Vacation Bible School

VBS Needs Your Help!

Donations are needed for VBS!
New this year is an Amazon wish list. Simply scan the QR code below if you are able to help. Thank you for your kind donations. Drop off at any of the our 3 churches listed below.

Check out our new ChurchTrac App by simply scanning the QR code below!

If you would like to download ChurchTrac, simply click on the link below.  Whether you attend in person or watch our worship service online, you will have information you need for Grace Valley’s outreach/service sign-ups and donations, events, programs, small groups, general/special offerings and prayer requests. Weekly announcements will also be sent from this new website support app. 

Specken Dicken

Join us Saturday, March 16, for our first ever Specken Dicken! German Pancake dinner will start at 5 p.m. followed by our 2nd Annual Grace Valley Talent Show. Sign-Up is available on our ChurchTrac link. https://c22e6415.churchtrac.com

Donations needed for Miss Carly's

Grace Valley will be accepting donations for Miss Carly's throughout February and March.  The list is on the coat rack by the doors.  Please make sure that clothing is clean and all zippers/buttons work.  Also, hygiene items should be new and unopened.  Bins have been provided under the coat rack by the front doors.

Items needed: please no opened containers. Any clothing can be used but must be in good condition with working zippers, etc.

CHIPS/GRANOLA BARS/COOKIES/CRACKERS

LARGE WINTER COATS FOR LAYERING (XL OR LARGER)/BOOTS/JEANS

LONG UNDERWEAR/BLANKETS/SLEEPING BAGS

BODY WASH,/SHAMPOO/TOOTHBRUSHES/TOOTHPASTE/BAR SOAP

Renovo Spiritual Life Assessment

Hi everyone,

I wanted to write to you today and share some details about the discipleship survey that I mentioned a few weeks ago on a Sunday morning.   We hope as many as possible will take this survey!

I continue to be amazed by the story of Grace Valley CRC.   While every church is unique in some ways, Grace Valley seems unique in a lot of ways.   Many churches facing the challenges that Grace Valley faced in the last 25 years continued to go down familiar paths.  Most have closed or will sometime soon.   Grace Valley chose to chart a new direction, and it resulted in new life and new growth.   

Another piece of that uniqueness is our Sunday School program.   For many churches, Sunday School is more or less a thing of the past.   I talk to very few pastors that have much of an adult Sunday School program to speak of.   We have continued to have very solid attendance year after year.  I think it speaks well of your love for God and God’s word, and your desire to grow in your faith.


Sunday School has been one of our primary discipleship tools, and I think it continues to be a good one.      

One of the things as a pastor I think about often is how well I, and the leadership of the church is facilitating the spiritual growth of all of you who call Grace Valley your home church.    I’m constantly curious about whether the programs and the structures we have in place are doing the things we hope they are.    New growth is a beautiful thing, and our goal as a council is to not take that for granted but continue to evaluate the things we are doing, so that growth can continue for our church and for each individual that is a part of Grace Valley.     Discipleship is a particularly difficult thing to measure, because it’s more complicated than taking attendance.   

With that in mind, we have received some grant money from our Classis and are using that in partnership with Ascending Leaders to take a Spiritual Life Assessment called Renovo.   This is an anonymous survey, that we want as many of our congregation as possible to take.  The more people that take it, the better the data we get will help us to develop plans and structures to help you grow in your faith.   A few more pieces of information:

  • The survey should take 25 or minutes or less.  Please be as honest as you can, the results are completely anonymous.

  • This survey is for everyone who attends Grace Valley- even occasionally.  If you are hearing about this survey, you are someone we want to take the survey.

  • There are two different surveys.  One is for adults 18 and over, and one is for High School Youth.   

  • If you have an older friend or family member that may be technologically challenged would you be willing to help them take the survey?   

  • If you are unsure about using the technology to take the survey please contact Pastor Eric, and we can try and find a time for someone to help you do it.   

Adult survey Link- https://www.research.net/r/RenovoSpiritualLifeInventoryAL1039

High School survey link   https://www.research.net/r/GraceValleyCRCHighSchool

If you have any questions, please contact Pastor Eric at 815-408-0512 or eric.gvcrc@gmail.com

Worship Service in the Park

Join us at Ben Miller Park for our outdoor Worship Service on Sunday, September 3, at 10 a.m. in German Valley. Please remember to bring chairs! Lunch will follow. Grace Valley will be providing Meat, Buns and Drinks. Please bring a dish to pass. Hope to see you there!

Ladies Tea

Tickets are on sale for the Ladies Tea that will be held here at Grace Valley on Monday, November 7. Gather your friends for a nice evening of great food, fellowship and entertainment, featuring Becky Connors. Tickets are available in the office or from Cathy Ross. Advance ticket sales only so we can plan accordingly.

