Missional Community @ Garfield Park
During the summer, join one of our missional communities at Garfield Park on Thursdays from 5:30-7:30pm (come whenever your schedule allows). We’ll have dinner together (bring place settings and something to pass), play and hang out. We’ll also continue to build relationships and support recent refugees who join us from time to time.
Sabbatical Return Party
Let’s celebrate the DeBlaay family returning from sabbatical! We will eat together on the lawn of the Branch on JUNE 11 after church. Please sign up to bring something to share.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f054eafa72aaaf49-sabbatical
Easter at the Branch
How do we celebrate Easter at the Branch (and, for some, the end of a fast)?
On Good Friday, we come together to enter into a memorial of the final hours before Jesus crucifixion. The hour long service starts at 7pm and childcare will be provided for toddler and nursery age kids. Older kids may join us for the service. We hope you and your family will join us for this time of worship.
To celebrate the subsequent resurrection on Easter morning, get here a little early to enjoy a special Easter tailgate with us. Bring your favorite breakfast food to share, we’ll make the coffee. It all starts at 8:30am and we look forward to seeing you there.
Racial Reconciliation Training
This spring, we are offering free training aimed at helping address systemic and individual racism and bias. Our goal is “to see and learn about racism in a new and redemptive way, to gain insights into systemic racism through the eyes of faith and Scripture, to see more of the connections between history and contemporary race relations, and to identify organizing opportunities to eliminate racism, both causes and effects, within the body of believers and throughout the world.” Please join us as we pursue reconciliation in this part of the world we call home.
April 22 – Noon to 6pm
April 26 and May 3, 6-8pm*
*While we’d love to have you at all three pieces of the training, you can attend only Saturday if your schedule requires.
To register, simply check our our Facebook event and click “Tickets Available.” We look forward to your presence in our community and welcoming you into the family of the Branch!
Love Over Fear (a story)
Loving the other is rarely easy, and more than often requires more of us than we think we can give. Thanks to Jeff and Sarah for being willing to share their story of how God has been at work in and through them as they chose love over fear.
Verkaik from Chris DeBlaay on Vimeo.
Church on the Road
Join us this Sunday (2/26) at 10am as we head to RiverTree to join them in worship and have lunch together. RiverTree is located at 5625 Burlingame Ave.
KIDS: Nursery (0-2) begin the morning in nursery. Kids 3 years old and up start in worship and then are dismissed 15-20 minutes in. Parents will find the RiverKids sign in table to their left in the gym.
TEENS: all middle and high schoolers are encouraged to participate in youth group. These students are released at the same time as the younger kids.
LUNCH: bring a dish to pass! place settings and drinks will be provided
DeBlaay Sabbatical
We’ve been blessed to receive a grant that allows the DeBlaay family to go on sabbatical this spring, and gives the Branch two incredible opportunities for growth. Pick up an overview on the kiosk in the cafe on Sunday morning or check out a digital copy by clicking here: Sabbatical Overview.
New Parish Grand Rapids
We have always been committed to helping people be the presence of Christ in one of the most important places of their life: their home and surrounding neighborhood. Because of a grant from the Lily Foundation, we are blessed to be able to provide a free training that equips any and all people who want to join in what God is already doing where they live, but need some practical tools and help.
Click here to learn more and RSVP!
Branch Adventures: February
Branch Adventure’s next outing will be indoor rock climbing February 19, 2017 at Inside Moves Climbing Gym. We will meet there at 6pm, have a lesson for those who need it, and climb for 3 hours. No experience necessary. This will be for ages 5th grade and up. We will have the gym reserved for our group only and we are allowed up to 35 people. Please RSVP to Marc Karel (marc.karel@hotmail.com).
Unity, Liberty, Charity: Week 3
Love of God and neighbor fulfills all of God’s Law — it is the thing on which everything else hangs. Chris discusses what this means for our relationships with each other and with the world.
Unity, Liberty, Charity: Week 2
In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, LIBERTY. In all things, charity.
This week we look at how to allow freedom of thought and freedom of will in things that are non-essential.
Please utilize the handout below to fully engage with this message.
Unity, Liberty, Charity: Week 1
We begin this series by looking at Christ’s unmistakable call to unity. We also work to reclaim the often forgotten truth that there is much more that binds us together than separates us, even in this debate.
We also strongly encourage you to engage with these questions and readings this week to further reflect on this issue and prepare you for the next week:
Current Series: The Places of Jesus
It’s easy to take for granted just how remarkable is the earth-bound rootedness of Jesus. Consider it: His feet touched this earth. He breathed this air. He called this place home. The places of Jesus both formed him and were transformed by him.
Through Lent, we’ll explore some of the key places of Jesus’ life, as well as our own places; together we’ll discover the ways that God is using those places to form us, and the ways God is using us to transform those places.
March 5 – The Power of Place (with special guests Tim Soerens and Paul Sparks)
March 12 – Nazareth
March 19 – Capernaum
March 26 – The Mountainside
April 2 – The Table
April 9 – Jerusalem
New Year’s Breakfast
Welcome the New Year with us as we share breakfast before worship. Come anytime after 8:30am.
Sure, it’s a bit early, but we’re keeping things low-key and simple.
Click here to sign up for something to bring.
Merry Christmas!
Over the last month we’ve been humbled and grateful as the Branch has repeatedly been an extension of Christ to the world. Here’s a snapshot of ways in which God has worked through us to spread the Good News:
In the last month, our kids gave offerings totaling $175 to purchase 5 pairs of shoes, 3 mosquito nets and 1 set of new bedsheets & blanket for kids with Kenya Matters (we know that many of you also purchased items from the gift catalog)!
We came together to ensure a Congolese refugee family of six had all the winter gear they needed.
We were approached by a school social worker about a GR mother of four who was in need of basics (bedding, underwear, socks). We used resources from our Helping Hands Fund (a fund completely supported by your gifts) to provide the needed items as well as a gift card that would give her the ability to purchase gifts for her kids.
And, this week we’ll write year-end gifts to our two ministry partners: Frontline Recovery and Kenya Matters.
We use the pronoun “we” throughout this email because each expression of love was possible because of God’s work through us. This wasn’t about individual efforts or solo heroes, but a community of people doing their best to listen to and respond to what God is doing around them.
Thank you for being a part of the Branch and making a difference in the world around you.
Merry Christmas!
Christmas Eve Service
Our Christmas Eve Service will be held from 5-6pm on Saturday, December 24th. (Please note that we will NOT be worshipping on Christmas morning.) We are hoping to provide childcare for children 4 and under so stay tuned for more information on that. If not, we’re hoping the little ones will enjoy the service with you (and allow you to enjoy it, too). If you’d like to be involved, please see below.
We believe very strongly here at The Branch in utilizing multiple voices and leaders in worship. We’re kicking that up a notch for our Christmas Eve Worship service. There will be creative opportunities for both adults and kids (preschool age and up) to participate through art, dance, drum circle, choir or readings. Rehearsals will be the next two Sundays (11th & 18th) from 11 – noon. Email Teresa if you haven’t signed up yet.
Refugee Resettlement
We are helping a Congolese family of six get settled in America after arriving just a few weeks ago. A major needed item are winter books. Boots do not have to be new, but should be in good used condition. You can click here to find details of what exactly is needed. If you are able to donate something, please indicate this on the spreadsheet by filling in your name next to the name you are donating for.
We would like to deliver these boots as soon as possible due to the changing weather. Please deliver to 2020 Madison by Friday, December 9.
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.
