Sandy Baird looked over her church's food booth Sunday afternoon while also keeping an eye on the weather above the Festival of the Arts in downtown Grand Rapids.

"Saturday was very busy," she noted of the bright and sunny skies the day before. "Today is looking more like (last) Friday," she added of breezy, overcast skies that already had shed a bit of rain.

The first week of June was quite a week for Diet Eman.

The Grand Rapids resident – noted for her part in the Dutch Resistance movement against the Nazis during World War II – was honored by King Willem–Alexander and Queen Maxima of The Netherlands on June 2 during the couple's royal visit to West Michigan.

At Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park the 95 year-old Eman was honored with a performance of a ballet called "It Is Well" performed by Turning Point School of Dance.
The dance was based on Eman's book about her Resistance experiences titled "Things We Couldn't Say."

Mel Trotter Ministries executive director/CEO Dennis VanKampen reads a copy of the Bible believed to have been owned by Melvin Ernest Trotter.Dennis VanKampen recently was appointed executive director and CEO of Mel Trotter Ministries (MTM), a multifaceted outreach to the homeless based in the Heartside district of Grand Rapids. It’s not a job he initially sought. He is grateful the Lord saw otherwise.

As a result, VanKampen’s perspective has since changed since he landed the top job at the nonprofit founded by redeemed alcoholic Melvin Ernest Trotter 115 years ago when it was known as the City Rescue Mission. Also changed is how it will help the homeless and mentally and physically ill find Christ’s hope and healing.

West Michigan Christian web writer Terry DeBoer surveys the landscape for the area’s faith-based arts and entertainment events over the coming month. Here are three highlights for June:

*Soul’d Out – The Southern gospel quartet performs at 7 p.m. June 5 at Grace Fellowship Church, 735 Buth Dr. NE in Comstock Park. The Ohio-based group, founded by baritone singer Matt Rankin, features a mixture of hymn arrangements and gospel melodies. Soul’d Out performs throughout the U.S. and southern Ontario. The quartet’s most recent CD is “Re-Soul’d, Vol. 3” featuring several medleys and the uptempo tune, “God’s Perfect Plan.” Tickets are $15 and are available online or by phone at 800-965-9324. For more information contact the church online or  616.785.4047.

 Jordan Koller performs at Festival at 12:30 p.m. Friday  The 46^th annual Festival of the Arts comes to downtown Grand Rapids the weekend of June 5-7. And church music ensembles and other faith-based artists will again be on stage amidst the all-encompassing variety of musical expression.

     “We loved playing at Festival last year,” said Steve Bacinski, guitarist with the Christian modern rock band Thirsty Ground.

     Thirsty Ground is back again in 2015, performing at 3:45 p.m. Fri. June 5 on the City Stage on Monroe Center at Ottawa Ave.

     Thousands of persons milling around the Festival grounds grow into hundreds of thousands over the three-day event. A music performer trying to attract passers-by and then holding an audience isn’t easily accomplished.

WAR International founder and president Becky McDonald stands near jewelry “Monique” made. Monique previously worked in a red light district of Grand Rapids. She had no resume to list her employable skills. WAR International hired her through its pilot program that gives Monique the opportunity to repair and design jewelry.When customers make a purchase online, at a home party or at one of three Women At Risk (WAR) International’s boutiques, they’re not just buying handcrafted products. They’re enabling at-risk women and children to find freedom from human trafficking. And with their freedom, they gain what previously was not within their grasp: hope and a future.

Human trafficking is a euphemism that illustrates the underbelly of one of the world’s most heinous of sins. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defines it as a modern-day form of slavery involving the illegal trade of people that forces them into labor or commercial sexual exploitation.

WAR International’s founder and president, Rebecca “Becky” McDonald has another term for it: a heart problem entrenched in avarice.

Bishop John Williams holds a page of his handwritten memoir.Tucked inside a worn leather briefcase is the handwritten autobiography Bishop John H. Williams started when he was 35 years old with the uncomplicated title, "My Life." He turns 81 June 2.

A key reason his memoirs remain a work in progress is because Williams keeps chugging along fulfilling pastoral duties.

"I'm going to be faithful to the command God has given me," Williams said, who is the father of eight children, grandfather to 15 grandchildren and most recently a great-grandfather. His wife of 31 years, Catherine, died a year ago.

Destiny calling

Williams said he was 10 years old living his hometown of Coahoma, Miss., when he received the call to ministry.

A little known fact about singer-songwriter Laura Story: She once was a student at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

“I was there for one semester and got homesick and went home,” recalled Story, 36, from her home near Atlanta. Ga. “But I loved it up there…. it was beautiful.”
(Story returns to Grand Rapids on May 16 – details below).

Read more: More to Hear From Laura Story Add new comment

It's possible that you may never have heard of Ben & Barb Reynolds, a couple from the Grand Rapids area.

It's more likely you have heard of their son Ken Reynolds, an associate pastor of worship at the huge Resurrection Life Church in Grandville. He's a songwriter, producer and recording artist as well as a worship leader. And he lovingly offered help to his parents in putting together this project.

Tours by leading Christian music artists Chris Tomlin and Newsboys are coming to West Michigan in November.

Newsboys' "We Believe tour...God's Not Dead" stops Nov. 6 at Grand Rapids First, 2100 44th St. SW in Wyoming, a church which has one of the area's largest worship auditoriums.

Newsboys and lead singer Michael Tait scored one of their biggest hits ever several years ago with "God's Not Dead." The anthem was the title song of the popular "God's Not Dead" film which also featured the band in an on screen role.

