Night Out for Parents

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Longing for an evening out minus the kids? Here’s your chance! Fifth’s Student Ministries team is hosting a “Night out for Parents” on Monday, July 11! You can drop your kids off from 5-8pm at the church where Fifth students and volunteers will be on duty to supervise their activities. Dinner is included!

The evening’s kid-friendly activities will include yard games, sidewalk chalk, the bounce house, a movie and more. The dinner menu consists of burgers, hot dogs, chips, beverages, and s’mores. Feel free to pick your kids up at any time before 8pm.

If you would like to reserve a spot for your kids for this special event, please click here.

 

 

Fifth Hosts 2 Food Trucks

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We invite you, your family and friends to Fifth’s Food Truck Sunday, June 26, 11:15am – 1pm, in the church parking lot. Two different food trucks, El Caribe and Kool Breeze, will provide you with a variety of food options, including Caribbean cuisine, ballpark cuisine and great desserts.

As a faith community we seek opportunities for us to feel “more like family” to one another. What did Jesus’ followers do to remain connected to one another and to the “Vine”? In Acts, Chapter 2, it says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Food Truck Sunday gives us a chance to “break bread together” following the worship service as friends and neighbors – as FAMILY.

Yard games, sidewalk chalk and the bounce house will also be available for the kids. You won’t want to miss this fun, family gathering. Bring your lawn chairs!

(Both trucks accept cash or credit cards as payment.)

Hot Dog Wednesday Begins

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You’re invited to Fifth’s first Hot Dog Wednesday on June 22, 5-7pm, in the church parking lot. Summer is a great time to gather with friends and neighbors, so please come for the picnic food and fun fellowship. Enjoy grilled hotdogs, chips, drinks and snacks while you get to know new friends and chat with old ones. Lawn games, sidewalk chalk and the bounce house are available for the kids! Everyone is welcome!

Celebrating Our Graduates

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We are celebrating all the graduates from our Fifth family this Sunday, June 12, at the 10am worship service. Congratulations to the high school, college, and post-college graduates! Graduating is not an easy feat, especially during a pandemic. Job well done, graduates! We are so happy to celebrate with you. Our graduates are:

High School Graduates:

Drew Lemahieu, Grand River Prep; attending GVSU.

Jenna Pegman, Grand Rapids Christian; attending Calvin University.

Avrielle Ralston, East Grand Rapids; attending Hope College.

Ethan Leech: Grand Rapids Christian; starting an electrical apprenticeship.

Tanner Warners,Grand Rapids Christian; attending Calvin University.

Eli Leegwater: Grand Rapids Christian ; attending Davenport University.

Barbara Bart, East Grand Rapids; attending Oakland University.

Cade Boender, Grand Rapids Christian; attending Grand Canyon University.

Ainsley Workman, East Grand Rapids; attending Purdue University.

Luke Tellinghuisen, Grand Rapids Christian; attending Calvin University.

Lydia Lauber, Grandville; attending Hope College.

Gadi Mahoro,Union High; attending Grand Rapids Community College.

College Graduates:

Caleb Ackerman, Calvin University, BA in Strategic Communications and BA in History.

Christian Bart, Oakland University, BA in criminal justice with a minor in communications.

Lydia Sprik, Hope College, BA in sociology.

Stephanie Wynia, Calvin University, double major in Marketing and Chinese.

Post-college Graduates:

Emmett Warners, MBA, Calvin University.

Jennifer Vander Molen,  master’s degree in communication studies, Grand Valley State University.

Ally Ackerman, MA in Speech Languare Pathology, Calvin University.

Mark Primus, master’s degree in accounting, Calvin University.

Helping Ukrainian refugees

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As the war in Ukraine continues to shatter lives and ravage cities, we have the opportunity to support Ukrainian refugees through the European Crisis Fund. The Reformed Church of America (RCA) created this fund to support our partners on the ground in Europe as they provide humanitarian aid to displaced people who have been forced to flee their homes in Ukraine.

This Euro Partnership has humble beginnings. Fifth Church is one of four pioneer churches in West Michigan to partner with Hungarian Reformed Church leaders to plant several new churches in Debrecen, Hungary. That initial partnership has grown into a European church planting initiative called Euro Partnership. Doug & Diane McClintic were called to serve as (RCA) missionaries in Hungary to lead this effort.

