First CRC Monthly
...or almost monthly...Thursday, July 27th
Looking Forward
Well, another chapter in the life of this church is drawing to a close this week. Pastor Joel, Kelsey, and their young family are moving to Battle Creek, Michigan. As we plan to bid farewell this Sunday we hope you can make it to see them off!
I will especially miss the spiritual friendship Joel and I have cultivated as colleagues in ministry, along with our very serious conversations over coffee about very deep things like the next upcoming Star Wars and Marvel films, along with Joel's desire to have enjoy a gluten-filled donut while Kelsey isn't looking (which, rest assured Kelsey, never happened!)
Joel and Kelsey, you will be missed by this faith family! Remember to come visit! After all, like everyone in this church told us while we were interviewing, 'Everything you'd ever want to do is only a 1-2 hours away!' We mourn with you that God has called you to the bitter cold of Michigan and out of the sweet, sweet summers of Hanford with its perfect 110 degree tanning weather.
As Joel and Kelsey move onto their new appointment, there is sweet sorrow in their parting. Though it is a loss for us, it is a gain for the Kingdom. After all, we are not in the "First CRC" business. We are in the "Kingdom of God" business. And so we rejoice with the Klingenberg family that the Lord has called them to serve His Kingdom at Covenant Hope.
We pray God's richest blessings upon your life as God leads you in this new chapter.
In Christ and on behalf of the First CRC family,
IN THIS ISSUE...
- Letter from Pastor Joel
- Nursery & Children's Worship Training
- Nursery Construction Project
- Children's Ministries Program Update
- Pastor Justin Visa Update & Vacation
1. LETTER FROM PASTOR JOEL
The evening of July 31, 2017 will see our little family saying its last good-bye to First CRC and to Hanford, California. We will be packing up the last of our things and driving them across the country to Battle Creek, Michigan where we will begin a new stage in ministry with the congregation of Covenant Hope Church.
Our new address beginning August 15 will be 139 Cascade Drive, Battle Creek, Michigan, 49015. Our cell phone numbers and emails will remain the same as well. Please feel free to contact us at any time!
For a fun, random fact regarding Battle Creek, MI, it is the birthplace and current home of Kellogg, the cereal company. The city is also known for the world's longest breakfast table and for a very large air balloon festival which it holds during the July 4 weekends. The town has about 53,000 people, but its population almost doubles when you include all the people within a ten mile radius.
Kelsey and I, along with Rowan and Cambrie, will dearly miss all of you in Hanford. Please know that our thoughts and prayers are still with you even though there is a little bit more space between us. It has been a pleasure and an honor serving alongside you all in the many ministries which the Lord has blessed First CRC. We are confident God will continue to bless the leadership, volunteers, and members of First CRC as you all continue to love and witness to the community of Hanford.
You have touched our lives and our hearts. May God bless you in the years to come!
Joel, Kelsey, Rowan, and Cambrie Klingenberg
2. NURSERY & CHILDREN'S WORSHIP TRAINING - August 19th or 26th
You are invited to join us on our new journey towards making our church a safer environment for both our children and volunteers. This process is well under way and we are now inviting any interested party to be a part of our first ever special volunteer training.
This training is open to anyone who would like to attend, and will be a mandatory portion of our volunteer training for all those who choose to work in Children’s Ministries moving forward. We are bringing you in on the ground floor to highlight some of the changes we will be making over the course of the next few months to ensure our collective mission:
“To share God’s love with our little ones in a safe and nurturing environment.”
Everything we do is focused on that mission. In every ministry, we want our children to know: God loves them, this is a safe place, and they are loved by (and part of) Christ’s Church.
To that end, we have put together a dream-team to continue in that effort. Leading that group is Sarah Zonneveld, our new “Director of Children’s Ministries.” Sarah has been tasked by church leadership to fulfill our previously stated mission with respect to all children’s ministries. This includes training and oversight of all volunteers, ensuring that our space is adequately prepared, fulfillment of First CRC policies and procedures, and coordinating efforts with the entire team. The Children’s Ministries team is:
Maegen deJong – Infant Nursery Coordinator
Ginger VandenBerg – Toddler Nursery Coordinator
Shelaine Goebel – Nursery and Cry Room Coordinator, and
Marlene VanderMoren – Children’s Worship Coordinator.
We believe that, in serving God’s little ones, you are impacting the lives of children and their families immeasurably. We also want to embark on some new initiatives to ensure all of our children’s ministries are truly safe in every respect. To that end, we have so much to share with you that a simple letter cannot possibly cover. For that reason we will be providing a special training for all of our children’s ministries volunteers - one on August 19th and the second training option on August 26th for those not able to attend the first. Both will be held at church in the Social Hall from 8:45am to 2:00pm [at the latest].
We will provide both a light breakfast and lunch, so if you are reading this letter thinking, ‘I would love to be part of a children’s ministry!’ please call or email Sarah Zonneveld to RSVP for either of the training dates. It is vital that all children’s ministries volunteers attend this training. Besides going over the mission of our Children’s Ministries programs, we will be talking about:
· Our new “Safe Church” Volunteer Policies,
· WHY we are implementing these policies (using “Ministy Safe” Training),
· HOW to create an environment children, parents, and volunteers will love,
· New cleanliness and sanitation procedures,
· New construction-related changes to enhance our Children’s Ministries facilities,
· and more!
