Family Ties - July 2009

July Birthdays

3	Jeanette Eisen Dennis Heath Cindy Lillibridge
10	Heather Dominguez
11	Lori Bruins
14	Jasmine Dominguez

16	Phil Metten
21	Michael Lillibridge
23	Laura McClellan
23	Gideon Vander Kooi
25	Lisa Maycroft
29	Sue Meindertsma
30	Traci Berg

Pastor's Page
SIGNIFICANT MOMENT
     In last month’s Family Ties I wrote about ways to connect with General Synod. I was able to sit in on part of the assembly. It happened to be the day that adoption of the Belhar Confession was discussed and voted on.

     For many, this may be the first time you have heard of the Belhar Confession. What is it? In the prologue to the Belhar we find, "The Belhar Confession has its roots in the struggle against apartheid in Southern Africa. This "outcry of faith" and "call for faithfulness and repentance" was first drafted in 1982 by the Dutch Reformed Mission Church... The Dutch Reformed Mission Church formally adopted the Belhar Confession in 1986. It is now one of the "standards of unity" of the new Uniting Reformed Church of Southern Africa (URCSA). Belhar's theological confrontation of the sin of racism has made possible reconciliation among Reformed churches in Southern Africa and has aided the process of reconciliation within the nation of South Africa."

     The Reformed Church in America (RCA), the denomination of which Church of the Saviour is a part, began its journey with the Belhar Confession. In 2007, the General Synod called for a two-year period of discernment to see if the Belhar should be adopted as a Confession of the RCA. After some debate, the vote was taken and the 2009 General Synod voted to adopt the Belhar Confession as the fourth Standard of Unity, coming alongside the Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dordt and the Belgic Confession.

     This is a significant moment. It has been a few hundred years since something has been added as a Standard of Unity. And while the General Synod voted to adopt the Confession as one of our Standards, one more thing has yet to happen: two-thirds of the RCA’s 46 classes need to approve the adoption. Those votes will then be reported at the 2010 General Synod.

     You may find information about the Belhar Confession on the RCA's website. We will also be incorporating portions of the Belhar in our worship services.

     In the Reformed faith we often say that we are "reformed and ever reforming" according to God’s Word. This is one of the ways that lives out. It is a significant moment.

~~ Elder's Corner ~~
by Roger Luben

May 20th the parking lot looked like a used car lot of vans especially equipped for wheelchairs. It was again the evening set aside for the Special Friends Picnic at Church of the Saviour. This spring we had 78 people attend, including the care givers who made additional efforts to transport the eager partiers.

Although it takes a lot of planning to put on this type of picnic, every line for a request for a volunteer was filled. Sue Meindertsma again donated and prepared the bulk of the food, including the barbeques. Several other COS members donated drinks and food, including cupcakes. Barb Veeneman donated the 250 pieces of fruit and party favors used for prizes for Bingo. Bob Veeneman called the Bingo numbers to the excited group. Kathryn Hamm, Community Resource Coordinator for Ottawa County, sent the invitations and provided the ice cream desserts. Ottawa Kent Gardens donated plants for center pieces while JoEllen Meerman put her special touch on them to make the tables look welcoming. Amy Pitz played the piano to entertain the group while everyone found a table.

Next year we hope to continue to fine-tune the picnic to make it run even more smoothly. We hope to start earlier to accommodate everyone’s schedule.

Thank you to everyone who made the Special Friends Picnic a success again. It is an event that is truly appreciated by all who attend.

Deacon's Corner
~By Cheryl Taylor~

Fiery Sermon
A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the preacher decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The preacher found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his preacher’s visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.

The preacher made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the preacher took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone then he sat back in his chair, still silent.

The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead.

Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The preacher glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the preacher reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."

We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little. Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken.