Doug and Diane were recently travelling to the Netherlands to visit one of the Euro Partnership church plants. On the train they met two young women from Ukraine. They were sisters, both in their early 20s. They left behind their parents and three brothers, who had been conscripted into the army, to move to the Netherlands to live with relatives for the duration of the war. Doug & Diane engaged them in conversation and listened to their story. Doug gave them his card and told them of his connections in the city to where they were moving – it was a city with one of the new Euro Partnership church plants. He encouraged them to call him if they had any needs.

To Doug’s surprise, one of the women called the next day, a Sunday, and said, “We have learned that the only way people get around in this city is by bike.” Doug said, “Ah! You need bikes. Meet us tomorrow at the bike shop, and we’ll buy you two bikes.” It turned out that the bike shop was closed on Monday, and Doug & Diane were returning to Hungary that day. Doug asked the Euro Partnership church planter in the city to follow up with the women. He did, and we provided two bikes for them. In addition to a couple bikes, a relationship was created with a church plant and a local pastor.

As you give to the European Crisis Fund, the money will be directed by our local leaders on the ground to assist Ukrainian refugees in Hungary and across Europe. Let’s give generously!

Who likes ice cream?

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Friends and neighbors of Fifth Church are invited to the “Start-of-Summer Ice Cream Social” on Monday, June 13, 5-7pm, in the church parking lot. You’ll get to build your own sundae, enjoy bags of popcorn and engage in a variety of family-friendly games. Post-Covid, we are excited to resume this neighborhood get-together. You won’t want to miss this time to fellowship as neighbors.

VBS Registration Open

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This summer we are thrilled to offer an in-person vacation Bible school experience for kids in preschool through fifth grade. This year’s theme is MONUMENTAL, and we expect God to do BIG THINGS in the lives of kids in our church and our community. We invite you to register your kids early for this summer adventure. To register,  click HERE.

Amazing Race at Fifth

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Instead of racing across continents, students competing in Fifth Church’s first annual Amazing Race had to complete 10 “legs” across the Eastgate neighborhood on Sunday, May 1.

Fifth’s neighbors offered up their yards for the six teams of high school and middle school students to compete in 10 different “legs” of the race. Each yard required the completion of a specific challenge, such as writing down all 50 states, throwing footballs into trash cans, finding skittles in the grass.

The winning team completed all ten challenges in just under 54 minutes and the winning team members named themselves “The Team Whom Jesus Loved.” Great name!

Great Lakes City Classis Video

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Fifth Church is part of the Great Lakes City Classis of the Reformed Church in America (RCA). The word “classis” is Latin in origin and refers to a grouping of people or a fleet of ships. The Great Lakes City Classis (GLCC) is comprised of the RCA churches in Michigan from Hudsonville to Detroit and all of the RCA churches in Ohio and Kentucky. Together we’re a group of 31 churches with about 6500 members.

After the RCA General Synod meeting in October of 2021, the GLCC met to clarify our stance on human sexuality and to reiterate our commitment to mission, specifically to church planting, church rebirth, and leadership development. To make this content available to all the members of our churches, the GLCC produced a video summary of our conversation. Click HERE to watch the video. The Fifth family will recognize the background as the video was filmed in our lobby!

Ending Homelessness Together

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“Ending homelessness one family at a time.” That’s the motto of Family Promise, one of Fifth’s primary ministry partners in the city.

About ten years ago, our church made a strategic decision about local mission. Rather than having a nominal impact in many areas of need, we wanted to have a significant impact in a few areas of need. To do this we chose to focus on several key partnerships. Our relationship with Family Promise is one of those.

Every quarter, we host families experiencing homelessness. Those families spend a week at the church, sleeping upstairs on beds provided by Family Promise and dining on meals we provide.

Our next host week is May 15-22, and there are many ways for you to be involved. If you’ve done this before and would like to sign up, click HERE for SignUpGenius. If haven’t volunteered previously and would like to discuss the opportunities, click HERE, and a member of our Family Promise Ministry Team will reach out to you.

Due to COVID, Family Promise requires all volunteers who have direct contact with guest families to be vaccinated. Wearing masks are now optional, not mandatory. You have many ways to volunteer even if you are not vaccinated. Our team would be happy to discuss these options with you.