Young Adult Activities

Try for a moment to imagine the excitement in the Lynden, WA PRC congregation the first week in July. Their Young Adult Society was hosting another Young Adults Retreat that week, and some 50-60 young adults from the United States and Canada were scheduled to be in attendance. A quick look at the 2011 Yearbook shows that Lynden’s total membership is right at 99 souls, so that week Lynden grew by at least 50%. What an exciting and busy time, especially for the families able to host young adults that first weekend. To help these families with transportation issues on the Lord’s Day, Lynden’s consistory decided to change the time of their second wor­ship service to 2:00 p.m. A lunch was provided for all members of Lynden and the visiting young adults be­tween the services. A singspiration followed the second service. The congregation and young adults in town for the retreat were also invited to a picnic Saturday, June 30. In ad­dition to a dinner of fried chicken, those who could come out for the evening enjoyed bocce ball, volleyball, softball, and socializing. The retreat itself started on July 2 and went through July 5. Rev. R. Hanko and Rev. R. Kleyn were the scheduled speakers, and each spoke on an aspect of “Walking in the Light . . . in the Church and in the World.” This summer’s retreat was held at Warm Beach Christian Camp in Stanwood, WA. In addition to the speeches and discussion around this year’s theme, some other activities included white water rafting, a high rope course, canoeing, a climbing wall, and mud flats.

Denomination Activities

Prof. B. Gritters and Mr. Peter VanDerSchaaf and their wives left for Germany on June 21 on behalf of our denominational Contact Committee to visit Dr. Jürgen Klautke and the saints of the BERG (Confessing Protestant Reformed Church). The purpose of the trip was to strengthen and advance the contact that we have had with the BERG for several years, as well as to encourage these fellow saints in the spiritual waste­land that once was Luther’s home. We should also add here that the members of our Faith PRC in Jenison, MI once again had the opportunity to fellowship with two of the young people from the BERG. David Klautke and Thilo Tanetschek were in Michigan for the month of July and stayed with a family from Faith.

On June 27 Prof. R. Dykstra and his wife, Carol, left for Sin­gapore and our sister church, the Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church, where Prof. Dykstra will, the Lord willing, provide pulpit supply seven weeks for the CERC, in addition to giving several lec­tures and speeches.

Young People’s Activities

A spring lecture was sponsored by the members of the Pittsburgh, PA PR Fellowship for June 22 in their church. Rev. G. Eriks, pastor of the Hudsonville, MI PRC, gave a speech on the topic, “Christian Money Management.” The reason we include that news here is because Rev. Eriks and his wife also took a number of young people from Hudsonville with them on the trip to Pittsburgh. They wanted to be able to help the saints there in some way, so Pittsburgh scheduled a cleaning bee at their church on Saturday morn­ing, June 23. Saturday afternoon the group was able to spend some time at a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game. Rev. Eriks also preached for the Fellowship on Sunday evening before the group returned home.

The Young People’s Society of the Heritage PRC in Sioux Falls, SD scheduled not one but two fundraisers for Saturday, June 23, for this summer’s Young People’s Convention. The first was a Skeet Shoot fundraiser at Clay Bird Shot­gun Sports from 9:00-11:00 a.m., and the second was a car wash from 1:00-5:00 p.m. at META Bank.

The young people of the Corner­stone PRC in Dyer, IN invited their congregation, as well as others in the area, to a car wash Saturday morn­ing, June 30. Anyone with a dirty car was invited to stop by and enjoy coffee and baked goods while his car enjoyed a thorough cleaning.

The young people of the Hope PRC in Redlands, CA invited their congregation to a combined volleyball tournament/ice cream social on June 29. Money raised from entry fees and the sale of ice cream went toward this summer’s convention expenses.

Congregation Activities

On Sunday morning, June 17, after their worship service, the members of the Hudsonville, MI PRC gathered together to say fare­well to Seminarian Erik Guichelaar and his wife, Cherith. They left the end of that week for the Loveland, CO PRC where Erik began his six-month internship.

The July 1 bulletin of the Loveland, CO PRC included a welcome to Semi­narian Erik and Cherith Guichelaar as he officially began his internship there through the rest of this year, with their pastor, Rev. S. Key, serving as a mentor to fulfill the practical part of his semi­nary training.

School Activities

The Loveland, CO PR Christian School invited all those interested and able to join them on June 22 for a celebration of 50 years of education as well as a dedication of their new church building and high school addition. The evening of celebration included a dinner and a program. The school was also open for visiting.

The Federation of PR Christian Schools hosted a Summer Seminar on June 21 at our Faith PRC in Jeni­son, MI. This presentation featur­ing Laurel Falvo of the Grey Center gave strategies for increasing social success for those who themselves have autism, or for those who know someone with autism. This presen­tation was open to teachers, family members, friends, and colleagues.

Minister Activities

Rev. J. Marcus, pastor of the First PRC in Edmonton, AB, Canada, declined the call he was considering to serve as the next pastor of the Hope PRC in Walker, MI. Hope subsequently extended a call to Rev. C. Griess, pastor of Calvary PRC in Hull, IA.

Rev. A. Lanning, pastor of the Faith PRC in Jenison, MI, declined the call extended to him from the Randolph, WI PRC, to serve as their next pastor.