This Sunday, October 23, Rev. Bob Arbogast will preach from Leviticus 25:44-46 and Galatians 3:26-28 in the large service. Rev. Ruth Lemmen will preach in the All Nations Worship Service in Room 4. Following the service, stick around for Sunday School for all ages. Adult-ed GPS will include a tour from Dave Koetje of the Creation Care Team. New Members Class begins today in the Living Room after the services.

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Children’s Ministry News:

Please register your kids for Children & Youth Programming! We’ve only received a small number of families, so if you haven’t already registered your kids, please click this link to begin. It should only take a few minutes and will really help us plan well for the ministries we offer. Thank you!

Reminder: Please Use Pickup Tickets for Little Lambs and Children’s Worship. Our new check-in safety system is important for the safety of all our children, and it communicates to families who are visiting that we care about children and want to keep them safe. We have several new leaders and children in our program this season, so it’s more important than ever to use your pickup ticket to get your child(ren) from their rooms after worship. Leaders are instructed to keep the children in their classroom until a parent/caregiver presents the ticket with the proper code. So please stick your pickup ticket to your shirt or bag (it is a sticker too!) so you can keep it handy to show the leader at pickup. If it’s hard to remember your code for the new nametag system, Jo Howe can change your code to something more memorable. Just send a note at jo.howe@coscrc.org. If you forget to check in and print nametags when you arrive, simply follow your child when dismissed and so you can get nametag and pickup ticket then. So please use the system for your sake and the sake of others. 

Sunday School, 11:45am-12:30pm! (Ages 4 to Adult) Sunday school is a chance to learn together and grow in faith. It’s offered on all but the first Sunday of the month, when there is an all-church meal instead. Please enjoy a cookie and juice in the café before dropping your kids off or sending them to their Sunday school rooms at 11:45am. (No food or drinks in the classrooms, please!) Maps showing these Sunday school room locations will be available at the children’s welcome station on Sunday:

  • The 4-year-old through 1st grade class is in room 9, in the children’s wing.
  • 2nd-4th grade is in room 19, just down the hall from the nursery.
  • 5-6th grade is in room 22, located in the hallway behind the mailboxes in the sanctuary.
  • Middle school is in room 17, just down the hall from the nursery. Sometimes the middle schoolers start in the youth room, so check with Brian or Annette for more details.
  • High school is in room 12, the Youth Room.
  • GPS (Adult Sunday school) is in Fellowship South, room 3, just past the café.
  • Nursery is available for children ages 3 and under.

Church News:

Current Giving for the month of October: $90,025

Giving for the month of September: $70,833

Giving for October 2021: $103,092

Monthly budgeted General Fund Giving is:  $118,873

Giving Statements went out on Monday, October 17 via email. Please review them and contact AJ Zahrt with any questions. Members that are not signed up to receive statements via email can look for hard copies in their COS mailbox in the next week.

God’s People Seeking: On October 23 and 30, Dave Koetje will lead us on an informative walk around COS’s nature trail (23rd), where you can see how COS is engaged in ecosystem restoration. The next week (30th) we’ll learn about and discuss Dave’s research into “refugia gardening.” Join us for a thought-provoking and encouraging time of responding to our call to be earth-healers. Copies of Refugia Faith are available for purchase at a special COS rate: $15 for one book, $10 for each additional book. Consider purchasing an extra copy to give as a thoughtful gift to someone you know. Cash, check, or Venmo (Venmo to @churchoftheservant). Make checks/Venmo transactions payable to COS with “Refugia” in the memo line.

Fall New Members Class – Starts this Sunday. If you’re new or newer to Church of the Servant, you’re not alone. New Members class is an effort to enfold people into the life and ministries of COS. Over the course of four gatherings, the hope is to get to know more of the landscape of this congregation – a bit of our history, some [though certainly not all] of our ministries, and a few key leaders. There is of course no pressure to formally join if, by the end, it becomes clear COS isn’t the right fit. Either way, it’s an excellent way to grow into this church. The first meeting is October 23rd after church from 11:45-12:30pm, and continue four Sundays in a row ending November 13th. A full meal will be served on November 6th, and the other three weeks we’ll have simple hospitality – coffee/fruit/pastries/etc.  

We are setting a goal to print a new Church Directory in January 2023. We need the help of everyone by sending an updated photo. Secondly, if you have moved, new phone number, email, etc., we would appreciate those updates as well. Send photos and updates to monica.smith@coscrc.org.

Photo Booth – Sundays in November – we need a photographer(s) willing to take pictures for our forthcoming directory. No fancy camera is required, a phone and the willingness to email the pictures to Monica is all that is needed. If interested, contact Monica or call the church office.

