There is again a flurry of activities of trios and calls. Doon has called Rev. Engelsma, from Loveland; Pella has called the Rev. D. Kuiper from a trio consisting of Revs. Heys, Kuiper, and Lubbers; Hull’s congregation will meet Oct. 27 to call one from a trio comprising the Revs. Kuiper, Lubbers, and Woudenberg; and First Church must elect on Nov. 28, from a trio including the Revs. Engelsma, Lubbers, and Schipper, one to whom they will extend a call to be missionary to Jamaica.

In response to the need of the Jamaican churches our Mission Committee has decided to send Rev. Lubbers to labor there for three months. Southwest Consistory has graciously, consented to release their pastor for this work. Rev. and Mrs. Lubbers are scheduled to leave Nov. 4. A special program has been prepared to observe their departure Sunday evening, Nov. 2, at Hope Church. The Southwest congregation had a private farewell party for them on Tuesday evening, Oct. 21, sponsored by the Mr. and Mrs. Society. This send-off program included talks by Rev. Lubbers and Mr. H. Meulenberg, who also showed slides of the locale and played tapes of the voices of some of our Jamaican friends. A gift, in the form of a donation to help defray the travel expenses of the Jamaican ministers, was prepared to send with Rev. and Mrs. Lubber

The Annual Reformation Day Rally was held in Grand Rapids in First Church auditorium on Friday evening, Oct. 24, featuring Prof. H.C. Hoeksema as speaker. From the first sentence—”Beloved sons and daughters of the Reformation, the Reformation story is a love story, that of the sovereign love of God”—to that last sentence—”The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, always has the victory, always conquers.”—the speaker held his audience in a quiet listening mood: His theme was “The Word of God and the Reformation,” which was treated from three points of view: 1) The Word of God in the Reformation: 2) The Reformation and the Word of God; 3) The Word of God and Reformation. It was a clear evening which brought out many “sons and daughters” who, came to be reminded of the break-away from the established church which had become apostate, and to be directed to our calling to beware of any deviation from the truth of the Scriptures which would necessitate another reformation. Mrs. C. Lubbers was in her usual place at the console of the pipe organ, the prelude being “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” and the postlude “Now Thank We All Our God.” Rev. Veldman led in opening devotions and introduced the speaker. Rev. Heys was asked to lead in closing prayer in the place of Rev. Schipper, who was absent due to the decease of Mrs. Schipper’s mother.

Loveland’s pastor, Rev. Engelsma, was scheduled to give a Reformation Day Lecture on October 30, speaking on “The 16th Century Reformation of the Church.” Plans included the opportunity to ask questions of the lecturer about this wonderful historic fact. The evening was sponsored by the church extension committee.

Rev. Woudenberg received an unusual “thank-you” for his sermon recordings lately. It was from Holland, Mich.; she wrote, in part, “I am blind and finding suitable recordings to listen to is often difficult. I appreciate your services very much. I hope more blind and shut-in individuals are able to take advantage of, this wonderful truth which is so distinct in this day and age. . .” So we learn of another connecting link to the manse in Lynden, Wash.

The Eastern Ladies’ League met in Southeast. Church Thursday evening, Oct. 23. Prof. H. Hanko spoke on “The Generation Gap.” The musical portion of the program was a song, “Perfect Peace,” sung by the Westra sisters (five of them!), members of Southeast Church.

Southwest Deacons joyfully announce that they have received 2960 lbs. of clothing for the Jamaican poor, plus $384.99 for shipping charges and for new clothing. They take this news item as an opportunity to “thank you one and all.” We are thankful to the Lord for this show of mercy. Truly it was a rewarding experience for us as Deacons to assist in this clothing drive. The 7 cartons left Grand Rapids by truck for Miami on Oct. 16, and then piggy-back on the boat for Jamaica. The shippers figure on 4 to 5 weeks for delivery. Rev. Lubbers will then be there, D.V., to assist in the distribution thereof. Our brethren and sisters in Jamaica, we are sure, join us in saying ‘Thank you.'”

The Western Ladies’ League was held in Hull on Oct. 16, with an intriguing idea to emphasize their theme Each member was provided with a dress pattern guaranteed to fit all Christian women. Materials listed were joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, etc. One of the “directions” for installing zipper (called a lip-zipper) was Prov. 21:23 (look it up for yourself). Some of the pattern shapes were a speech by Rev. Van Baren on “Christian Witnessing,” and a question hour conducted by Rev. Lanting.

. . . see you in the church triumphant, where we shall join the angels in their worship saying, “Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor and power and might be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.”

—JMF