July, 1996

Dear Pastor,

Summer is finally here, and before too much summer passes, I want to get out another letter to you from the Woodland Drive-In Church.

Working, as I do, in the publishing field (my fulltime job, as some of you know, is at Zondervan Publishing House), I know the truth of the adage that you can often tell a book by its cover. In a similar vein, I believe you can tell the nature of a church by its signs.

One of the things we did when we moved from the old Woodland Drive-In Theater to our present location at 2600 Breton SE was to erect a church sign with room for a brief changeable saying to catch the attention of motorists driving by. About once a month the caption is changed. It is my hope that people driving by will not only be stimulated to think about the saying but also to realize where we as a church stand on basic Christian issues. We hold teachings that are in the mainstream of evangelical Christianity. We believe in the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe the Bible is God’s word and that our only hope for eternal life is through Jesus Christ.

Here is a representative sampling of some of the best of what we have put on the sign:
Our church is prayer-conditioned
Christ is the biggest part of Christmas
You can’t stumble while on your knees
Come in for a faith lift
Read the Bible—prevent truth decay
When you need a lift, lift praise to God
Clouds of testing can bring showers of blessing

Always remember that the Woodland Drive-In Church is a service church. We do not hold membership papers, and we never intend to. We see ourselves as a service church in the greater Grand Rapids area, ministering particularly on Sunday to a group of people who might not otherwise be able to attend a worship service. We are excited about this ministry and rejoice when people who attend our services can return to their own church or perhaps reach a point where they want to join a traditional church.

Sincerely,
Verlyn D. Verbrugge