parking lot. Staff and council members are requested to use these additional parking lots. Thank you for your cooperation!

The Thursday Bible study meets this week on November 29. We will study Colossians 3:18-4:1 and Lesson 6.

ADVENT DANCERS – Advent begins next Sunday, December 2. All (ages 5 and up) are welcome to join the dancers for O Come, O Come Emmanuel.Men are especially welcome. Rehearsals will be held Thursday, November 29, at 7PM and Saturday, December 1, at 10AM. (Only one rehearsal is required.) Questions? Contact Julie Yonkers.

Don’t forget to check the lost and found area to reclaim your lost items! Check out the coat rack near the office for your lost books, hats, coats, dishes and glass slippers. Whatever is left after a week or two will be donated to charity.

Meijer Simply Give Double Match – Please mark your calendars for Friday December 7, 2018 to purchase your 10.00 Simply Give cards at the Cascade Meijer. For every 10.00 card purchase, Meijer will match this with 20.00, so the COS food pantry will benefit with a 30.00 gift! If you buy 30.00 Meijer Simply Give card, it will turn into a 90.00 gift to the COS food pantry. This year Ellen Westrate will be taking monies from those who cannot easily go to the Cascade Meijer and will be purchasing these cards on your behalf on Dec 7 Double Match day. Please give your name and money in an envelope to Ellen by Dec 5. It is our hope and goal this year to surpass the $25,000 COS received from Cascade Meijer for our food pantry which feeds over 100 families a month. Thank you for participating in this partnership with Meijer!

Check your COS mailbox! The high school students of COS need your help to make our Fundraising Auction a success. If you have an item or service that you would like to donate, fill out the donation information form in your mailbox and return it to Annette by today, Sunday, Nov. 25. And then we’ll see you at the Puerto Rican Themed Dinner and Auction on Wednesday, Dec. 5!

The high school students of COS need your help to make our Fundraising Auction a success. If you have an item or service that you would like to donate, fill out the donation information form in your mailbox and return it to Annette by TODAY, Sunday, Nov. 25. And then we’ll see you at the Puerto Rican themed Dinner and Auction on Wednesday, Dec. 5!

COS Prisoners in Christ will host a Christmas party on Saturday afternoon, December 8, 4-6:30 p.m. for about 20 children whose incarcerated parents have requested connections at Christmastime through prison Fellowship Angel Tree. There are many ways COS members can be involved – purchasing a gift on behalf of the parent who is in prison, helping out with the party, donating funds, and through your faithful prayers. If interested, contact Lucie Marsden via email lucie.marsden@gmail.com or text 616-481-1425.

One more week left to donate hats, scarves, socks and gloves/mittens for our Camelot neighbors! We will distribute these items at our next Mobile Food Pantry Sat. Dec. 1 at Camelot Woods. The collection basket is in the café.

Thank you to those who have already turned in your pledge forms. Additional pledge forms are located on the café counter.

5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. November 28 – Please join us for a pot-luck dinner and C.O.S. Hamilton Preview Party. All adults and young adults welcome! After a meal together we will watch the phenomenal PBS Documentary, “Hamilton’s America,” which gives a “unique window into the artistry and research involved” in making the Broadway musical Hamilton. We will spend the evening in the company of historian Ron Chernow; rappers Nas, Questlove and Black Thought; as well as others who were essential to the making of the musical and are passionate about its impact. Don’t miss the fun!