HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — Holland’s New Community Fourth Reformed Church is closing.
In an open letter posted on Facebook, the Rev. Jonathoan Brownson announced the change, inviting members, friends and neighbors of the church to join services over the next three Sundays.
He arrived 11 years ago this month, with his wife Jeanette Brownson and the couple’s children to the 122-year-old church at the corner of 15th Street and Washington Avenue in Holland.
During his tenure, the church became a gathering spot for family meals, including a Breakfast With Baby program aimed and helped low-income moms connect with community; food bank distribution point; home to several Circles groups — a program that aids families and individuals recover from a financial crisis — and home to the neighborhood agency, Westcore. and the Nuestra Casa community center.
Rev. Brownson is often spotted running or biking through the neighborhood and launched a “Run and Pray for the RCA” effort more than a year ago.
The schedule for the final three Sundays:
Aug. 12: What Brownson called his “last opportunity to share from God’s word.”
Aug. 19: A “last gathering around the Lord’s table together, and then ‘family time’ over lunch provided by Margarita’s.
Aug. 26: Final worship service, led by RCA General Secretary Eddy Aleman.
Quoting II Thess 1:3, Brownson wrote, ” … what would bring us the greatest joy is to thank God with you. It seems right that not just 11 but 122 years of ministry should end with us giving thanks together..”