Financial Report from the Church of the Servant Legacy Foundation – In the summer of 2019, the COS Council approved the creation of the COS Legacy Foundation to lay a stronger financial foundation for COS into the future. In addition to various individual gifts from seven donors during the first several years of the Foundation, there are also seven members of the congregation who have informed the Foundation that it is in their wills or estate plans. On October 17, 2022 the balance in the Foundation account, which is managed by the Barnabas Foundation, was $45,762.30.The Trustees are pleased to announce that a generous legacy gift was received from the estate of Dr. Philip A. Rhoads, who greatly appreciated the warm welcome he received during his years at COS. Phil, who passed to glory in January 2022, was the father of Janis Carpenter and father-in-law of Joel Carpenter. We are grateful to Phil and his family for this legacy gift to the COS Legacy Foundation and hope it will inspire others to consider similar gifts in their wills and estate plans. Since its last report to the congregation, the Trustees have bid farewell and sincere THANKS to two charter trustees, Sandy VanderZicht and Joel Carpenter. We have also welcomed four new trustees. So current COS Legacy Foundation Trustees are: Jon Bruss, Stacy DeRuiter, Claire Elgersma, Brian Huyser, John Lichtenberg, Chuck Mast, and Tom McWhertor.

The Foundation Trustees encourage all members to consider the Church of the Servant and its Legacy Foundation as you design or update wills or estate plans. More information about the Foundation can be found on the COS website.

Donating blood saves lives. “Last weekend my Iowa cousin Don was rushed to the hospital with internal hemorrhaging and received 20 units of blood before doctors could stabilize him (10 units are considered a whole-body transfusion). That blood saved Don’s life! It was available only because volunteers had previously donated it, one unit at a time. Our blood drives here at Church of the Servant are so important! Volunteer donors SAVE LIVES. Would you give an hour of your time to save a life? Please sign up for an appointment between 2-7pm at our Monday, November 7 blood drive. Thank you, thank you!”  – Ruth Huisman, Drive Coordinator.

Friendship ESL at COS is buzzing with international mojo. Thus far, persons from 18 countries-of-origin attending, over 50 people a week. New people come each week, while some students have been with us for years. And you…yes…you could be part of this. Explore the possibilities. Visit a session. TUES & WED 930-1130am. TUES & THU 6-8pm. Call or email Mark Fackler, ESL Coordinator to learn more.

CORE (Community Organizing for Racial Equity) has a workshop planned for November 10, 11 and 12. These Understanding Racism workshops are open to everyone in our congregation. We hope and pray that COS people continue in this work of understanding racism, becoming an ever brighter light in the community as to what God-led antiracism looks like. By attending a workshop and joining in the ongoing task of dismantling racism as a Christ follower, we can do good work together. We will hold this workshop at Church of the Servant. Registration costs are covered by our COS budget. Future workshops scheduled: Six Wednesday evenings on zoom from 6-9pm starting on January 11 and, another in person workshop is scheduled for March 9-11. Please prayerfully consider attending. Register at COREnow.org  

Church library news: New books! “Yes, thanks to the donations of generous and well-connected church members, the library has a selection of new books. All new books now reside in the bookshelf closest to the door facing the atrium. New books will be checked out in a sustainable way, with ‘used’ library cards. New books that are checked out at least 3 times will ‘earn’ their way into the permanent collection. Books that are not checked out will be taken to Baker Bookstore to trade for more Berenstain Bear books (because we can never have enough Berenstain Bears). Thank you for helping to sustain the church library, either by what you do, or what you don’t do. Win/win!” – Lori Vanden Bosch.

Prayer Requests for Our Congregational Journey after Synod 2022 and Suggestions for Education Series. Please continue to pray for our own congregation as we respond to Synodical actions. In the August letter to the congregation, Council reiterated our commitment to be a congregation open to a range of responsible, biblically based views on LGBTQ+ questions, united by our shared commitment to Christ, to vibrant worship and discipleship, and to our service in the world. We also want to honor the requests coming from our recent listening circles to provide continuing education and discussion around the theology presented in the human sexuality report. To this end, we plan to offer a variety of opportunities for learning over the fall and winter. We will explore additional views than those presented in the HSR to inform our discussions and to encourage us to approach those holding different views with respect and grace. If you have speakers, articles, or videos that you found helpful and would like to suggest to the committee working on this series, please contact Janice McWhertor, Pam Bratt, or any member of the Next Steps Task Force.

Saturday, October 29 at 9:30am, is COS’s annual Fall Work Day, lunch will be provided. There are projects for all ages and abilities: weeding, shed organization, tree trimming, winterizing property, hedge trimming, weed trimming. COS has some tools, but the Facilities Team recommends bringing some of your own as well. Contact Monica Smith or Bob Hoeksema if you are planning to attend the Fall Work Day.

Bible Study – Not too late to Join! The Thursday Bible Study began September 22, doing a study entitled: Questions Jesus Asks. The group meets Thursday mornings, 9:30-11 am. All are invited and welcome. Childcare will be provided. Hope to see you there!

October is Pastor Appreciation month. At COS, we would like to recognize Pastor Karen and Pastor Andrew with notes and cards of appreciation. For the five Sundays in October, baskets will be on the café counter in which to put your cards.