My Blog List
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greetings to my fellow cpe & Pine rest employees !
PRCH
Below:PINE REST TWITTER FEED
Twitter Search / PineRestGR
- Pine Rest is hiring! Opportunities range from entry level all the way up to RNs & therapists. Apply today to become part of a dynamic organization united to bring healing moments to those we serve! We allow you to learn, grow & develop on the job. APPLY: pinerest.org/JOIN-OUR-TEAM. pic.twitter.com/MtJdkm4Uv9 - 6/7/2020
- Support #mentalhealthaffordability while shopping @amazonsmile ! Amazon donates 0.5% of each purchase to our Patient Assistance Fund - no cost to you. Same selection as regular @amazon . Log in to smile.amazon.com & choose Pine Rest as charity of choice. #AllInThisTogether pic.twitter.com/Cn2QbPZ2t0 - 6/7/2020
- "If you can’t turn to someone in your life and say how you are really feeling, then you’re only going to end up hurting yourself somehow down the road." ow.ly/CJnT30qLzDJ #MensHealthMonth - 6/7/2020
chapel
CPE
Below:CPE NEWS TWITTER FEED
Twitter Search / CPENews
- Watch our webinar, featuring @cpepres discussing #diversity, #equity and #inclusion , live now: youtu.be/GNiMuT1O-wA - 6/10/2020
- LAST REMINDER: Still accepting registrations for event 11 a.m. ET today. Aaron Thompson, @cpepres, will be featured in our Higher Edquity webinar to discuss race relations in #ky & explore the connection education has as contributor and solution. Register: cpe.ky.gov/higheredquity/… pic.twitter.com/HMYyAnowgT - 6/10/2020
- We're happy to announce that @KyDeptofEd leader, Amanda Ellis, head P-20 programs at CPE. Ellis brings a vast amount experience to CPE and we look forward to working with her on crating a more seamless transition from high school to college. For more info: kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity… pic.twitter.com/vwOCA54suF - 6/9/2020
- Kentucky's #HBCU campuses will be key players. We're looking forward to working with @KyStateU and Simmons College in Louisvillle (@SCKY_1879) in this initiative! #KyHigherEdMatters twitter.com/cpepres/status… - 6/9/2020
My Blog List
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
There was a man named Jim
Friday, August 23, 2024
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Very charitable, but they declined me😢✝️ "Richard & Helen DeVos Foundation sunsets after 54 years, $1.1B donated"
Saturday, May 4, 2024
Some of the people I remember working with at Pine Rest Hospital
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Sunday, April 7, 2024
New "Pediatric Behavioral Health Center on Pine Rest’s Cutlerville campus should open in 2026.
Monday, March 25, 2024
Monday, March 4, 2024
Friday, February 23, 2024
Jim was proud of this, Famous Calvin alum quoted by SI "Does God Care Who Wins the Super Bowl? " (oldie Goldie, sports illustrated , Jan 1998
Nor kicking field goals. "The outcome is dependent on human
beings, not on God," Kok says. "He'll inspire players to do
their best, but the outcome is up to them."
Monday, December 18, 2023
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
re "Rev. James R. Kok: Celebrating 50 Years of Ministry (November 15, 2018 )"
S: Celebrating 50 Years of Ministry
November 15, 2018

At the CRC Chaplains Conference this past June, chaplains stood to recognize Rev. Jim R. Kok who just retired after 50 years of chaplain ministry.
Jim's half century in ministry impacted thousands of people across the country. After his ordination in 1963, Jim spent several years serving as a hospital chaplain and then as a church pastor in Iowa City. Later, Jim came to Grand Rapids, MI to be a chaplain and Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) instructor at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services. In 1984, Jim answered a call to be a pastoral counselor at Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA. He served there for over 30 years.
Jim's longevity in ministry is a testament to his ability to connect with other people. He stands 6'6" but his personality is even bigger. He is jovial and friendly and shows a genuine interest in every person he meets. For him, it is never about fixing problems or saying the right things, but being there for people in their times of need.
"Friendliness," he says in his book Transform Belief into Behavior, "is sharing the love of Jesus that is flowing through us. Nothing is more meaningful than giving Jesus' love." He adds, "Friendliness, whether it is my smile, a word of thanks, a visit, or treating another fairly, builds hope and happiness in a person's heart and opens him to God's love."
