This Sunday at COS:
Before worship, you can attend the 9 am Hour in the church living room. This week’s meeting is Cultivate with Ruth Lemmen. Each Cultivate gathering will focus on a spiritual practice–some ancient, some newer, some involving creativity or movement. Learn more about the 9 am Hour at COS
This Trinity Season Sunday, Rev. Len Vander Zee will preach from Acts 17:16-34 and Isaiah 19:18-24 in the Tree of Life service in the large sanctuary. Rev. Andrew Mead will preach from Acts 17:16-34 in the All Nations Worship Service in Room 4.
Following worship, stick around for Sunday School for all ages. Our Adult-ed GPS meets in Room 5 for a self-guided prayer journey with reflections on scripture passages from the book of Hebrews.
The 10 am Tree of Life service will also be broadcast via Zoom. Sign up for our Newsletter to receive the Zoom links.
Worship:
Preaching Schedule
November 17 ANWS- Albert Strydhorst, TOL – Ruth Padilla DeBorst
November 24 ANWS – Debbie Jin, TOL – Rev. Andrew Mead
December 1 ANWS – Rev. Andrew Mead, TOL – Rev. Len Vander Zee
December 8 ANWS – Charles Rugiramarora, TOL – Rev. Andrew Mead
O Antiphons Advent service at Church of the Servant – December 15, 2024 at 6 pm. The COS O Antiphons Advent service makes use of a series of medieval prayers referred to as the O Antiphons. They were composed for use in evening prayer services on the last seven days of Advent. They are best known to us as the seven verses of the advent hymn, O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Each antiphon is a petition for Christ to come, addressing the Messiah with a title from Old Testament prophecies. In anticipation of this year’s service, we invite members of the congregation to contribute artwork for our worship. If you would like to contribute artwork for this year’s service, please contact Maria Stapert, COS Worship Coordinator. Artwork is not limited to paintings nor limited to professional artists. Learn more here.
Holiday Service Changes – This year we are experimenting with a few changes to our “traditional” holiday services.
Thanksgiving Day – 10:00am Worship at Radical Grace Church (formerly Coit Community Church – 600 Lafayette NE) – For many years we have worshiped together with Radical Grace/Coit on Thanksgiving Day, and we have hosted the service at COS. This year Radical Grace has offered to host the service, with Rev. Andrew Mead preaching. Please join us in worship that morning as we continue to support the work of this church.
Christmas Eve – 7:00pm Communion and Candlelight Service – This year we will have one worship service on Christmas Eve rather than two. The service will be similar to the service formerly held at 11:00pm, but earlier to accommodate families and elderly who were not able to attend a service as late as 11pm. The service will also include some child-friendly elements and is hopefully early enough for young families to attend. The intergenerational story-telling that formerly happened at 5pm on Christmas Eve, will move to the final Sunday of Advent.
Christmas Morning – 10:00am Carol Singing – The time of this service remains the same as in past years, but the format will become less formal, with extended time for singing Christmas carols together.
Faith Formation:
GPS Self-Guided Prayer Journey, Nov. 10 This Sunday we’re making space for prayer and reflection on Scripture passages from the book of Hebrews. We’ll bring our post-election hopes, fears, dreams, and longings to God as we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. We’ll begin at 11:45am with a shared liturgy from Our World Belongs to God, a contemporary testimony, followed by a time of self-guided prayer. You’ll receive a prayer guide with Scripture, invitations, and prompts to use at prayer stations around the GPS room. Care will be taken to ensure the space is accessible for all. If you prefer to pray outside, consider taking the prayer guide with you to the nature trail.
COS Women – the Women’s Winter Non-Retreat is back! It a ‘non retreat’ because we have no speakers and no agenda. What we DO have is fun, food, conversations, and time to renew old friendships and form new ones. Mark your calendars for Feb. 7 – 9 (technically, we can stay until the morning of Monday, Feb 10 for those who would like to stay that long). Questions? Call/text Deb Zondervan.
Outreach and Congregational Life
Your Friendship ESL, September-October: 32 sessions, 120 classes, 534 attending….92 registered from 25 nation backgrounds (most: Afghanistan, Ukraine, Haiti, Sudan). Not captured in the statistics: a full chorus of singing nursery babies, cafe treats from Kraft Ave Panera, field trip to Mediterranean market, a host of tutors, new students from Syria and Malaysia getting registered as this is written. Asante sana, Bwana Yesu.
The final Classic Movie Night of 2024 features Christmas In Connecticut a 1945 American Christmas romantic comedy film about an unmarried city magazine writer who pretends to be a farm wife and mother. Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck) is a single New Yorker, employed as a food writer. Her articles about her fictitious Connecticut farm, husband, and baby are admired by readers across the country. Her publisher, Alexander Yardley (Sydney Greenstreet), is unaware of the charade and insists that Elizabeth host a Christmas dinner for returning war hero Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan). Comedy ensues as Elizabeth tries to fool everyone and host a Merry Christmas. Christmas In Connecticut will be shown in the COS Living Room Theater Tuesday, November 19 at 6:30pm. Popcorn and lemonade provided. $1 suggested donation.
Christmas Brunch – December 22: Christmas Brunch following our Prism combined worship service. To remind you how this works: you will be assigned to contribute something based on your last name. Place your food in the café on one of the serving tables before the service. Have the food ready to be served—cut, sliced, and uncovered. The ovens and fridge in the kitchen will be available, as will serving spoons and knives. Enjoy the worship service and then head to the café to enjoy fellowship together. Your serving dish will be on a table near the kitchen. Please note that this year’s brunch is later than in past years.
Volunteers are needed to help with serving punch and to clear empty serving dishes. Please contact Jill Frazee-Eitman if you would like to help
Last names beginning:
A – E something “brunchy” —egg dish, deviled eggs, etc
F – K bread, muffins, bars or cookies
L – R veggies
S – Z fruit
Collecting Glasses: If you have unused prescription glasses you would like to donate to a ministry in Africa, bring them to the red bucket on the counter in the café throughout the month of November.
People Need People! We are just one week from our next church blood drive, and would love to fill the nine appointment slots still available. Monday, November 18, from 2-7pm is the date, and the place is right here in our cafe. There is no way to manufacture human blood, so it is up to volunteer donors to supply what is needed for victims of car accidents, recipients of transplants, surgical patients, neonatal intensive care infants, and more. Please consider if you could be that life-saver for another human being. Schedule online here. Talk to Beth Karanicola or Ruth Huisman if you have questions. Thank you to all who have already signed up!
Office and Facilities:
Bulletin Announcements: please submit bulletin announcement requests to office@coscrc.org by 8:30 am Thursday mornings.
To save space in the foyer, we are not putting out the portable coat racks. Instead, we encourage everyone to use the designated coat areas near Door A, Door D, Door M, and outside Room 3 or keep your coat with you as you worship.
October 2024 Directories are available in the back of both worshipping spaces.