Sabbatical
Recently we shared the exciting news that we have received a Lily Grant to fund a 2017 sabbatical for Chris. We made a video that shares details about what that means for the Branch and for the DeBlaays. Give it a watch by clicking here.
Branch Retreat Timeline
Branch Retreat This weekend (9/24 & 9/25) is the Branch Retreat, starting at 2:00 pm on Saturday. It will be held at the DeBlaay-Oeverman homes (2020 and 2030 Madison). This event is completely free of charge! Here’s a rough timeline of events (emphasis on ‘rough’…it’s a flexible time together and we may move things around as needed). […]
Autumn for the Kids
Sept 11 – BranchKids Kick-off Nursery: Infants – 24 months Toddler: 2 – 3 year olds PreSchool: 4 – 5 year olds Grade School: 1st – 4th grades Join us as we begin a new year and new curriculum in BranchKids. Nursery, Toddler and PreSchool classes meet downstairs in their rooms at the beginning of […]
Autumn at the Branch
It’s hard to believe that Autumn is near, isn’t it? Kids are going to be starting school, the air around us will be cool and we’ll either embrace or avoid pumpkin flavored everything. We have big plans at the Branch for this Autumn and we hope you’ll be able to join us for a lot of […]
Our Story: Tools for Week 2 (and week 1)
Every week we’ll be posting some ideas on how you can more deeply engage the Old Testament. Parents: these tools will be written in a way so that you can use them with your kids. If you do use them with children, it may work well to pick one question/activity per day. This will keep things […]
Current Series: Our Story
This summer we’ll move through the entire Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi. Our hope is that on this epic journey, we’ll discover that the Old Testament isn’t just a collection of ancient stories, but it is our story. And the better we understand it’s beauty, truth and depth, the better we will understand the New Testament, […]
CREATE Donations
Are you looking to help with CREATE but cannot volunteer? Below is a list of items commonly found in your recycle bin that would give the kids the materials they need to make something new and beautiful from something old and used up. Please consider sorting through your recycling bin over the next few weeks […]
Worshipping Together! — 11am!
This Sunday, May 22nd the Branch church and Comunidad Cristiana de Grand Rapids (CCGR) will be worshipping together at 11 am (Branch-ers, you get to sleep in a little!). Please join us to celebrate our partnership with our CCGR family! We can’t wait to see you! (we will have all Branchkids rooms up and running this […]
New Stewards & DeBlaay Sabbatical
This Sunday we’ll end worship a bit early to give us time to vote on the two Steward nominations to fill Jeff VerKaik’s and Carrie Elzinga’s spots. Becky DeGraaf has been nominated for Steward of Resources and Mike DeBlaay for Steward of Care. Bios of each are below. If you cannot be at the Branch […]
Spring/Summer Community Service Opportunities
Alger Heights Canvassing Neighborhood Listening Opportunity – Jenn Reidsma, Community Coordinator, is currently looking for church members to help with community canvassing on Saturday, May 14 from approximately 9:30-noon. Volunteers will be asked to knock on doors and conduct short interviews. Training will be provided in the evening before the canvassing and there will be a debriefing meeting […]
Current Series: Love Does
Love. Is there another word more widely used in our world today? We say we love hot dogs or Dora, and a short time later pledge our life-long, unconditional love to another. It’s a word we use to describe our feelings or what we think. But love, in its fullest, truest sense, is infinitely more. Love […]
New Stewards
The Branch has three Stewards of Care and and three Stewards of Resources. Each serve for a three year term, which means that every year one Steward of Care and one Steward of Resources rotates off. This year, Carrie Elzinga (Care) and Jeff VerKaik (Resources) will be stepping down. The process for adding Stewards begins […]
Lent Reflection Guide
A team of people at the Branch have created a guide for Lent. Each week has a personal reflection, questions to help process the passage, suggested Scripture for the week and a prayer. You can download the whole guide here: 2016LentGuide Or, if you’d prefer to read it right here, we’ll post each week’s reflection and resources […]
Join team Branch!
The Branch is looking to hire 1-2 individuals for the BranchKids Director and Administrative Assistant positions described below. We will either hire one individual as the BranchKids Director and one individual as the Administrative Assistant or hire one person for a position combining the duties. If you or someone you know is interested in either of these […]
2016 Strategic Plan (part 2)
We’re taking time each week to write in more detail about our 2016 Strategic Plan (i.e. where we are going to focus our energy and resources in the next year). If you didn’t catch the first post in this series, we encourage you to do so here. Action 2: Offering lavish hospitality and care In the […]
2016 Strategic Plan (part 1)
Over the last six months we’ve been doing our best to pay attention to God’s leading. Both corporately and individually we have been listening for God’s voice and working to notice where God is at work. The result of that discernment is our 2016 Strategic Plan. While this plan is not a once and for all roadmap, […]
Race and Hope
We are located in a part of the city where the racial and ethnic divides are clear. But so is the call to embody God’s reconciling and uniting love. In this intersection, a number of people at the Branch have been hearing God call them to act — to take steps that would create in them the capacity to love […]