Jim's gift for connecting with people comes from his inherent ability to listen, a skill he has been able to share both with patients and pastors alike. As a CPE instructor, he was particularly skilled at verbatims (now called "pastoral encounters"), in which a chaplain would, without any notes, recount word for word an entire conversation with a patient. Verbatims were extremely challenging and formative, as they forced spiritual care providers to invest themselves fully in their interactions, and to critically look at everything they themselves said and did. "Pastors know how to preach and pray," said Jim, "but they don't always know how to listen." Through his training, many gained these skills.
Jim continued to share his gift for listening, writing a "question and answer" column for The Banner and later his first book, 90% of Helping is Just Showing Up. He has since written several other books, including The Pastoral Counseling Treatment Planner, which seminarians still commonly use to diagnose problems and set goals as they develop pastoral care skills.
Jim may have retired, but his ministry, and its influence, continue to impact the world. He has trained and guided hundreds of pastors and chaplains. He has touched the lives of thousands of people in crisis or spiritual distress. He has built strong communities of believers, sharing his knowledge, love, and care with those around him. Even now, he continues to lead an adult Sunday school class of around 100 people. He may have retired from ministry, but his ministry will never leave him or the lives he has touched.
Comments
Lou Wagenveld on November 15, 2018
Petite wife Linda doesn't come in for a mention in this otherwise great article about Jim.

James Dekker on November 20, 2018
Thanks to Jim for the CPE course I took at Pine Rest from September through December 1977. I was fresh out of seminary, just employed by then-CR World Missions, waiting for visas for Brazil (which never came). CPE was the first (not last) time that compassionate, passionate colleagues and mentors (Jim, Duane Visser) tore me and each other apart and put each other back together again. At first I dreaded the CPE discussions of our clinical work, pastoral and vocational implications. I'm quite sure that without that I wouldn't have stayed in ministry very long after returning from Latin America. CPE w/ Jim helped recognize significant gaps in self-awareness, how to find ways to fill those gaps and to recognize little hints of God's image/presence even in the most seriously ill of patients. That last beginning of life-long learning was certainly needed in pastoral ministry when parishioners' quirks and neuroses could flare into danger and trouble. In short in CPE I began to learn more deeply how to love both lovable and unlovable children of God--including myself in both categories. Thanks Jim Kok.

James Dekker on November 20, 2018
Thanks to Jim for the CPE course I took at Pine Rest from September through December 1977. I was fresh out of seminary, just employed by then-CR World Missions, waiting for visas for Brazil (which never came). CPE was the first (not last) time that compassionate, passionate colleagues and mentors (Jim, Duane Visser) tore me and each other apart and put each other back together again. At first I dreaded the CPE discussions of our clinical work, pastoral and vocational implications. I'm quite sure that without that I wouldn't have stayed in ministry very long after returning from Latin America. CPE w/ Jim helped recognize significant gaps in self-awareness, how to find ways to fill those gaps and to recognize little hints of God's image/presence even in the most seriously ill of patients. That last beginning of life-long learning was certainly needed in pastoral ministry when parishioners' quirks and neuroses could flare into danger and trouble. In short in CPE I began to learn more deeply how to love both lovable and unlovable children of God--including myself in both categories. Thanks Jim Kok.

Sarah Roelofs on November 26, 2018
In reply to Thanks to Jim for the CPE by James Dekker
James,
Thank you for sharing part of your story and how Jim's ministry and CPE equipped you in ministry.
Lisa Petersen on June 19, 2019
There is no way to thank Jim enough for the way he contributed to my life and ministry.
He shaped me during a very impressionable time in my life, and his words stick with me consistently. I took CPE with Jim at the Crystal Cathedral. Fourteen years later, I am now a hospital chaplain at a trauma center and in the ordination process with the Episcopal Church.
The task that Jesus has for us is simple: show care and kindness to those around you. Through this, lives are changed, people are healed and the Kingdom of God is realized. Thank you, Jim!
https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/chaplaincy/rev-james-r-kok-celebrating-50-years-ministry
Monday, July 10, 2023
Monday, April 10, 2023
👎 Terrible 👎"Walter Reed Med Center (WRNMMC) terminated a Catholic PASTORAL CARE contract "
Friday, June 10, 2022
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
Sunday, February 13, 2022
"Does God Care Who Wins the Super Bowl? "Sports Illustrated talks to Jim Kok
James Kok, a former college basketball player who is executive pastor of the care ministry at Robert Schuller's famed Crystal
Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif., says that most player-proselytizers are earnest believers whose religious lives involve "the most simple expression of faith. They take the
Bible very literally. They think of God in an almost physical way. He's their friend, their force, their power."
