Congregational Activities

Considering again the Word of God in I Corinthians 12, this time in verse 14, “For the body is not one member, but many,” we extend our congratulations to Calvary PRC in Hull, IA, celebrating the anni­versary of their organization as a congregation on October 11, 2007.

On Friday evening, August 23, everyone in the congregation of First PRC in Grand Rapids, MI was invited to come out and enjoy some softball at nearby Township Park. Supper started at 6:15 around a main course of hot dogs. Par­ticipants were encouraged to bring balls, bats, gloves, and a dish to pass for supper.

The Young Adults of the Hope PRC in Redlands, CA were invited to attend an end of summer out­ing on Saturday, August 24. The young adults planned a train ride on the Metro Link from San Ber­nardino to the Tyson Street Beach and Park in Oceanside. Instead of fighting traffic, the young adults could relax and enjoy the company of the others making the trip. The train left the station at 7:30 a.m., so a reminder was issued to be there early. If that was too early, there was always the option of driving down by yourself and meeting the others in Oceanside.

As many of our readers already know, next year’s Young People’s Convention is scheduled to take place at the Hope PRC in Redlands, CA, and, wasting no time, the 2014 Convention Activities Committee of Hope invited their congregation to join them on August 31 to try out the proposed convention games at church. Game participants had to be high school age and above. So beware that the games at next year’s convention might be dominated by the young people from Hope. They will have had a year of practice.

The Council of the Edgerton, MN PRC called their congregation to a Congregational Meeting on August 27 to consider several pro­posals. One major proposal was to replace their church furnaces. Oth­ers were to replace their northeast entry door and the basement carpet­ing, along with other renovations in the basement. These proposals originated with Edgerton’s insurance company, requiring them to have their furnaces in an enclosed room, rather than in an open hallway. The Council also brought a proposal to begin their evening service at 5:00, effective October 6. All of these proposals were approved.

Young People’s Activities

As noted above, next year’s Young People’s Convention will be hosted by the Hope congregation in Red­lands, CA. It is safe to say that this fact will add to the convention’s cost for our young people. Airline tickets to California cost more than bus tickets to Illinois. So young people’s fundraisers should be more numer­ous in the next year.

On Labor Day, September 2, the Young People of the Grace PRC in Standale, MI invited their con­gregation to join them for their an­nual Labor Day Breakfast at nearby Hope PR Christian School.

Denomination Activities

The PR Theological School be­gan another year of instruction on September 3. This year there are eleven students enrolled at semi­nary. There is one fourth-year stu­dent, Joshua Engelsma, who is pres­ently serving his internship at Peace PRC in Lansing, IL, and will return to the seminary for his last semester in January 2014, D.V. There is one third-year student, Ryan Barnhill. There are no second-year stu­dents, but nine first-year students, the largest class ever entering the seminary: Matthew De Boer, Brian Feenstra, Joseph Holstege, Jonathan Langerak, Aaron Lim (of our sister church in Singapore), David Noor­man, Nathan Price, Stephan Regn­erus, and Justin Smidstra. We are thankful for every student and for every class, but this first-year class is an answer to our prayers for new students in a remarkable way, and we give God thanks for these young men. Our professors are excited to begin the new year too. Prof. Grit­ters will be taking a partial sabbati­cal this year. In addition to teaching two classes, he will be studying and writing in some subjects related to his course work in Practical Theol­ogy.

The Seminary invited all those interested and who could attend to select classes this coming semester: Prof. Dykstra’s Church History class, a class in which he will teach about the Reformation period; Prof. Cammenga’s New Testament History class, a class in which he treats New Testament History from the inter-testamental period up to the Passion Week; and Prof. Cammenga’s Reformed Dogmatics class, which will focus this semester on Ecclesiology, the study of the doctrine of the church.

After months of planning, prepa­ration, and hard work by many, the newly re-designed PRC website (prca.org) is up and running, com­plete with new logo and all new lay­out.

It launched quietly on July 17 and is being updated and tweaked daily. Some aspects of the new site are still being worked on, but all the previous material is there. Registra­tion is now required for access to the church bulletin section of the site, but all other parts are open access. If you haven’t yet visited the new site, do so today.

Minister Activities

With thankfulness to our heav­enly Father for providing anoth­er pastor in our churches, we can report that Candidate Erik Guichelaar accepted the call ex­tended to him from the Randolph, WI PRC to become their next pastor. This means, of course, that Erik declined the call to become the next pastor of the Doon, IA PRC. The Lord willing, Pastor-elect Guichelaar will be examined at the meeting of Classis West on Octo­ber 9 in Loveland, CO. The Lord willing, he will then be ordained and installed as pastor of Randolph, in their sanctuary, during the morning worship service of October 13, with Prof. Cammenga leading the ser­vice. The Guichelaar family plans to move to Randolph near the end of September.

The Faith PRC in Jenison, MI called Rev. C. Griess to be their next under-shepherd.