![]() ![]() Feeding families from their homes wasn’t the easiest set-up, so when Beverly and the church learned about Feeding America West Michigan 30 years ago, they jumped on board and created a fixed food pantry. They began turning their homes into pantries, inviting hungry neighbors to share their food and home-cooked meals. In response, Beverly and others at the church decided they needed to come together to support their neighbors. When community members said they were hungry, Pilgrim Rest’s pastor would dip into his own pockets to help. ![]() “I said, ‘I will always do that.’ People were always good to me.”Īs an adult, Beverly began living out her desire to help others. And when they could, her family would bring canned goods to the school. She recalled times when her school’s principal would bring her family of nine a Thanksgiving basket, right to their home. “It was something that was in us, that we learned,” she said. She was influenced by those who helped her, and wanted to do the same. Now, as church employees, she and her husband Tyrone manage both the church’s fixed food pantry, which offers staples whenever a neighbor needs them, and its monthly Mobile Food Pantry.īeverly grew up both giving and receiving food. May this be the beginning of a trend towards uniting in worship and building relationships so we can better spread the love of God throughout our community.Ever since she began attending Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church at four years old, Beverly has seen her community come together to support neighbors in need, including her own family. They blend Brown-Hucherson's choir concert with Grace's Lessons and Carols service into a shared worship experience that is beautiful I am a member at Grace, and this service has become one of my favorite parts of the Advent season.īlessings to you, True Light, Pilgrim Rest, First CRC, Brown-Hucherson, and Grace CRC. The service will start at True Light at 10:45 am on Sunday, September 18.įor the past two years, Brown-Hutcherson Ministries and Grace Christian Reformed Church have held a combined Candlelight service the week before Christmas - a service that had long been important for both congregations. Pilgrim Rest and First CRC will meet in their own buildings at 10 a.m., with Pilgrim Rest driving busses to bring people to True Light, and First CRC hosting a prayer walk between the two buildings - hopefully gathering curious community members as they go. There will be a combined choir from all three churches. Harris will lead in praise and worship and Dr. But for their regular Sunday morning worship. Let me repeat that: on Sunday morning, when they normally meet separately, they are joining their worshipping voices together. The three churches are coming together for a joint worship service. Randy Buursma of First Christian Reformed Church are doing something about that. Tim Harris of Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church said, "We need to be together and have relationship so we can work together in our communities." ![]() ![]() One point brought up by a number of pastors was the need for relationship among the different churches in our organization, for our congregations to know each other. The discussion was frank and wide-ranging, spiritual and heartfelt, and also rollicking, with laughter and also cheers when a well-turned, just-right phrase was suggested. However, with recent events in our city, we wound up crafting a response to the Forest Hills Central High School student display of a Betsy Ross flag alongside a Donald Trump banner, as well as to Forest Hills Superintendent Dan Behm's apology, Grand Rapids Public School Superintendent Teresa Weatherall-Neal's statement, and the ensuing media storm. We had intended to learn about racial inequity in the education system in Grand Rapids (from 1910 on) from Deanna Rolffs from Partners in School Innovation. The Grand Rapids Association of Pastors got back into gear after our summer hiatus on September 15, 2016, with a meeting at Brookside Christian Reformed Church in this open, skylit space. ![]()
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