They certainly need Him on the field, given the brutal nature of their game and the unnatural contours of the ball. "The physics
of the way a football bounces is just endlessly complicated, "says Wood. "It's so complicated, in fact, that it's unpredictable. God does not control that."
Come Super Bowl Sunday, says Kok, the Lord will not be out there throwing or deflecting passes. Nor opening holes in the line.
Nor kicking field goals. "The outcome is dependent on human beings, not on God," Kok says. "He'll inspire players to do their best, but the outcome is up to them. They should ask for
guidance, wisdom, courage. Hopefully, He will be giving the players what they need to deal with adversity. Ask God to use your talent to the utmost. Be the best person out there. And, no, don't pray to win."
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
neat website re Jim Kok, Tony Diekema, Don Vroon & other Calvin & Holland Christian basketball players of the 1950's west Michigan
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Thursday, June 24, 2021
Who am I
Sunday, October 11, 2020
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Friday, February 14, 2020
"Ceremony honors 4 chaplains lost during World War II...After the torpedo hit the ship and it became clear that the ship was sinking, the chaplains tried to calm the men and organize an orderly evacuation. As life jackets were passed out, the supply ran out. The chaplains removed their own life jackets and gave them to others. After helping as many men as they could into lifeboats, they linked arms and, saying prayers and singing hymns, they went down with the ship."
Thursday, November 21, 2019
RIP HERB START "Founder of Hope Network Passes Away "| Christian Reformed Church
Friday, November 15, 2019
Monday, August 26, 2019
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Thursday, August 8, 2019
Friday, June 21, 2019
"42 Candidates Welcomed, Some Anonymously " | Christian Reformed Church
Monday, May 27, 2019
Monday, May 20, 2019
flashback to LEGENDARY CRC KINDNESS PASTOR (& Calvin alumnus 1950's) , PASTOR JIM KOK (still alive!) during his NATIONAL GUARD DAYS
Friday, March 8, 2019
UNIFIED CPE ! "Helping Ministers Become Pastors " Christian Reformed Church
--
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Saturday, November 3, 2018
Fwd: "Pine Rest urgent care center seeks to fill mental health service demand "
"Pine Rest urgent care center seeks to fill mental health service demand"
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Saturday, September 8, 2018
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Worked at Pine Rest 42 years: age 89,RIP: "Willis Kooiker Obituary - Grand Rapids, MI |" Grand Rapids Press
Kooiker, Willis Caledonia, MI Willis "Bill" Kooiker, aged 89, went to be with his Lord on Sunday, December 17, 2017. Bill retired from Pine Rest after 42 years of service. He served in the U.S. Army from 1951 until 1953. His brothers, Herman and Jacob; and brothers-in-law, Harvard Rozeboom, Don...."
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Thursday, November 30, 2017
in loving memory, RIP. :, CRC's 1st CHAPLAIN DIRECTOR, HAL BODE
First Chaplaincy Director, Hal Bode, Was 'Chaplain to the Chaplains'
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Fwd: 1/18/11 JAMES KOK MENTIONED IN ARTICLE
"Carol Slager, director of congregational life and education at Modesto (Calif.) CRC, taught a 10-week adult Sunday school class on compassion last fall. She used The Compassionate Congregation as well as 90% of Helping Is Just Showing Up by Rev. James R. Kok (also published by Faith Alive).
"We found Rev. Kok's course to be very helpful," Slager said, "especially the chapter on whether we're 'players' or 'umpires.' It challenged us to be slower to make judgment calls and quicker to come alongside people."..."
Friday, September 1, 2017
Friday, June 16, 2017
Friday, December 16, 2016
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
CALVIN'S JIM KOK, DON VROON 1955,1956 "All-Time All-MIAA Selections - Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
"
1955
Bob Hendrickson, HO
Henry Hughes, AD
Jim Kok, C
Gary Morrison, K
Don Vroon, C
1956
John Hannett, AB
Leon Harper, AD
Jim Kok, C
Tom Newhof, C
Don Vroon, C "
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
re jim kok, memorial day service at Christ cathedral 2016
" If u declare with your mouth,
"Jesus is Lord," & believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead,
u will be saved."
