Please continue to pray for the family and friends of Phyllis Baker. We celebrate that she is at rest in the arms of Jesus! A private graveside ceremony for family will be held September 1.
Phyllis Arlene Baker, 101, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, died peacefully at her home on August 28th, 2026. A private graveside service will be held September 1st, 2026 at Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery.
Phyllis was born July 20, 1925, to Lester and Mabel (Seiler) Wilke in Carroll, Iowa. She graduated from Carroll High School and later attended Coe College in Cedar Rapids. Phyllis married Roy Jay Baker on January 25, 1954, in Carroll, Iowa. Both Phyllis and Roy were members of Cedar Hills Community Church for more than 60 years.
She enjoyed volunteering with her husband at St. Luke’s Hospital, Life Investors (TransAmerica), and Cedar Hills Community Church. Phyllis also enjoyed traveling, she had been to all 50 states along with many international destinations. She loved her family and cherished the time she spent with them.
Phyllis is survived by her daughter Susanne (Orin) Wakefield; five grandsons, two great grandchildren, and two step-great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Roy, and her son David.
Join us in praying for the family and friends of Harriet Aarhus as they mourn her loss.
The celebration of life is Thursday, July 16 at Cedar Hills at 11am. A luncheon will be held immediately after the service.
Live stream of the service will be available on YouTube and here approximately 10:50am:
Obituary
Harriet A. Aarhus, 86 of Cedar Rapids, passed away on Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Hiawatha. A visitation will be held on Wednesday, July 15 at Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home in Cedar Rapids from 4:00 pm until 7:00 pm. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, July 16 at Cedar Hills Community Church, 6455 E. Avenue NW, Cedar Rapids at 11:00 am. A luncheon will be held immediately following funeral services with entombment at 2:30 pm at the Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery in Cedar Rapids.
Harriet was born on July 27,1939, in Pipestone, MN to Harry and Helen (Jackson) Doty. Her parents moved seven times before Harriet entered school and finally settled in Cedar Rapids, where she met and married Gwyneth (Gwyn) Aarhus on August 13, 1961, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Harriet began her career as a Librarian’s Assistant at Kenwood Public Library. She then worked as a Clerk at S.S. Kresge’s, a Billing Machine Operator at Iowa National Mutual Insurance, an Office Clerk at Dial Finance and then as a Credit Correspondent at General Motors Acceptance Corp. (GMAC). For the next 10 years, Harriet worked in the home as “Mom” to their three children. In 1978, Harriet returned to GMAC as an Accounting Clerk, then worked as an Administrative Assistant at Esco Electric & Automation Systems and at Iowa Electric Light & Power. She finished are career after she earned an AA in Legal Assistance and worked as a Legal Secretary for U.S. Filter Consumer Products, Inc., Simmons & Perrine Law Firm, and Alliant Energy.
Harriet was a faithful member of the Cedar Hills Community Church, where she also enjoyed volunteering. Harriet’s number one passion was sports, but specifically baseball. She loved watching the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox, the Minnesota Twins and was a long-time season ticket holder to the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Gwyn and Harriet loved to travel (mostly in their station wagon) and accomplished visiting all 50 U.S. states. Within those travels, they visited many baseball parks, amusement parks, museums, and anything else that was found along the way. Harriet also loved scrapbooking, spending time with her family and talking with everyone. There wasn’t a person she couldn’t talk to for hours. Harriet will forever be remembered as a wonderful and caring wife, mother, grandmother, sister, cousin and friend whose memory will be cherished by all who knew and loved her. She will be missed greatly!
Harriet is survived by her children: Todd Aarhus of Ankeny, Ryan Aarhus of Robins, and Kylene (Chad) Dunham of Cedar Rapids; and a granddaughter, Ashleigh Dunham of Cedar Rapids. She is also survived by her brother, Bud (Beth) Doty of Tucson, AZ; brother-in-laws, DuWayne (Laura) Aarhus of Walker and Collin (Barbara) Aarhus of Center Point; and many nieces and nephews.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Gwyneth (d. 2019), her parents and her parents-in-law.
As we are wrapping up our teaching on Sabbath, I am challenged with how to make this spiritual practice “sticky” in my life. It is easier to practice when Sabbath is top of mind, but how will we balance Sabbath as we also look to incorporate generosity.
To that end I read an interesting article 7 Sabbath Tips from 15 Years of Practice. I encourage you to go read the article, and consider applying some of these very practical tips to your Sabbath practice. The hook the author Austin Gohn used in the article is moving and I would like to offer it to all of you here.
In a recent interview with former senator Ben Sasse, who is dying of Stage-4 pancreatic cancer in his fifties, he was asked, “Is there advice that you would give to someone who is the Ben Sasse father of three at age 40 or age 35, when the kids are young and everything’s stressful and chaotic? In light of where you are now?”
“No. 1, honor the Sabbath and keep it holy. Man, I wish I’d treated the Lord’s Day differently over the course of my life. I’ve always known it, believed in it and thought: Maybe next week we’ll get better. We’ve been at Sunday worship every morning forever, but man, am I tempted by 12:45 or 1:30 in the afternoon to get back to work or, to an addictive level, work about the N.F.L. Boy, I would treat Sabbaths differently — and especially digital intrusions into the Sabbath.”
