This Sunday at COS:
On this Pentecost season Sunday, Rev. Karen Campbell will preach from Psalm 82 and Luke 24:30-32 in the Tree of Life service in the large sanctuary. Lucy Gitau will preach from James 1:1-18 in the All Nations Worship Service in room 4.
Following worship, the Schoofs family will be visiting and presenting in Room 5 about their work Chad.
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:
Food Pantry Item of the Month: Shampoo. Each month the children’s ministry invites everyone who is able to donate a much-needed personal care item to the COS food pantry. This month’s item is Shampoo. Please deposit new, unused shampoo in the basket labeled, “Shampoo.” at the children’s check-in station cart next to the front door of the church. Involving children in giving is a great way to remind them that God takes care of us and gives us what we need. Our food pantry is one of the ways God provides for our needs.
As part of her work in the Irish Council Of Churches, Pastor Karen Campbell has worked with others on writing a booklet, From Every Nation? A Handbook for a congregation’s journey from welcome to belonging. We purchased a few hard copies to make available to borrow in the COS congregation. If you would like to read it, you may check out a numbered copy from the café counter. When you are finished, return it to the counter and sign it back in on the clipboard for someone else to borrow. Also, if you prefer to view it digitally, it is available as a PDF here.
Office and Facilities:
COS provides Sunday transportation to 30-40 people using two vans. The Transportation Ministry is looking for additional drivers to assist the current two drivers who make this ministry happen. Routes are already determined, leaving COS at 8:30am. The return trip leaves COS at 12:45pm. If you have a valid driver’s license, are over 25 years old, and are interested in more information, contact Monica Smith.
COS has a Security Team and a Medical Team scheduled for each Sunday service. The Security Team walks through the campus observing activities and is available to assist with any security issues which may arise. The ST wears an orange nametag. The Medical Team is the point person for any medical emergencies. The MT wears a white nametag with a red cross. If you would like more information about these Teams or would like to join their important work, contact Dave Stransky and Isaac Young.
Worship:
Preaching Schedule
August 11 ANWS – Debbie Jin, TOL – Rev. Len Vander Zee
August 18 ANWS – Makema Lwenge, TOL – Rev. Len Vander Zee
August 25 ANWS – Ruth Lemmen, TOL – Rev. Andrew Mea
September 1 ANWS – Rev. Andrew Mead, TOL – Rev. Ron Rienstra
Sunday morning scripture readers wanted! All are invited to participate in leading our worship by signing up for reading scripture. We encourage a wide variety of people to participate in this role! Parents, consider signing up with your children and helping them prepare during the week. This is a great way to help children engage in the worship. High school and college-age attendees, consider signing up with a friend. You can access the signup through our website, or directly through this link. You will receive and email reminder and the scripture passage from Maria Stapert on the Wednesday prior to the Sunday when you will be reading so you can prepare at home ahead of time. You can also read the Scripture Readers Guide on our website for more ways to prepare for this important role.
GF Communion Bread Update: Thank you for your patience as we transitioned to all gluten-free communion bread in July. We had supply changes throughout the month. However, we have settled on the bread that was served Sunday, July 28. If you were disappointed with the first couple of options, we encourage you to try again with the current bread. Ingredients are listed on the back of the weekly liturgy.
Outreach and Congregational Life
2nd Annual COS Gardens Tour – The Creation Care Team invites you to join them on Saturday morning, August 3 for a tour of the gardens at these members’ homes:
9:00-9:45 Rienstra garden (carpooling from here is encouraged)
10:00-10:45 Kuilema garden
11:00-11:45 Koetje garden
Come enjoy these gorgeous gardens in their prime!
We surpassed our goal! The Blood Drive on Monday was a wonderful success, collecting 32 pints of blood, 4 over the set goal of 28. We had one first-time donor, and five people who achieved new gallon levels: Mary Burch – 12 gallons; Darcy Ed – 6 gallons; Jill Frazee-Eitman – 5 gallons; James Horman – 1 gallon; Janice McWhertor – 1 gallon. If you see them, thank them for their selfless giving, and being a beacon of hope for our community. Thanks to all who participated! These donations have the impact of 96 patients receiving life-saving blood. What a gift! Mark your calendars now for our next Blood Drive on Monday, November 18. –Ruth Huisman and Beth Karanicola
Mobile Food Pantry: We are looking to add people to the Team Leader rotation for 2025 Mobile Food Pantry truck dates. Are you interested in being a Team Leader for this ministry? Have questions about what is involved with being a Team Leader? Contact Monica Smith or Greg Snow for more information.
Friendship ESL needs a morning nursery care associate, September 10-11 and one or two mornings a week thereafter. Can you do this for a month? ESL needs a driver to transport Afghan women living near Breton and 44th to English classes. Can you do this for a month, once or twice a week? (Driving is covered as secondary insurance through COS.) Every small gift of time is an act of fellowship. Call/text Mark Fackler.
Erik Kooyer Remembrance Ride: Erik loved to bike – to work, social events, shopping and to church. Join a group of fellow cyclists on August 25th to honor him with a bike ride to COS. Erik was passionate about cycling and the environment, and he would be overjoyed that we are doing this. We’ll start around 9am at Erik’s family home, 308 Morris SE, and make our way north on Morris, then east on Cherry to Lake Drive. We will continue on Lake until we arrive at the Calvin University campus, using Knollcrest Circle SE, heading under the Beltline to connect with E. Campus Drive. From there we continue to the small trail that picks up just past Zandee tennis courts in the Gainey Athletic Complex and follow it to the Church of the Servant campus. If you can’t make it to the starting point, please consider joining in along the way. We will do our best to take a gentle 10-12 mph pace, so you’ll have a general sense of where we’ll be. If other groups want to form starting south or east of the COS campus, please do some organizing and show up! The hope is to have a whole lot of cyclists show up for worship on August 25th. Any questions, please contact Ben Videtich.
Hard Styrofoam Collection: July 28th through September 4th. Please bring only hard Styrofoam to the collection point in the Cafe. Do not drop off outside or in the office if you need to deliver during the week. Contact Hope Bradley with your questions. The next collections are October 13, 2024, and December 12, 2026.
Meijer Simply Give: Our fall campaign for Meijer Simply Give began June 30 and runs through Saturday, September 28. The Double Match Day opportunities for COS will be held on Saturday, August 17th and Saturday, September 14th, 2024. (For every $10 Simply Give card purchased on these dates, Meijer will provide an additional contribution of $20, bringing the total to $30 for a single customer purchase.) If you would like to donate to support COS and its food pantry, you may do so by using our online portal to give or by giving cash or check with Simply Give in memo line at Church on Sundays.
Summer Movie Night 3: Tuesday, August 13 at 7:00pm in the COS Living Room Theater, we will watch Rear Window. Rear Window is a 1954 mystery film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. the film stars James Stewart, Grace Kelly, and Raymond Burr. Rear Window is considered by many filmgoers, critics, and scholars to be one of Hitchcock’s best, as well as one of the greatest films ever made. It received four Academy Award nominations. In the mid-1950s, while recuperating after breaking his leg, professional photographer, L. B. “Jeff” Jefferies, is confined to a wheelchair in his apartment in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. His rear window looks out onto a courtyard and other apartments. During an intense heat wave, he watches his neighbors, who keep their windows open to stay cool. One night, Jeff hears a woman scream and the sound of breaking glass…. Everyone is welcome to sit on the edge of your seat in suspense! Popcorn and lemonade provided. $1 suggested donation.