Romans 10.9
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Good ol' Bob Baker,RIP "Robert Baker Obituary "- Kentwood, MI | Grand Rapids Press
http://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/grandrapids/obituary.aspx?n=robert-baker&pid=180393290&fhid=4926
-vk-
Saturday, April 23, 2016
, slide-video re MY DAD's CPE YEARS AT PINE REST HOSPITAL GRAND RAPIDS MICHIGAN 1970's & 80's
Sunday, April 10, 2016
BEGIN INTERVIEW of JIM KOK re CARE & KINDNESS, HOUR of POWER, CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL, ED ARNOLD
Jim Kok's mother, Kathryn, died at an early age of a brain tumor while Rev. Gareth Kok was a pastor at the Maple CRC in Holland, Michigan. Jim struggled with grief from this loss as a young adult and subsequently found solace by doing "care ministry" devoted to issues of grief & death & dying, etc. and expanded on this to many various issues of Care & Kindness as he continued his career as a "Director of Pastoral Care" at Pine Rest Hospital & subsequently the Crystal Cathedral. He is/was a certified CPE supervisor as well (clinical pastoral education) and led many "Care & Kindness Conferences" at the Crystal Cathedral for numerous years until the church experienced difficult economic circumstances. He continues to speak at conferences re kindness, as well as writes on the topic, and continues to work at Crystal Cathedral.
video JIM KOK re CARE & KINDNESS, ON HOUR of POWER, CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL
Jim Kok's mother, Kathryn, died at an early age of a brain tumor while Rev. Gareth Kok was a pastor at the Maple CRC in Holland, Michigan. Jim struggled with grief from this loss as a young adult and subsequently found solace by doing "care ministry" devoted to issues of grief & death & dying, etc. and expanded on this to many various issues of Care & Kindness as he continued his career as a "Director of Pastoral Care" at Pine Rest Hospital & subsequently the Crystal Cathedral. He is/was a certified CPE supervisor as well (clinical pastoral education) and led many "Care & Kindness Conferences" at the Crystal Cathedral for numerous years until the church experienced difficult economic circumstances. He continues to speak at conferences re kindness, as well as writes on the topic, and continues to work at Crystal Cathedral.
video JIM KOK on HOUR of POWER re CARE & KINDNESS (interview followed by Miss California)
Jim Kok's mother, Kathryn, died at an early age of a brain tumor while Rev. Gareth Kok was a pastor at the Maple CRC in Holland, Michigan. Jim struggled with grief from this loss as a young adult and subsequently found solace by doing "care ministry" devoted to issues of grief & death & dying, etc. and expanded on this to many various issues of Care & Kindness as he continued his career as a "Director of Pastoral Care" at Pine Rest Hospital & subsequently the Crystal Cathedral. He is/was a certified CPE supervisor as well (clinical pastoral education) and led many "Care & Kindness Conferences" at the Crystal Cathedral for numerous years until the church experienced difficult economic circumstances. He continues to speak at conferences re kindness, as well as writes on the topic, and continues to work at Crystal Cathedral.
He is married to Linda Peters Kok and they have four children.