We hope this will be a rich and rewarding time for all participants! So, if you’re interested in joining us,please email or call Sarah (209.810.0883 or szonneveld@live.com) with your RSVP by Wednesday, August 9th. May God richly bless our church family through this ministry! Please pray for all of our Coordinators and volunteers as they serve our growing families.
3. NURSERY CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
Look forward to the fact that we are not only implementing a new system of training, policies, and procedures for all of our volunteers. One thing you can also look forward to rather quickly is some structural changes to our Infant and Toddler Nursery starting as soon as next week. Upon completion, both nursery rooms will receive new carpet, new paint on the walls, and a construction demo in order to have a central check-in center for both rooms in the hallway. Please be patient as our nursery rooms will likely look a little shabby for the next few weeks as we make these changes. Rest assured, however, that they will be fully operational on Sundays.
All of the structural changes are already covered, but part two will be reaching out to you inviting you to help us furnish it. The Nursery and Children's Worship Coordinators are going to share with the congregation everything they need in order for the room to be the best it can be for children, parents, and volunteers. It's a "Housewarming Party" and you're invited! Look forward to more details on that in the coming weeks.
4. CHILDREN'S MINISTRIES PROGRAM UPDATE
First CRC Leadership and Staff have been working over the summer seeking to bolster our Children's Ministry Programming in such a way that we can continue to build on our covenant commitments to raising up our children in the love and service of the Lord. We know that this responsibility has been placed on a child's parents primarily, but also upon the church and school. Every time we witness a baptism of a covenant child, we commit wholeheartedly to help that child's parents to raise up their children in such a way that God is glorified.
To that end, a rendition of this note has already been delivered, discussed, prayed over, and scrutinized by the Governing Council, Full Council, and Staff, and an email has been sent out to parents of children between the ages of 0 and 13 for feedback and discussion. After that process, this is where we are moving with regard to our programming. Some new programs will be implemented, some changes made to others, all of which are seeking to continue in our covenant commitments as a church.
Allow me to walk you through exactly what we are thinking about in terms of changes from top to bottom. This is a work in progress that will be reevaluated in the spring.
Here goes!
Nursery:
- Infant Nursery - 0 to 18 months
[no change]
- Toddler Nursery - 19 months to 3 years
[no change]
Notes: See "Nursery Construction" section above.
Children's Worship:
- 3’s-Pre K & K-1st grade
[change from ages 3-5]
Sunday School:
- 6th grade - 8th grade Catechism & 9th grade -12th grade Catechism
[change from age 3 - 12th grade to 6th grade-12th grade catechism]
Note: I am sure many of you have heard the statistics on Sunday School. Less than 19% of our kids regularly attend this program. We measure ‘regular’ attendance as 2/3rd participation or more. Thus, week-to-week attendance is even lower. In addition, every single ‘regular’ attendee attends a Christian School where they hear very similar curriculum on an ongoing basis.
Another challenge is that after many years of faithful service, Lois Wynne will be stepping down as Sunday School Coordinator and we have not found anyone (yet) to carry that mantle and Pastor Joel will also be moving on August 1st. Given that it has been very difficult to find volunteers for this program, we are going to proceed with these changes for the fall to re-evaluate in the spring.
In the meantime, if there is anyone reading this who has a real passion for Sunday School ministry and would like to take the lead on seeking to reinvigorate this program, I would be happy to meet with you about that opportunity! Just email me back.
One thing that will not change is our commitment to Catechism teaching for children 6th grade through 12th grade.
GEMS - Led by Amada Clemente:
- 3rd grade - 6th grade
[change from 3rd-8th grade]
Cadets - Led by Dave Danielson:
- 3rd grade - 6th grade
[change from 3rd-8th grade]
Junior High Youth Group - Led by Sheri Tos and Julie Carruthers:
- 7th-8th grade boys and girls
[new program]
Senior High Youth Group - Led by Lael Dunn:
- 9th-12th grade
[no change]
Please continue to pray for church leadership as we seek to lead with our covenant commitments in mind in raising up our children in the love and service of the Lord. At the end of the day, we believe that the best gift any child can ever receive is an ever-growing mom and dad in the Lord! With that goal in mind, we want to serve you any way we can. These programs are a very small part of that commitment.
5. Pastor Justin Visa Update
You may have heard by now that both my and Julie's R-Visa's have been approved! Julie and I have received our acceptance letter from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to continue to serve here. The next step in the process is applying for permanent residency before our R-visas expire.
It's been a rather frustrating process since we were unable to leave the country to visit family since if we did, it would have marked our application as void. So, for the first time in over four years, I will be heading to the east coast of Canada to see my family. This will be the first time my mom and brothers see any of our kids. We are looking forward to some much overdue family time. We will also spend some time in Alberta with Julie's family.
Please pray for us as we are travelling across the country (and back) with three children whose least favorite activity is sitting still.
I'll be back in the office August 18th.
About Us
Email: hanfordcrc@comcast.net
Website: hanfordcrc.org
Location: 2175 Leoni Drive, Hanford, CA, United States
Phone: (559) 582-4423
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HanfordCRC/