Report from Synod 2022

Most of you know I spent the last week in Grand Rapids Michigan on the Campus of Calvin University for Synod 2022.  It was in many ways a historic synod.   The Covid pandemic forced Synod to be cancelled in both 2020 and 2021.  Because of this, there was much to be done.   The Agenda for Synod, along with the deferred agendas from the previous two years added up to more than 1500 pages of documents for us to wade through.

The Good

This was my first time at Synod, so it was an educational experience for me.  I learned much about how Synod works, and more importantly I learned much about the various ways the CRC is serving God all over the world.  

I was able to reconnect with a few old friends, including one of my first mentors in ministry Rev. Dale Slings.  Because I don’t have tons of roots in the CRC, I was able to make a lot of new friends as well.   The people I spent the most time with were the other delegates from Northern Illinois.   Pastor Gregg Demay, and Deacon Jennifer Solzenbach from Elmhurst CRC and Elder Bonnie Zigterman from Lombard CRC.

Like most denominations, the CRC has been shrinking.   But there are pockets of the CRC that are growing.  Specifically in Latino and Asian contexts in North America.  

We heard reports about the work of World Renew (fighting hunger and poverty and providing disaster relief worldwide), Resonate (The CRC’s missionary agency) and Reframe Ministries (used to be called “Back to God Hour” and is the part of the CRC that produces the “Today” devotional)

We interviewed two new professors that will be teaching a Calvin Seminary.   Dr. Yudha Thianto (left) will be teaching Historical Theology, and Dr. Wilson Cunja (right) will be teaching Old Testament. We were blessed by their love for the Bible and the Church.  

We interviewed Dr. Zach King to be the new General Secretary of the CRC.  I hadn’t met him before this week, but he came and sat down at the table I was eating lunch with on the day of the interview.  He seems like a kind, humble, genuine person.  He will need many prayers, as he has a very difficult job ahead.  

We also confirmed the work the denomination has done to restructure the organization because of changing non-profit laws in Canada

The Challenging

 The most weighty item on the agenda regarded the Human Sexuality Report.   A 175-page report was produced by a Synod appointed committee in 2020, and this was Synod’s first chance to discuss it.   The Synod affirmed the work of the report and confirmed a historic understanding of marriage and sexuality.   Much of the discussion revolved around Heidelberg Catechism Q and A 108, which speaks about the 7th Commandment.  While this part of the report received the most attention, maybe the strongest part of the report was its discussion on the pervasive nature of pornography in our churches and in our world.  This is an issue that is affecting all people no matter your marital status or sexual orientation.   The report delivers very good information on the damage being done by pornography, and the need for our churches to be standing against it.   If you would like to read the report, you can find it here (https://www.crcna.org/sites/default/files/human_sexuality_report_2021.pdf)

Related to the Human Sexuality Report the Synod also had to make some decisions regarding discipline for a church in Grand Rapids that had ordained a deacon in a homosexual marriage.  

What happens going forward is very uncertain.   There is a percentage of churches (I would guess between 10 and 20%) that will be disappointed by these decisions, and how they will respond is unclear.   What is clear, is that there is much pain involved in this.  Many people are left unsure what their place is in the CRC.  Even for the majority that believe these decisions were good, there will be much pain and loss for our entire denomination.

 Local

Synod is one of those things that we all seem to recognize needs to be done.  And we wonder about the fact that it’s just a lot of meetings, most of which don’t have direct impact on the local church.  I’m still sympathetic to that, but I do appreciate in new ways the importance of what is done at Synod.   The part of the agenda that my committee worked on was a new Code of Conduct policy for ministry leaders in the CRC.  

Since 2019 Synod has recognized the need for a Code of Conduct policy that will help to define what abuse is, so that we can continue to make sure that our churches are a safe place for everyone.   Hopefully, this will also will not change anything in our day to day operations at Grace Valley, but it will continue to provide leaders with a description of what godly leadership looks like, and give the people in our churches some help to identify whether or not the leaders are acting in a Christlike manner.   This will not be implemented denomination-wide immediately but will be required to be signed by office-bearers and ministry leaders at some point in the near future.   Individual churches that find it helpful can adopt it any time.   You can find the Code of Conduct here (https://www.crcna.org/synodresources/crc-code-conduct-ministry-leaders?language=en)

Final Thoughts

 There is much more to say, but I don’t want to make this too long.   If you just have a specific question or two, please ask anytime.  If lots of you have questions, and are interested in more details, I’d be happy to set up a time where we can discuss these things in more detail as well. 

 Lastly,  I want to say thank you to all of you at Grace Valley.   Spending time with so many different ministry leaders reaffirmed for me how blessed I am to be your pastor.   All churches have challenges in 2022, and Grace Valley has some of its own.  But your care for me and my family, your encouragement, your grace, your love for each other, and your desire to join God in mission in our community stands out against so many stories that I hear at a gathering like this.  

I love you. Thank you for letting me serve God with you.

Pastor Eric