 |
|
| Home | Current Issue | Print Article | Print Issue Policy | Narrow/Wide |
|
Volume 73,
Issue 9
News From Our Churches Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Minister Activities Rev. B. Gritters, pastor of the Hudsonville, MI PRC, declined the call he had received from the South Holland, IL PRC.Rev. Dale Kuiper, pastor of the Southeast PRC in Grand Rapids, MI, declined the call he had received to serve as pastor of the Hope PRC in Walker, MI. Rev. R. VanOverloop, pastor of the Georgetown PRC in Hudsonville, MI, received the call to serve as our churches' missionary to Ghana. Denominational Activities Rev. R. VanOverloop and Prof. H. Hanko, two members of our denomination's Committee for Contact with Other Churches, planned to spend, the Lord willing, two weeks in mid-January in Australia, meeting with representatives of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), exploring the possibilities of our forming sister church relations with them. This was done to fulfill a mandate of our churches' Synod of 1995. If interested, you can read more about this conference on page 77 of our 1996 Acts of Synod.The seminary internships have now concluded and the three students (Daniel Kleyn, Jim Laning, and Martin VanderWal have returned to the seminary. May the Lord continue to be with them as they conclude the last year of study at our seminary, and may He also provide for them in His time a place of labor in the midst of our churches. Speaking of our seminary, an interim course entitled "Pastoral Counseling" was taught for a week and a half in January by Prof. R. Decker. Evangelism Activities The congregation of our Grandville, MI PRC began airing their church services on WCET-TV, a public access station, on January 4. These services will be broadcast every Saturday and Sunday from 12:00-1:00 P.M. on channel 10 for Grandville -and Georgetown Township and channel 5 for Hudsonville and Blendon Township.Fourteen members of the Georgetown PRC left on January 1 for a week among the people of the Protestant Reformed churches in Jamaica. Few would consider it a challenge to leave cold Michigan to spend a week in Jamaica in January, but, looking over this group's itinerary for that week, one sees that a large portion of their trip was devoted to serving the Jamaicans. The group planned to assist pastors in special meetings by sharing their Reformed perspectives through workshops, discussions, song services and neighborhood surveys to promote the evening meetings. In addition to that work, other efforts went towards work on a house built during a past project/trip to Jamaica. This work will include painting, the construction of a shower, and the digging of a cistern. The group from Georgetown was also busy with the distribution of donated clothing, shoes, vitamins, and hygiene items such as soap, shampoo, and toothbrushes. Through these efforts they hoped to share the message of the gospel with people in much different circumstances and who have a much different background, and in the process also be challenged to examine their own beliefs and their relation to the world around us. School Activities The Emmanuel PR School Society Library Committee, made up of members of the First PRC in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada was happy to announce that their library was finally ready to open for members of their congregation. They had concentrated on purchasing good Christian reading, books that could not easily be found in the public library system in Edmonton. These efforts were made in the hope that some day the Lord will pave the way for our own PR grade school to open there, and these books will serve as a good basis for the library there.First's congregation was also asked to donate Christian books, if possible, now or in the future. And I would expand that request to the readers of the Standard Bearer. Books must be screened by the committee before being added to the library. If interested, contact Dawn DeVries at 10712 159th St., Edmonton, AB T5P 3B4 or call (403) 489-6470. Congregational Activities Writing about good Christian books reminds me that the Reformed Book Outlet, a Christian bookstore run with the help of the Hudsonville, MI PRC, with help coming from the membership of other PR congregations in West Michigan as well, will be closed for the first three or four months of this year due to remodeling activities in the mall where it is located in Hudsonville. You may continue to call (616) 669-6730 or E-Mail your orders and the staff will do its best to expedite them. |
|
| SEARCH STANDARD BEARER TEXT HERE Advanced Search Reset | ||
| BIBLE TEXT INDEX | ||