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

On this Trinity season Sunday, Rev. Andrew Mead will preach in the Tree of Life service in the large sanctuary Paul & Political Powers from Acts 26:1-8,24-29, Daniel 7:9-10,13-14. Seminary student, Debbie Jin, will preach in the All Nations Worship Service in Room 4 from Act 26.

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
December 1      ANWS – Rev. Andrew Mead, TOL – Rev. Len Vander Zee
December 8      ANWS – Charles Rugiramarora, TOL – Rev. Andrew Mead
December 15    ANWS – Rev. Andrew Mead, TOL – Rev. Len Vander Zee
December 22    Prism – Intergenerational Christmas Story – God’s Big Story

Upcoming services and opportunities to participate:

  • Thanksgiving Service – Thursday, November 28, 10:00am at Radical Grace Church – Rev. Andrew Mead preaching – Parking Map Link
  • Advent 1 – Sunday, December 1, 10:00am
    • Candle Lighters are needed for each of the Advent services. There is no speaking needed for this role. If you are interested, contact Maria Stapert Vander Berg (maria.stapert@coscrc.org). 
  • Advent 2 – Sunday, December 8, 10:00am
  • Advent 3 – Sunday December 15, 10:00am
  • O Antiphons Evening Advent Service – Sunday, December 15, 6:00pm
    • In addition to visual art and music for each antiphon, we will have a short reflection on each antiphon. If you are interested in offering a spoken reflection, or writing a poem related to one of the antiphons, contact Maria Stapert Vander Berg (maria.stapert@coscrc.org)
  • Advent 4/Prism Service – Sunday, December 22, 10:00am
    • Adults and kids of all ages are invited to participate in the telling of God’s Big Story. There are speaking roles and non-speaking roles. Rehearsals will take place on Sundays, December 8 and 15 from 11:30am – 12:45pm. If you are interested in participating, contact Jolanda Howe (jo.howe@coscrc.org). 
    • The Joyful Noise Orchestra will lead music for this service. Music will be available by Sunday, December 8. Rehearsals will be Wednesday, December 18 at 6:30pm, and Sunday, December 22 at 9:00am. Those involved in the telling of God’s Big Story can also participate in JNO if desired. Sign up by emailing Maria Stapert Vander Berg (maria.stapert@coscrc.org).
  • Christmas Eve Service – Tuesday, December 24, 7:00pm – including communion and candlelight, Rev. Andrew Mead preaching
  • Christmas Day Caroling – Wednesday, December 25, 10:00am – including Christmas Prelude music presented by children of the congregation, and hot chocolate (or coffee/tea) and cookies
    • Any children who would like to perform a Christmas song on an instrument or by singing is welcome to participate in the Prelude to our caroling. If your child is interested in participating in this way, contact Maria Stapert Vander Berg (maria.stapert@coscrc.org) 
    • Everyone who attends will have the opportunity to choose the Christmas carols we sing. 

Outreach & Congregational Life:

Our fall campaign for Meijer Simply Give ended on September 28th. Thanks to our generous members and Ellen Westrate, Food Coordinator, for participating in the double match day opportunities, we received $18,660 in Meijer food gift card donations. Our next Simply Give campaign has begun and will end on December 28th. Our next double match day is Saturday, December 14. (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.

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.

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. 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

Classis GR East Racial Justice Team – In this month’s newsletter from the Racial Justice Team, member of COS, Cindy VanderKodde, has two articles included. To read this newsletter, click on this link.

Collecting Pajamas – Prisoners in Christ is partnering with 70X7 Life Recovery and the Kent County Sheriff’s office to collect pajamas for children with an incarcerated parent. For more information, see the flyer on the cafe table or contact Carol Rienstra carolrienstra@gmail.com 616-724-6772 or Cheryl  Wyma. cherylw@70x7liferecovery.org 616-454-4925

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.

Missions:

Fran and Mitogo Opira, missionaries that we support, will be worshipping with us today. Please stop by their table in the café area to learn about their ministry here in Grand Rapids and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A warm greeting and lots of interest from our church will encourage them in their ministry.

To read the newsletter update from Geoff & Tammy Kooistra, click on this link.

Office & Facilities:

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.