		Mark your calendars for VBS 2009! COS and the Coopersville United Methodist Church will be teaming up again this year for another fun week. Plan to join us July 19-23 for Davey & Goliath's CAMP CREATION. Volunteers allow this week to be successful: anyone willing to help with background painting or other set up duties is asked to attend work sessions on July 8 at 7PM and/or July 18 at 1PM. Artificial trees are still needed to borrow for the week. If you wouldn't mind lending your tree, drop it off no later than Sunday, July 12. There will be a work bee following worship that day to set up trees. Be sure to clearly label any items you would like back! There are items needed that are posted on the wishing tree in the narthex as well!

JYF FUNDRAISER
Do you have cell phones that you no longer use?
Please consider dropping them in the collection boxes placed around the church building. JYF is conducting a fund raiser by collecting unwanted cell phones and mailing them to Pace Butler Corporation. No chargers or other accessories are needed, just the cell phone and its battery.
Pace Butler will sort the phones and send JYF a check for the value. A price sheet is posted in the narthex if you would like to look your phone up. This fundraiser will be ongoing but we would like to mail the first batch of donated phones by July 23rd. Thank you in advance for your contributions!

There will be no Scrapbooking/Craft Night
for the month of July.

Please remember these young people from our congregation in your prayers as they attend Camp Geneva this month:
Geneva Shores     July 6-10     Gerrit Tibbe
                              July 13-18     Mychala Spoelman
Geneva Pines     July 13-18     Jaimie Spoelman

From the Thursday morning Bible Study:
A few years ago at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100 yard dash. At the gun, they all started out not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to the finish and win. All that is, except one boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times and began to cry. The other eight heard the boy. They all slowed down and looked back. They all turned around and went back. Every one of them. One girl with Down’s Syndrome bent down and kissed him and said, "This will make it all better." All nine linked arms and walked across the finish line together. Everyone in the stadium stood and the cheering went on for several minutes. People who were there are still telling the story. Why? Could this be an example of Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us"?
With the world watching, may we who follow Christ share our comfort, joy, and the peace of Christ with our "neighbors." May we help each other to resist the temptations of evil, and may we always strive to stay on the course that our Lord’s words have marked out for us.

Directory Update
Please make a note in your Church Directory of the following changes:
Dean and Eileen Heath’s address is now
Heron Manor
2106 Leonard Street NE, Apt. 212
Grand Rapids MI 49505

Did you happen to take any pictures during the period of time the church roof and towers were being repaired? If you did, please let the office or Bud Kloosterhouse know.

The Coopersville Foundation will be sponsoring its second “Feeding America” (formerly Second Harvest) mobile food pantry in the Coopersville area on July 31st at COS. There will be a truck with 5,000 pounds of varied food products to be handed out on a first come, first serve basis. Distribution will begin at 10AM. (Coopersville Cares will partner with the Coopersville Sportsman’s Club and the Coopersville Rotary Interact Club to sponsor trucks monthly: September 8, October 13, November 10 and December 8. Distribution will take place at Church of the Saviour at 10AM. Assistance is offered to people in need regardless of age, marital status, religion, race, gender or sexual orientation.)

Build New Possibilities into Your Life
with Habitat for Humanity of Kent County
Are bored due to retirement or temporary unemployment? Would you like to learn new skills while volunteering your time to help others? If you answered yes, we have the perfect fit for you!
Our volunteers share experience and skills, while gaining skills in framing, painting, trim carpentry, landscaping and more. Have an impact by keeping the warehouses organized and inventory up to date.
The schedule for all of these opportunities is flexible and can be adjusted to fit your schedule. We should let you know that we have a lot of fun doing what we do! For more information or to set up a time to talk, please contact Joni at (616) 664-2431 ext. 226 or

W.O.W. Worship on the Waterfront
Grand Haven Waterfront Stadium – rain or shine
     Sunday Evenings 7:30-8:45PM
No Cost               No tickets
June 28        Jim Novak
July 6            Benton Brown
July 12          Hark Up Girls
July 19          Youth Musical "GPS (God’s Plan of Salvation)"
July 26          Avalon
August 2       Matt Maher
August 9       Singing Crusaders
August 16     Caraway Puppet Celebration
August 23     Peder Eide
August 30     Chris Hansen & The Horns of Power with Marcia Kloote

