My name is Dan Aument and my wife Sharlene and I are members of the 8:15 congregation from May to mid October. We live in our cottage on the upper boardwalk at Ottawa Beach for five months of the year. We feel very welcome at the 8:15 service at Grace. Within the past few years, we joined the post-service breakfast group and then we began to help out with the Feeding America program and we discovered that many of our new church friends  assisted with that program.

I am an Episcopalian from birth. My  I have worked as a distributor of non theatrical and Christian 16mm films, managed a small format  digital printing facility and finally was self employed as an interior and exterior residential painter. My wife Shar was raised Christian Reformed, and I enjoy her view of the Bible and Christianity in general. She and I started to attend Grace Episcopal Church Holland about seven or eight years ago.

Shar worked in mid level management for Sears retail for 23 years, then she taught first grade for about 13 years. All her first grade students were Latinos, monolingual in Spanish, and she taught them in Spanish. We vacation in Central America for six weeks of the year, returning to our Grand Rapids home in time for Advent 2.

With Shar’s help, I started to learn Spanish about 12 years ago. She and I read the daily lectionary passages after breakfast, and then we read from “Dia a Dia” the Spanish version of  the “Day by Day” booklet of meditations.

Shar is an excellent cook and is what I would describe as an extreme knitter. I am a watercolorist, a film archivist. I’ve graduated from EFM, Disciples of Christ in Community (DOCC) and  the Stephen Ministry program.

We like Pastor Jen’s style very much – both her solid preaching and her gracious friendly and welcoming manner. We appreciate the liturgical service which is centered around Holy Eucharist, and we like the strong emphasis on outreach and mission work.

Submitted by: Dan Aument