Inclement Weather Cancellations – In communication, the members of the Executive Team will monitor weather, other cancellations in the area, and conditions around the COS building. Final determination of cancellation will be made by 7:00am on Sundays and 12:00pm on Wednesdays. If it is determined that services and events will be cancelled, the following steps are taken to ensure prompt communication to the congregation: posts will be made on social media, email will be sent, and post will be made on WOODTV8.

Capital Campaign Update – You may have noticed the new doors that have been recently installed at COS. These doors replace the deteriorating wooden doors in the original COS structure. This upgrade is just one of the many projects that are part of the Capital Campaign for building upgrades initiated earlier this year. With gifts and pledges totaling nearly $490,000, we have already completed several of the projects identified in the Campaign. These include the following:
· Handrail for the steps on the right side of the stage in Tree of Life worship space.
· New controls for the Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning system. These provide easy access to the system for monitoring and control using up-to-date remote access software.
     · A new camera system for live streaming the Tree of Life service. Previously we were still using Dave Hartwell’s personal 35mm camera. The new higher resolution system provides better control and zooming abilities.
· New doors replacing the nine deteriorating wooden doors from the six entry points in the original COS building. These doors provide much greater security, better handicapped egress, and are more durable than the old doors.
· Along with the new doors, the door access system has been upgraded for the entire building. This includes a new key fob system for unlocking doors and new remote access software to lock and unlock the doors during services and other events. 

We have now spent around $175,000 with the bulk of that being door replacement. We have made some great progress, but there is still much more to do. Please consider the following.
· If your pledge involves payments over several years, this is a reminder to check when the next payment is due.
· If you would like to learn more about the campaign or would like to make a pledge, please go to https://www.churchoftheservantcrc.org/campaign/.
· If you would like to give a gift directly to the campaign, you can go to the on-line giving portal at https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZAN9/home.
A heartfelt thanks to all who joined or will join in this effort.

– Facilities and Capital Campaign Teams

Staffing Update – With the resignation of Dave Hartwell as Communications Coordinator, as interim solution, Council has moved some of his work to the Administrative Teams and put a hold on some of his work. Bulletin announcement requests should be sent to office@coscrc.org by 8:30am Thursdays. The newly formed AV Team is looking for volunteers interested in learning the audio and video tasks required to run the sound booth and live streaming. If you are interested in more information on the AV Team, contact Monica, Church Administrator, at monica.smith@coscrc.org.

Prayer Requests & Church Family News:

Our prayer focus this week is on the work of Yan and Lorraine Wang in Massachusetts: Lorraine’s job with Eastern Nazarene College (ENC) will end on December 19 because the college is closing. Please pray for her transition and applying for a new job.

We express our sympathies to the Verbrugge family in the death of John’s mother Thursday, November 21. “We knew it would be soon, but we are still in sadness that this day has come.”

We express our sympathies to the Vos family in the death of Corrie’s brother. “I will miss him very much, but he was 86 and accepted that his life was over and confident that he would be with his Lord in a new and wonderful way.”

Weekly Calendar:

Sunday, November 24

  • 9:00am – Joyful Noise Orchestra Rehearsal
  • 10:00am – All Nations Worship Service in Room 4
  • 10:00am – Tree Of Life Service in the Large Sanctuary
  • 11:45 am – Sunday School and GPS

Monday, November 25

  • 10:30am–12:30pm – Food Pantry

Tuesday, November 26

  • 9:30am – Friendship ESL
  • 10:00am – Tuesday Morning Prayer Group – at Beacon Hill
  • 6:00pm – Friendship ESL

Wednesday, November 27

  • 9:30am – Friendship ESL
  • 11:30am–1:30pm – Food Pantry

Thursday, November 28

  • 10:00am – Thanksgiving Day Service @ Radical Grace, 600 Lafayette Ave NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Friday, November 29

  • 3:30 pm – Friday Newsletter and Bulletin sent Sign up here

Saturday, November 30

  • 10 am – All Nations Prayer Group

Sunday, December 1

  • 9:00am – Harry Plantinga’s Class in Living Room
  • 10:00am – All Nations Worship Service in Room 4
  • 10:00am – Tree Of Life Service in the Large Sanctuary