Pastor Terry and Alive Church
A couple of years ago, a small group of people in Jenison started to become more aware of the 30,000 plus people in this area that are not in any church on Sunday morning. They began to think about their responsibilities to these people and how they could make a difference. They began to hold meetings at the community building in Hager Park and chose a Lead Team. 60-70 people of all ages come to these meetings.
Last December a call was extended to Pastor Terry Scholten from First Jenison Christian Reformed Church, to become the new pastor of Alive. He accepted that call and preached his farewell service on January 9, 2011. On February 6th he was installed as the first pastor of Alive during a worship held at Ridgewood CRC.
This service was lead by the Rev. Joel Boot of Ridgewood with Justine VanKovering, a teen from Alive, as the Lector. About eight months prior to this date, Boot had selected 1 Corinthians 9:15-23 as his text for Sunday. Providentially, the words in this chapter talk about the rights of an apostle. In his message, Boot spoke about how Pastor Terry needs to be like Paul and “became all things to all men so that…I might serve some.”
At the conclusion of the message, Rev. Boot communicated the duties of a pastor to Pastor Terry and after an affirmative response to this calling, there was a laying on of hands by representatives of the Classis Georgetown Ministries Board, Home Missions, and any other elders and pastors that were present. The Rev. Al Mulder, representing Christian Reformed Home Missions, shared words of encouragemnet from John 17 and then advised Pstor Terry that every now and then he is to be called Apostle Terry to be reminded that he is…one sent with a mission.
Most of the members of Alive were sitting in three pews across from each other near the center of the sanctuary. Pastor Terry asked them to stand and he then commissioned them as missionaries to Jenison for the more than 30,000 people. This was followed by the request for everyone else to stand, reach towards the Alive group, and lay hands on them.
The Alive congregation is grateful for the communion set that was received as a gift from Ridgewood, as well as all of the other support and encouragement that has been given them from their mother church. They presently have a facilities team looking at sites for their new meeting place, and after much hard work, are planning to launch worship services this coming fall.
