Jack Kooyman
I was born in 1953 as the third and final child of John and Elizabeth Kooyman in Grand Rapids, Michigan. My parents were Dutch immigrants who came to the U.S. shortly after World War II. I grew up in Grand Rapids attending both public and Christian schools--graduating from Grand Rapids (East) Christian High School in 1972. I began working full-time for Zondervan Publishing soon after graduating from high school--I had no interest in or plans to attend college at the time. I was laid off from this job early in 1973. After being unable to find "gainful" employment, I decided to attend Kuyper College (fka Reformed Bible College) and ended up graduating with a bachelor's degree in religous education (B.R.E.).
After college, my wife Debbie (Groeneveld)--whom I married during my Junior year of college--and I moved to Denver to live and work with adolescent boys who had been removed from their homes by the court. While in Denver, I began attending Denver Seminary—fka Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary. After two years in Denver, we moved back to the Grand Rapids area where I served a local RCA Congregation as the Minister of Youth and Education for about two years. I then continued my seminary education as a part-time student at Calvin Theological Seminary (CTS) for the next few years. While attending CTS, I began serving as the Executive Director of Degage Ministries (a ministry with the homeless community in Grand Rapids, Michigan).
While at CTS and working at Degage, I eventually realized I was not called to ministry within the local church and suspended my seminary education. Among other things, I realized that my gifts were more in the areas of administration and organizational leadership as well as development. As a result, I began graduate studies in management at Aquinas College in GR and then transferred to Western Michigan University where I completed a M.A. in Educaltional Leadership.
From 1987 - 1994 I served as an administrator at a small college (Jordan College) which closed its doors in 1995.
After leaving the college, I was hired to serve as the first full-time Executive Director of Camp Tall Turf (aka Tall Turf Ministries), a Christian urban youth ministry with a mission focussed on racial reconciliation and youth leadership development. I served in this position from 1994 - 2013.
I presently serve as Executive Director for The Holland Deacons' Conference.
Posted in: A Prayer for Healing
Thank you for this prayer! I will share and pray it with others. Shalom!
Posted in: Statement About The Deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor
Thanks for your good and important work as well as your comments here, Mark. I am not surprised, however--I presume you aren't either--that the push-back and criticism would be strong and at times harsh from among what I believe and hope is a very small yet very vocal minority of folks. Thanks too for providing the link to the list of names of those image-bearers of God--who happened to be African American--that have been killed by police since 2013. Their lives are no less sacred than the lives of the unborn. Yet, until now the vast majority of white Christians have typically remained silent, assumed the person killed was responsible for their own death, defended the killer, and became highly agitated and angry if one would even dare suggest that racism--individual or institutional--played any role in the death of the victim...especially if he happened to be black. My prayer is that the eyes and hearts of more and more white Christians will be opened to the reality of the sin of racism in our country and churches and that God would use his Church to bring the kind of peace and justice which in turn will bring true reconciliation that leads to and reflects the Shalom of God's glorious reign to and among all people.
Posted in: Everybody Serves: A Creative Welcome Time
What a great idea and resource! Do you happen to know whether and how Zach was included in the decision-making process about doing this? While it is a great idea, I think anything that involves individuals with intellectual and developmental differences should at the very least have their approval and support.
Posted in: Orientation Resources for Deacon Leadership
Thanks for sharing this information and making deacons and others aware of the resources already available to support them in their increasingly important work and responsibilities in today's church and world !
Additionally, the Holland Deacons' Conference (HDC) recently developed an online multi-media slide presentation as an orientation resource primarily for CRC and RCA deacons. It is available on HDC's website at hdccrc.org/hdc-deacon-orientation as well as on the Deacons and Classis sections of The Network as Online Orientation for Deacons
Posted in: Job Descriptions for Elders and Deacons
Here's an easy and shortened link to copy and share the 2016 Form for the Ordination of Elders and Deacons: bit.ly/ElderDeaconOrdination2016 (the link to to the form in the job descriptions brings you to the 1982 Form)
Posted in: CRC Resources for Disability Week
Thanks so much for these resources and information about this year's Disability Week. Hopefully, pastors, worship planning teams, church educational leaders and others will use and share this so that our churches and ministries will become more accessible and inclusive . . . as we should be.
Posted in: Friendship at the Margins
Thanks for your thoughtful response. I too have discovered that many of those on the margins often have a faith in and relationship with God that is not only present but often more vital and real than my own. These experiences challenge my assumptions and remind me that we are all broken and in need of God's shalom . . . it's just that some brokenness is more visible or more difficult to hide.
Posted in: Faith & Finances: A Ministry Tool for Deacons
Thanks for letting us know about this Terry. It seems like the good folks at The Chalmers Center have once again provided yet another useful resource and tool--along with the When Helping Hurts book, videos and seminars-- for those of use engaged in diaconal ministry. I look forward to learning more about it and hearing stories of how God is using Faith & Finances to reconcile and transform lives . . . lives that witness to and advance God's reign of shalom in the world.
Posted in: Do Training Materials Exist for Potential Deacons or Elders?
A lot of good resources and suggestions have already been shared here. The Network site for deacons itself contains a wealth of information, ideas and resources. Simply type in what you're looking for in the search box on the upper right corner of this page, check the "This Section" button and click the search magnifying glass icon.
In addition to what has been mentioned thus far, I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the Holland Deacons' Conference (aka HDC) . . . the diaconal ministry of the churches and communities of Classis Holland. We too have a website (hdccrc.org) that provides resources and support for deacons including regular blog posts providing timely and relevant information and news that is diaconal in nature.as well as a page dedicated to Deacon Resources.
Finally, HDC is available to meet with local diaconates for consultation, planning assistance, training on a variety of diaconal topics such as Community Asset Mapping, Effective Benevolence Practices, Deacon Orientation, and more.
Posted in: How Does Your Church Transition New Deacons Into Their Role?
I highly recommend doing a search right here on The Network section for Deacons on the subject. There have been a relatively large number of posts, at least one webinar and resources--including the Diakonia Remixed report to Synod 2013 and the report to Synod 2016 from the Task Force to Study the Office of Elder and Deacon--that I have used and made available to deacons and diaconates from churches in our classis.
Classis Holland recently spent an evening with Steve Timmermans (CRCNA Executive Director) and Andy Ryskamp (recently retired Director of World Renew U.S. to learn a bit more about where we are heading and how we hope to get there. There was a recent post on the website of the Holland Deacons' Conference that provided some of the information they shared that evening. Here's the link to that post: https://hdccrc.org/whats-ahead-for-crc-deacons/
Posted in: Relationships: More Than Just Morality; Ice Is Also Water
Thanks for sharing this, Jesse! I think our binary and dualistic way of thinking and perceiving things and people as either right or wrong, in or out, good or bad, etc. has contributed greatly to countless divisions and conflicts within the church. Especially on the subject of sexual orientation and gender identity, I think we need and would benefit from practicing a lot more humility and compassion along with a much less judgment.
Posted in: Giveaway Time! Just Say "Hi" and Be Entered to Win Best-Selling Book
Hi.