01 SC Mag 02-24

AT A
GLANCE:
Church: Central
Reformed Church
Pastor: Jesse Henkle
Address: 113 N.
Main Ave., Sioux
Center
Services: 9:30 a.m.
Sundays
Phone: 712-722-1441
Online: www.
centralreformed.org
Minerva Bomgaars and
Janet Boone are organizing
events throughout 2024 to
commemorate 125 years of
Central Reformed Church
being a Reformed church.
Events highlight
125 years in Biblebased
tradition
Music was really changing at the time in
churches, bringing in praise songs in addition
to hymns,” Boone said. “We had that
and different stories about when it first
started and who some of the early members
were. We invited all of the past praise
team members to come up and sing some
songs together. It was a very fun night.”
Events yet to come will include a trivia
night in April, entering a float into the
Sioux Center Summer Celebration Parade
on June 8 and holding a golf day at The
Ridge Golf Club on Aug. 4.
The church also has big plans for Aug.
10, a family fun day to be held at Heritage
Village in Sioux Center. The baseball
diamonds are going to be reserved for an
all-ages kickball tournament, children’s
games, crafts, plenty of good food and a
cookoff.
“This is probably going to be our biggest
event,” said the other quasquicentennial
co-chair Minerva Bomgaars.
As of the most recent schedule, Nov. 24
will be the final day of quasquicentennial
year celebration. That Sunday, Central will
have its 125th celebratory worship service
with a Thanksgiving meal at Terrace View
Event Center in Sioux Center to follow. Although
the Thanksgiving meal is a regular
part of the church’s annual events, the
quasquicentennial team hopes to see some
special guests this year.
“We chose that day to invite past pastors
back and join us for that day,” Boone
said. “They have some special things happening
at the meal and service.”
The goal for all the special events
throughout the year is to build community
through the quasquicentennial celebration.
The church takes pride in its multigenerational
emphasis, and activities such
as these help foster more of those crossgenerational
relationships.
“Within our congregation, people will
get to know each other better and get to
interact and work together. That’s why we
tried to come up with ideas that have varied
interests,” Bomgaars said. “We know
not everyone is going to want to go to a
music night or golf. But maybe they would
like a trivia night and want to come to that.
In each of those, you might have people
together that might not have connected
before. That’s the whole goal in this, to
get that community building going on the
whole year.”
It is that camaraderie that made them
feel welcomed when they joined the
church. Both began attending after marrying
their husbands, who were lifelong
members.
“I’m musical, so, of course, I got plugged
in right away with playing organ and doing
music stuff. So, I got to know people right
off the bat. I learned a lot from people
through the years,” Bomgaars said. “I just
got plugged in right away and worked at
the church office for a lot of years and got
to know a lot of people and develop a lot
of relationships that way.”
And while there is gratitude in having
a long-lived church, Boone said it is more
important it continue to teach biblically
based truths.
“We do know we can’t just get comfortable,”
Boone said. “We are being proactive.
That was one of our goals in this, too. We
want to look back, but we want to look forward,
too. That’s why we chose the theme
‘Following the footsteps of Jesus,’ because
that indicates where we have been and are
continuing to.
“We certainly believe it’s important to
look back because sometimes it’s hard
to see that when you’re in the middle of
something. But when you see God’s faithfulness,
you know He’ll carry us through.
We know that His faithfulness will help us
continue.”
SPRING 2024 | SC MAGAZINE 9