So, brothers and sisters, we are challenged to consider our own mortality and seize each Sabbath day with delight! Let us not forget this practice as we endeavor on in our abiding practices. Let us worship God in Sabbath practice, not out of obligation or duty, but out of reverance for God. Trusting that He will bring the blessing for our faithfulness.
Steve Poole Pastor of Youth & Young Adults
What did you think of this article? Did you laugh? Cry? Learn something new? Let Steve know below.
Visitation: Thursday, May 14th from 6 to 8 p.m at Cedar Hills
Celebration of Life: Friday, May 15th at 10:30 a.m. with luncheon to follow.
Obituary
Rev. Dr. Jerry Dale Springston, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, passed away peacefully on March 23, 2026, his 86th birthday, after an acute illness.
Jerry was born to Harley and Neva Springston, on March 23, 1940, in Denver, Colorado. He was the youngest of three, pesky little brother to Marcia Edwards and Cherie Hafer.
Jerry was a philomath. He loved to learn, read, and study. He graduated from South High School in Denver, Colorado. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in education from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota; his Masters of Divinity from Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Kansas; and his Doctorate of Theology from Northern Seminary in Lyle, Illinois.
Jerry was a xenophile. He traveled extensively within and outside of the United States, traversing six continents and all 50 states. He especially loved road trips, racking up hundreds of thousands of miles on every vehicle he owned, primarily due to his propensity to “see where this road goes” or “take the scenic route.”
Jerry was a linguaphile. He loved words. His profession required him to be a great orator, but his passion for language made him a great storyteller. He was a polyglot, who learned seven languages in his lifetime, including Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabic, Swedish, Italian, and Tigrinya.
Jerry was an altruist who devoted his life to others. He was an inaugural member of the Peace Corps stationed in Eritrea, East Africa. He served the congregations of First Christian Church of Englewood, Colorado, Linwood Baptist Church, Linwood, Kansas, First Baptist Church, Charles City, Iowa, and First Baptist Church (Church on Northland) Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a combined 45 years. He retired in 2005. He spent the next 17 years serving as a minister-at-large for American Baptist Churches in Blue Hill, Maine; Grand Junction, Colorado; Fowler, New York; Spokane, Washington; Hornell, New York; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Roundup, Montana; Winnebago, Minnesota; Davenport, Iowa; and Marion, Iowa.
Jerry held numerous roles in nonprofit organizations, including President, Mid-American Baptist Churches; member of Rotary International (50 years), Club Secretary, Club President, Club Sponsor, and District Governor; Treasurer, Willis Dady Emergency Shelter; President, Linn County Corrections Chaplaincy; President, Linn County Association of Evangelicals; Member and President, Charles City Community School Board; Member, American Baptist Homes of the Midwest; and on-call chaplain, St. Luke’s Hospital.
Jerry is survived by his wife and best friend of 60 years, Therese “Terri” Coggins Springston; son, Troy Springston (Debbie Beuchat) of Farmington, New York ; daughter, Shannon Rosati (Rick) of Hopkins, Minnesota; his grandchildren: Aja Hughes (Patrick), Tabitha Wawrzyniak (Joe), Jacob Dedie, Claudia Dedie, Riley Rosati, Joshua Springston, Harley Rosati, Clarissa Springston, and Sydney Rosati; along with many cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.
Visitation to be held on Thursday, May 14th from 6 to 8 p.m. A celebration of life will be held on Friday, May 15th at 10:30 a.m. with luncheon to follow. Both events will be held at Cedar Hills Community Church. The funeral service will be livestreamed and can be viewed at the following link: www.youtube.com/cedarhillsCR
SABBATICAL NEWS – We are the kind of people who want to take care of our staff. We do that by offering fair compensation in a positive, flexible work environment. We also build healthy, collaborative teams that serve together in following God’s call. We are blessed with dedicated staff who love the Lord, love the church, and love each other.
The Alliance of Reformed churches strongly recommends that after seven years of service pastors are given the opportunity to take a sabbatical. A sabbatical is time away from regular responsibilities for the sake of renewal and refreshment. Sabbaticals are common in academic and religious organizations. The Alliance feels so strongly about this that they offer grants to churches to help cover the expense involved in a Sabbatical.
Pastor Leah has been faithfully serving our congregation for 19 years. She has never had a sabbatical. We are pleased to announce that we have received a grant from the Upper Mississippi Valley Network of the Alliance to cover the expenses of a Sabbatical for Leah. She will be taking the summer off from her regular duties beginning May 24. She will return from her sabbatical on August 16.
Please pray for Leah that this time is truly a time of renewal and refreshment. Also pray for her teams and for her summer replacement Ben Drzycimski. If you have questions about worship, music, tech, or media this summer do not contact Leah. Please contact Pastor Kent, Ben, or the office and we will assist you.
GRADUATE RECOGNITION – We love our grads and want to recognize all the hard work they have put in! Whether high school, college, grad school or a certificate program, if you’ve completed something in the last year, we want to recognize you in the services on Sunday, May 17.
CHURCH PICNIC – Join us for an evening of fun at Cherry Hill park Sunday, May 17. We’ll be providing the meat and drinks. Bring a side to share and meet us at the park pavilion around 5:30pm.
Bring a baseball glove or two! Lawn chairs, yard games… whatever you want!
