Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan.

Evangelism Activities

If you have World Wide Web access to web pages, be sure to check out our Loveland, CO PRC’s well-done home page. (Address: http://www.iserv.net/prc/prc.html). It is an excellent source of PRC information and lists—among other things, over 76 pamphlets available through the Evangelism Committee of the South Holland, IL PRC. These pamphlets and other materials can be accessed and obtained by on-line computers, and printed out on your own computer printers. Giving the address to friends or relatives who go “on-line” is another way of promoting our churches’ literature and making others aware of and appreciative of our reading materials.

Somewhat related to the above, we also pass along an item from the bulletin of our Randolph, WI PRC. Their pastor, Rev. S. Key, received a letter from a reader at Faith Christian School in Yuba City, CA who had seen Rev. Key’s sermon from Matthew 19:9 concerning the subject of divorce and Web. This teacher spoke about it to his 6th grade students, and the result was several questions. Again we are reminded of the many opportunities we are given today to give answers from Scripture to some of the questions that continue to come our way. 

We also couldn’t help but notice a letter sent to the Evangelism Committee of our South Holland PRC which pointed out in a striking way just how often the Spirit uses what seem to us to be insignificant means to spread His Word. This person, now living in Sale, Victoria, Australia, first became aware of our churches when he came across one of our Psalters while working in the city of Jerusalem. He was again reminded of our churches when he recently came across the booklet “Try the Spirits,” by Prof. D. Engelsma. 

The Bible Study Class at Grand Valley State University, sponsored by our Grace PRC in Standale, MI, appears to be progressing nicely. There are between 12 and 17 attending each week. Some of their weekly topics have been: “Roman Catholics and Evangelicals Together—is this a match made in heaven?”; “Virginity! who cares?”; “A Funny Thing Happened in Church Last Week . . . or was it so funny?”; and “Heaven or Hell . . . or going nowhere fast.” 

The Evangelism Committee of the Georgetown PRC in Hudsonville, MI made plans recently to sponsor a special community service. An informational meeting for their congregation was held on March 9, and the service followed a week later on March 16. For this morning service, Rev. R. Van Overloop preached from Acts 4:12, under the theme, “The Only Name for Salvation.”

Congregational Activities

The congregation of the Hope PRC in Redlands, CA approved a motion from their consistory to repair their church parking lot and at the same time also extend the parking lot to the north. This will give them more than 30 new parking spots. 

Rev. R. Cammenga, pastor of the Southwest PRC in Grandville, MI, recently agreed to repeat his seminar on “The Writing, Compilation, and Translation of the Bible” for our Georgetown PRC on Wednesday evenings in April. 

The Council of the Bethel PRC in Itasca, IL approved a request from members of their congregation to hold a pre-school Sunday School class for 20 minutes after the morning services for those who are interested. There will be two classes: one for 2 and 3-year olds, the other for 3 and 4-year olds. The Young Adults of the Loveland, CO PRC, with the help of their congregation, once again sponsored their annual Spring Retreat. Loveland’s pastor, Rev. G. VanBaren, and Rev. R. Miersma, pastor of the Immanuel PRC in Lacombe, AB, Canada, were this year’s speakers.

Mission Activities

The Domestic Mission Committee of our churches now has its own home page on the Internet. The address is http://missions.iserv.net. 

Prof. and Mrs. Decker, along with Mr. and Mrs. Harry Langerak, left on March 26 to labor for almost three weeks in Singapore. They were sent by our denominational Contact Committee and by our Hope PRC in Walker, MI, the calling church for Rev. Kortering. The 1996 Synod mandated this trip to investigate the work of Rev. Kortering and to determine whether to extend Rev. and Mrs. Kortering’s stay in Singapore as minister-on-loan for another five years.

Minister Activities

Rev. John Heys, emeritus minister in our churches, was hospitalized in early March with pneumonia and other complications. However, later that month he moved to Hudsonville Christian Nursing Home. 

Mrs. Helen Schipper, widow of Rev. Marinus Schipper, passed into glory on April 3, at the age of 89. We extend our Christian sympathy to the family, finding our comfort in the assurance of God’s Word as found in Romans 8:18.

Our South Holland, IL PRC will call another pastor from the trio of Rev. C. Haak, Rev. G. VanBaren, and Prof. H. Hanko.

Our vacant Hope PRC in Walker, MI also formed another trio of the pastors C. Haak, S. Houck, and K. Koole, from which they too will call a pasotr.