Annual Berlin Fair Hymn Sing:
Sunday, July 12, at 8PM at the Berlin Fairgrounds in Marne. Featuring: the Heritage Singing Men, Lindsay Prins, Harlyn Sall on trumpet with Dave Den Ouden on baritone. In case of inclement weather the program will be held at the Coopersville Reformed Church. Free admission and parking.

The Window Through Which We Look...

A young couple moved into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they were eating breakfast, the young woman saw her neighbor hanging the wash outside. "That laundry is not very clean," she said. "She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash load on the line and said to her husband, "Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this?"

The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows."

And so it is with life. What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look.

Cran-Hill Ranch Inaugural Golf Outing - August 26th
You don't have to be a good golfer... in fact you don't even have to be a golfer at all. But the goal of this outing is for a lot of people to be able to make a big impact with us all doing a small part. Our hope is to have 40 golfers golf 100 holes at Pilgrim's Run (halfway between Grand Rapids and Cran-hill Ranch.) We provide you the golf balls, the cart for you to drive directly to your ball, all the food and some fine Cran-Hill Ranch Golf Apparel - and you provide the fun and the sponsors to help you toward the goal of $2500 for Cran-Hill. Please contact Scott Barger for more information at 231/796-7660 or

July 5~ Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10 or Ezekiel 2:1-5
Psalm 48 or Psalm 123
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13

July 12 ~ Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 or Amos 7:7-15
Psalm 24 or Psalm 85:8-13
Ephesians 1:3-14
Mark 6:14-29

July 19 ~ Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
2 Samuel 7:1-14a or Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm 89:20-37 or Psalm 23
Ephesians 2:11-22
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

July 26 ~ Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Samuel 11:1-15 or 2 Kings 4:42-44
Psalm 14 or Psalm 145:10-18
Ephesians 3:14-21
John 6:1-21

Serving Community
East Greeters:	July 5 July 12 July 19 July 26 August 2 August 9 August 16 August 23 August 30	Mark & Kim Lempke Dave & Cindy Lillibridge Mike & Cheryl Lillibridge Rick & Lonnie Lillibridge Phil Luben & Keeley Heath Roger & Jeanne Luben Jaime & Wendy Maxwell Jim & Laura McClellan Kyle & Rachael McClellan
Coffee:	July 5 July 12 July 19 July 26 August 2 August 9 August 16 August 23 August 30	Chris & Traci Berg Marv & Betty Bergsma Cory & Lori Bruins Arlene Bubnik & Gert Veeneman Rodger & Theresa Cheadle Chuck & Connie Cook Angel & Heather Dominguez Mary Estrada & Lisa Maycroft Jeannette Eisen & Sue Allen
Nursery:	July 5 July 12 July 19 July 26 August 2 August 9 August 16 August 23 August 30	Kloosterhouse family and Beka Wiersma Leep/Meerman families Cheadle/Anderson families Dave Lillibridge family and Valerie Lillibridge Mike Lillibridge family & Carey Taylor Rick Lillibridge family Jim McClellan family Kyle McClellan family Meindertsma family
Sound System:	July 5 July 12 July 19 July 26 August 2 August 9 August 16 August 23 August 30	Kyle McClellan Ray Tibbe David Rosel Will Rosel Kyle McClellan Ray Tibbe David Rosel Will Rosel Kyle McClellan
Sunday School:	July 5 July 12 July 19 July 26 August 2 August 9 August 16 August 23 August 30	Summer Break Summer Break Summer Break Summer Break Summer Break Summer Break Summer Break Summer Break Summer Break
Communion Set Up:	July 5 August 2	David Rosel Denise Wiersma

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