Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan.

Congregational Activities

The congregation of the Georgetown PRC in Hudsonville, MI met together the weekend of March 7 and 8 for their annual Church Conference. This year’s conference was held at the Prince Center on the campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. In addition to games and various activities over the two days, Georgetown enjoyed discussions on the subject of how to maintain a daily schedule and still have time for the Lord in your life, based on the video and book Margins, by Dr. Richard Swenson.

That same weekend, March 7 and 8, the ladies of the Byron Center, MI PRC held their second Women’s Retreat at the First Byron Center Christian Reformed Church. This year almost three hundred women from our churches throughout the United States and Canada gathered together for a blessed two days of Christian fellowship, sectionals, and speeches. This year’s Retreat took an in-depth look at Ephesians 4:1under the theme “Women Walking Worthy.” Friday night Rev. Garrett Eriks opened the retreat by speaking on “Our Calling,” followed Saturday by Rev. Jason Kortering speaking on “Our Conduct,” and Rev. Carl Haak speaking on “Our Community.” Between those three speeches the ladies had the daunting task of choosing which two sectionals out of a total of fourteen available they wanted to attend. Some of those choices were: Teach Us to Pray, Spiritua Mentoring, Family in Crisis, and Caring for Elderly Parents. From all accounts, it was truly a blessed weekend. We could also add that the speeches are available online atbyronprc.org. Recent bulletins in our churches have included a thank-you from the ladies of Byron Center for the overwhelming response to their Women Walking Worthy Retreat, but the “News” wants to turn that around and extend a special thank you to the ladies of Byron Center for all their efforts in hosting a much appreciated retreat.

The Activities Committee for this year’s Young People’s Convention, hosted by the Byron Center, MI PRC, asked for the help of their congregation in trying out some of the games planned for this summer’s convention. The committee and “volunteers” met at Adams Christian School on March 15 from mid-afternoon to around 8:00 P.M. for a go-through for the various activities. The committee guaranteed a time of fun and laughs, plus an opportunity to help Byron Center prepare for a fun and successful convention.

The Adult Bible Study of the Grandville, MI PRC hosted a special meeting for their members and anyone else in their congregation interested on March 18. Prof. David Engelsma spoke on the topic, “The Authentic Greek Text of the New Testament and Modern Bible Versions.”

Evangelism Activities

In an effort to have a direct outreach to the neighborhood surrounding their church, the Evangelism Committee of First PRC in Grand Rapids, MI planned to hand out postcards to their neighbors inviting them to First’s Good Friday and Easter worship services and to follow that postcard up with regular contact over the course of the next year. First’s Evangelism Committee asked for volunteers from their congregation who were willing to join them on March 15 for an hour or two to go door-to-door and hand out invitation postcards.

The Evangelism Committee of Bethel PRC in Roselle, IL printed 750 flyers for their special services on Good Friday and Easter. Around 500 of those were mailed to the various contacts on their mailing list, which left 250 for congregational distribution and for display at neighborhood businesses. Those at Bethel who also have e-mail addresses received this flyer via e-mail so that the announcement could be simply forwarded to as many people as possible.

Mission Activities

The weekend of March 15 and 16 a delegation from our denomination’s Domestic Mission Committee visited the mission outreach in Pittsburgh, PA. This was a regularly scheduled visit and included, in part, the delegation meeting with Pittsburgh’s Steering Committee, as well as a visit with Missionary Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma and his family. As part of that delegation, Rev. James Slopsema was also able to preach for the mission on Sunday evening.

Also, Rev. Carl Haak left his congregation in Hudsonville, MI on March 14 to preach on March 16 for the Trinity OPC in Franklin, PA. This congregation has asked Rev. Bruinsma to preach for them on a periodic basis. Georgetown’s consistory agreed to allow Rev. Haak to preach for Trinity OPC once in March and once in November of this year.

Denomination Activities

On March 16 and March 23, at Fellowship Reformed Church in Jenison, MI and First CRC in Byron Center, respectively, the 175-voice 2008 PR Mass Choir presented two wonderful concerts of praise to our heavenly Father. Six different choirs from various PR churches in the Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo area practiced individually in the fall of 2007, and in January 2008 the entire group began combined practices, leading up to these two concerts. Collections taken went to defray expenses and to support the upcoming Young People’s Convention.

Minister Activities

The Lord blessed Rev. Clay and Allison Spronk, of the Peace PRC in Lansing, IL, with the birth of a baby girl, Christina Rena, on March 6.

Rev. Daniel Kleyn declined the call he was considering from the Doon, IA PRC to serve as our denomination’s next foreign missionary to the Philippines and the Berean PRC in Manila.