Heartside Ministry Executive Director Andy DeBraber stands next to some of the artwork displayed in its art gallery.Mention the word “community” and many people think of backyard barbecue get-togethers, white picket fences and manicured lawns. Say the same word to those who frequent Heartside Ministry at 54. S. Division Avenue in Grand Rapids, and the word takes on a different meaning.

“One of the hardest parts of being homeless is being judged,” said the Rev. Andy DeBraber, Heartside Ministry’s executive director for the last three years. “They’ve been marginalized and pushed away from a table or tables of families or churches.”

The headline "Financial Infidelity" is not as grabbing as say, "Marital Infidelity." News about a married man or woman getting caught in an extra-marital affair garners far more attention than news about a married man or woman getting caught in an extra-marital "financial affair" which involves hiding money or purchases from their spouse.

And though financial infidelity doesn't seem quite as shocking as marital infidelity, the effects can be just as devastating. According to a study conducted by CESI Debt Solutions, over 65% of Americans hide cash from their spouse. The study also indicated that 80% of all married people make purchases in secret from their spouse, and one fifth of the respondents admitted to having a credit card their spouse knows nothing about. The study also reported that one out of two people in the survey feared their spouse would leave them if they knew how much they were spending.

     It’s a good thing that singer-songwriter Jeremiah Carlson likes tulips.

     That’s because he and another member of the Christian alternative rock band The Neverclaim are coming to Holland to take part in the Tulip Time celebration.

     The music artists will be riding on the JQ-99 float in the Sat. May 9 Muziekparade, doing a meet & greet and unplugged music set at Lemonjellos, and joining in a Sun. May 10 worship service at a Holland area church. (see details below).

The sacred herbal blend known as the Knick-Knick symbolizes lifting prayers to God the Creator.White puffs of smoke drift upward as the Rev. Mike Peters uses a white eagle feather to fan the Knick-Knick, a sacred herbal blend of spearmint leaves, red willow bard, sage, sweet grass and the bayberry bush.

The smoldering herbs are a symbol of the prayers sent to the Great Spirit, or in the case of Peters’ ministry, the Holy Spirit.

Peters tells the dozen or so people gathered in a circle that the Knick-Knick and Revelations 8:4 have a symbiotic bond: “The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God's people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.”

West Michigan Christian News Terry DeBoer surveys the landscape for the area’s faith-based arts, entertainment and conference events over the coming month. Here are three highlights for May:

(left to right) Bishop John Williams places a clerical collar around Rev. John Smith’s neck.When he walked into Living Word Christian Center in Southeast Grand Rapids on a recent Sunday afternoon, Dr. John W. Smith's black clergy shirt was unbuttoned at the top. Later, he left the building wearing a clerical collar.

Wearing the collar signals a new chapter not only in Smith's life but also with the presbytery that ordained him and the ministry he now serves under Bishop John Williams.

As such, Smith has found himself juggling several ministerial balls.

A charity event seeking recycling materials is scheduled for Saturday, May 2, from 8 a.m. till 6 p.m. at the Corinth Reformed Church, 129 100^th St. S.E. in Byron Center. The event requires a $5 entry ticket with the chance to win one of several prizes including a new grill or giant water slide.

The funds raised will go to Zoe Waters, a World Mission project to supply clean drinking water to many people. The funds will benefit the Buist Food Pantry as well.

Sidewalk ProphetsConcerts by major faith-based artists such as Third Day, Matt Maher and David Crowder have already rolled through West Michigan this spring. And more are on their way.

The popular Annie Moses Band returns to the area at 7 p.m. Fri. May 8 at Grace Community Church, 3500 New Holland St. in Hudsonville.

The ensemble brings its "American Rhapsody" program with music from composers such as Gershwin, Copland and other American originals. Their acoustic-based music (with fiddle!) is a pleasure for fans of multiple genres. General admission tickets are $15 and available via www.itickets.com

Caitlin Jackson (left) said it’s important for volunteers to be consistent in their attendance.Ty Davis doesn't have to think twice where his life would be today had it not crossed paths with the urban ministry, Base Camp, when he was 14 years old.

The 35-year-old Grand Rapids resident is certain he would not be looking forward to celebrating 10 years of marriage in October with his wife, Juanita. His sons, Tyler, 7, and Justin, 5, would not be students at Grand Rapids Christian Elementary, and his family would not be attending One Church Empowerment Center church in Grandville.

Stewardship" is a Christian jargon word. It's part of Church culture.

There's nothing wrong with the word. In fact, it's a good and useful one. But in my view stewardship has been pigeonholed by the Church, co-opted for one purpose at the expense of others.

Generally, when Pastor announces he's going to speak on "Stewardship" his topic is money...or more specifically, giving. And people run for the exits.

On his previous tour, singer-songwriter David Crowder went for the feel of a rural front porch.

"That's the sound we were going for," noted the artist from near his Atlanta-area home of his mix of acoustic instruments.

But now, with his "Neon Steeple" tour, Crowder, 43, has taken the next step – construct an actual front porch for his concert stage set. (Crowder comes to Ridge Point Community Church in Holland on April 17 – see info below).

In late April, Grand Rapids area native Beacon Light (aka Brandon Clahassey) will issue his third rap/hip-hop collection, "Open Eyes." He's already released one of the new songs, "Y.W.N.T.M.D."

The beats and lyrics come fast and furious in the tune, which repeats the theme represented by the title letters: "You Will Never Turn Me Down."

This is not about getting turned down for a job or a favor. Rather, it's about refusing to turn the volume down on sharing God's biblical truth.