This Sunday at COS:
Before worship, you can attend the 9 am Hour in the church living room. This week begins Contemplate: A Study of Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love with Harry Plantinga. Learn more about the 9 am Hour at COS.
On this Trinity season Sunday, Rev. Andrew Mead will preach from Acts 11:1-18 and Leviticus 11:1-2,41-47 in the Tree of Life service in the large sanctuary. Lucy Gitau will preach from Matthew 25:1-13 in the All Nations Worship Service in Room 4.
Following worship, stick around for Sunday School for all Ages. Adult-ed GPS meets in room 5 following the worship services. This week in GPS, our COS mental health support team will discuss aspects of what suicide is, why it happens, who is affected, how we respond, how we grieve, how to support the grieving, and the necessary soul work for finding our way after such a severe loss.
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
October 27 ANWS – Rev. Andrew Mead, TOL – Rev. Len Vander Zee
November 3 Prism Combined Service – Ben Videtich
November 10 ANWS – Rev. Andrew Mead, TOL – Rev. Len Vander Zee
November 17 ANWS- Albert Strydhorst, TOL – Ruth Padilla DeBorst
Holiday Service Changes – We are experimenting with a few changes to our “traditional” holiday services this year.
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 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 – 7:00 pm 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 11:00 pm, but earlier to accommodate families and elderly who could not attend a service as late as 11 pm. 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 5 pm on Christmas Eve, will move to the final Sunday of Advent.
Christmas Morning – 10:00 am 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.
All Saints’ Service at Church of the Servant – November 3 at 6 pm. You are invited to our annual All Saints’ service to honor the “cloud of witnesses”—those faithful servants of Christ who have gone before us. Making worship inclusive of the whole community of saints—the living and the dead, however and whenever it’s done—broadens our understanding of the church, reminds us of those who went before us on the journey of faith, and reinvigorates our trust in Christ’s ultimate victory over sin and death. This Sunday evening service will include testimonies in which a few people give a brief testimony about a person—dead or living—who has modeled the Christian life for them.
Office and Facilities:
Fall Workday Saturday, October 19 at 9:00 am, will be COS’s annual Fall Workday. Projects for all ages and skill levels. A list of tasks planned will be available soon. (If the weather is not good in October, the backup date planned is Saturday, November 16.)
October 2024 Directories are available in the back of both worshipping spaces.
The next 2 COS hard Styrofoam collections will be October 13th thru 20th and January 12th thru 19th. Hard Styrofoam must have all stickers and tape removed before dropping it at church. Restaurant containers. meat trays, packaging, foam cups, etc. are not accepted. An alternative to holding your Styrofoam for the collection dates is to deliver it to Michigan Foam, 1820 Chicago Dr. SW, Wyoming, MI 49519. They are open weekdays 8-5 except holidays.
Outreach and Congregational Life
October is Pastor Appreciation month. At COS, we would like to recognize Pastor Andrew and Pastor Len with notes and cards of appreciation. For the four Sundays in October, a basket will be on the café counter in which to put your cards.
Medicare Presentation November 3: Are you retired, or about to be? Do you wonder which Medicare plan to choose? Does open enrollment [currently underway] bring you a sense of overwhelm? If any of these apply, come learn from an expert in the field: Dan Sherman. Dan works for Saint Mary’s, and his years of professional experience in the field have equipped him with a thorough understanding of our country’s Medicare system. The up-to-90-minute seminar will be held at 12pm on November 3rd. It’s a Prism Sunday, so bring your food to room 17 [in the ESL hallway] where Dan will present and answer questions. So, bring all your Medicare-related queries! If you’d like to join, please RSVP to Ben: ben.videtich@coscrc.org.
New Members Classes: Are you new or relatively new to Church of the Servant? Or, are you wanting to take a further step in commitment to our congregation’s mission? Whether you’re interested in either learning more about our mission and ministries or officially joining COS, you’re warmly invited to participate in New Members Class. We will meet in the Living Room at the COS building, just to the left of the main entrance as you enter, at 11:45am-12:30pm four Sundays in a row beginning October 20th and continuing until November 10th. Childcare is provided most days. Questions are welcome throughout. Apart from learning about COS, this is also a great opportunity to grow in relationship with others. Contact Ben Videtich at ben.videtich@coscrc.org to join or to ask any questions.
Counting our blessings… One blessing many of us enjoy is good health. You can return thanks for being healthy by giving back and donating blood. Blood donors play a crucial role in fighting cancer, surviving an accident, dealing with a chronic condition like sickle cell anemia, or facing surgery. You can donate at the next Blood Drive in our building on Monday, November 18, 2-7pm. Schedule online at: https://donateblood.versiti.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/11404512 You will be someone’s lifesaver! Questions? Contact Beth Karanicola or Ruth Huisman.
CORE Workshops: Are you actively working on becoming antiracist? We sure hope so! One way to seek justice and grow as a compassionate, caring disciple of Jesus is to participate in a CORE workshop. You’ll learn about unjust systems and how we blindly perpetuate injustices affecting black, indigenous, and all people of color. Much of the content is heavy and painful, but amidst the difficulty you’ll learn how to engage in meaningful ways and how to examine and challenge narratives, cultures, and systems oppressing and marginalizing so many of God’s children. The next CORE Workshop is October 24-26 here at Church of the Servant. And if you are a member at COS, the registration fee is covered by our Anti-Racism and Congregational Life Budget. Find more detail in this link. Thank you for considering this great opportunity for discipleship. Please feel free to provide the link to your contacts and bring a friend.
There is now a COS Together West Michigan (TWM) team that reports to the deacons, with Carol Rienstra as organizer-leader and Janice McWhertor as the deacon member. Six COS members – Arend VanderPols, Carol & Rich Rienstra, Natalie & Heather Drew, and Joan Huyser-Honig – attended the Candidate Accountability Session on Saturday, October 12. If you are interested in more information about how to be involved in this exciting and powerful movement for improving the lives of families in our community, talk with any one of them.
The quarterly (July, August, September) report from COS Prisoners in Christ highlights the Handlon Book Group and connections to a new book Living with Grief by Nicholas Wolterstorff, our partnerships with 70X7 Life Recovery, CLEAR, Reconciliation of Life, Citizens for Prison Reform and Coalition to Oppose Domestic Abuse, and a sneak preview of the Pontiac Peace Project that Troy Rienstra is spearheading. If interested in receiving more details, email info@prisonersinchrist.org
Faith Formation:
COS Food Pantry Item of the Month: Toothbrushes. This month the children’s ministry is collecting toothbrushes to help restock this essential personal care item in our food pantry. If you are able to donate a new toothbrush, you’ll find a basket on the children’s cart next to the front door of the church.
Please Help Prevent Running in the Cafe and Artery. If you’ve noticed some additional wiggle room in the cafe since swapping the round tables for rectangle tables, you’re not the only one… It seems the open pathway has become a tempting runway for kids. If you notice anyone running (or speedwalking) in the cafe or artery, please take a moment to ask them to slow down for everyone’s safety.