4/6/16 GREAT TO SEE MY DAD AGAIN, the FORMER CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL CARE & KINDNESS PASTOR, & CPE SUPERVISOR , now 81
6/30/13 KINDNESS PASTOR JIM KOK's RETIREMENT ANNOUNCED @ FINAL CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL SERVICE
************
also see pics at http://www.scribd.com/doc/151376216/More-From-Final-Crystal-Cathedral-Service-Jim-Kok-Retirement
also see http://rip-crystal-cathedral.blogspot.com/2013/07/l.html
****
...so this is it..the day finally comes..the last-ever Crystal Cathedral service after 33 years in the big glass church (since 1980) & since Robert H. Schuller started preaching from the top of a drive-in theatre in 1955 (58 years ago) , albeit the church will continue as will the Hour of Power but at a different location..about a mile away at what is now the old St. Callistus church (Roman Catholic), while the St. Callistus congregation will begin having their mass in the arboretum on the Crystal cathedral campus but last thing I heard there will not be any catholic mass in the Crystal cathedral (Or "Christ Cathedral" as it is now called until they completely restore everything and it adheres to catholic "standards"...and that may not be until 2015 ... ; anyways, Robbie Schuller (the grandson of the founder) led the final service and apparently is now the designated "senior pastor" , and Robert A. Schuller (Robbie's dad, and the son of the founder) was also present at the final service and read the scripture and gave the final benediction. Also Jim Kok was recognized for his many years of pastoral care & kindness services, among other things...as his retirement was announced albeit he will apparently continue to volunteer his services for the church at the new location (Jim is a CRC ordained pastor who came to the Crystal Cathedral in 1984 to lead the pastoral care ministry, and he branched off into doing Care & Kindness ministry and conferences, & CPE (clinical pastoral education), among other things. The congregation gave him a standin ovation and the pastors presented a plaque of appreciation. There was also some beautiful music by various musicians...also all the different departments and various volunteers were recognized. It was VERY hot ...hottest weekend of the year so far.. record heat around "the southland"...and I wondered why they didn't open the giant doors to let some breeze in...and then Bobby announced that the doors had just broken in the last week or so...and quipped "not our problem anymore"..and there was some group baptisms (not immersion style).. and Robby gave a final homily (sermon)... and then Robert A. Schuller gave the famous benediction of his father ... and that was THE END ! ...albeit they also had a "final ceremony" outside with the mayor of Garden Grove and other persons..which I didn't stay to attend (had to get another function)... ; meanwhile, construction on the arboreturm (not sure what they are doing) was actually in progress during the service..these are the contractors for the Roman Catholic diocese..apparently trying to get it ready for the St. Callistus congregation..
ALSO see FINAL ST. CALLISTUS service at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl3S-GZxUak
tags: crystal cathedral, schuller, hour of power, garden grove, robert schuller, st. callistus, roman catholic, catholic diocese of orange, christ cathedral
Thursday, March 3, 2016
MORE CRC SEMINARIANS BECOMING CHAPLAINS: "Interest in Chaplaincy is Growing" | Article | Christian Reformed Church
have chosen the chaplaincy as a career. But in the last
five years, said Klimp, that number has been rising
steadily for different reasons and is now approaching 15
percent...."
https://www.crcna.org/news-and-views/interest-chaplaincy-growing
Friday, January 29, 2016
7 SPIRITUAL (CORPOREAL) WORKS OF MERCY
"The Spiritual Works of Mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in spiritual necessities (CCC #2447), those being focused on getting a soul to Heaven. The seven Spiritual Works of Mercy are:
- Admonish the sinner
- Instruct the ignorant
- Counsel the doubtful
- Comfort the sorrowful
- Bear wrongs patiently
- Forgive all injuries
- Pray for the living and the dead"
http://www.ourladyswarriors.org/faith/spirmercy.htm
--
" If u declare with your mouth,
"Jesus is Lord," & believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead,
u will be saved."
Romans 10.9Friday, January 1, 2016
THEY DON'T MENTION WHO STARTED IT IN 1970: "Pine Rest: Clinical pastoral education program to strengthen collaboration between CRC and RCA "
Christian Mental Health Services, the
Christian Reformed Church, the Reformed
Church in America and their seminaries
will focus on a Pine Rest education program
which has been providing clinical pastoral
education (CPE) for 45 years..."
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
CPE: "CRC and RCA to Collaborate with Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services" | Article | Christian Reformed Church
training to more individuals from RCA and CRC churches.
The CPE group interaction will build connections between
the participants that will yield denominational
collaboration as they continue in ministry..."
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
MY FORMER CPE SUPERVISOR (beth boyd) WORKS for the SISTERS:"Pope Francis meets with Little Sisters of the Poor, nuns involved in an Obamacare lawsuit" - The Washington Post
Sunday, August 16, 2015
YES:"Doctors Fail to Address Patients’ Spiritual Needs "- NYTimes.com
religion and spirituality to many patients.
Seventy percent of dying patients want their
doctor to ask them about their religious beliefs."
[That's what hospital chaplaincy (&CPE) is all about! ]
http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2015/08/13/doctors-fail-to-address-patients-spiritual-needs/