Photo by Dan Plasman
This Week In the E-Pistle, You Will Find...
This Week's Service: Fourth Sunday of Advent - Who Is This Joseph Character?
Photo by Ayrus Hill on Unsplash
Joseph, the father of Jesus, married to Jesus' mother Mary, is as unlikely a character as Mary in the story of Jesus' birth. Both are unwittingly compelled into this drama that includes a revolutionary baby, shepherds who receive a message from angels, and outsiders who bring gifts for a king, among other things. Of Joseph we could say he was; breaker of rules, protector of the vulnerable, dreamer of dreams, namer of babies, unspeaking hero, deeply feeling man. What does his journey teach us about our journey to the celebration of the birth of Jesus in this season?
Please join us on Sunday at 10 am in our Sanctuary, or online, live on our Youtube Channel. Message: Rev. Jody Betten Music: Peter Black, Jeff Spangler, Lauri Donaldson 
Last Week's Service: Third Sunday of Advent - Embracing Mary
Photo from Art Institute of Chicago on Unsplash
It’s been said that Protestants don’t know quite what to do with Mary – the Virgin Mary, Mary
the mother of Jesus, Mary who was betrothed to Joseph. Do we worship her? Do we call upon this woman in time of need? Should she be an object of our veneration? Consider all the hospitals named after her. Churches too. The Louvre Musuem in Paris has around sixty paintings of her. Leonardo da Vinci chose to paint her ten times. If we can trust the opening chapter of Luke (and we should!), Mary saw the world with different eyes, a world not as it is but a world as God intends it to be. Lessons abound in her Magnificat if we choose to embrace them. Jody and Dan's Office Hours This Week
Christmas Eve Service, December 24, 6pm
Please join us on Wednesday, December 24, at 6 PM (either in-person or streaming live online) for our annual Christmas Eve service, when we celebrate the story of the birth of Jesus and sing beloved Christmas Carols. Everyone is welcome!
Silent Retreats, In a frantic, noisy world...
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Second Sundays are a hit! Folks who stay for the extended coffee hour to catch up and for the delicious eats are not disappointed! In January the second Sunday is our semi-annual Congregational Meeting so we will not be eating together that day. Watch for details for our next Sunday luncheon!
Listening Ear: Do You Need to Be Heard?
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Our Listening Ear service has been a great help to our congregation during a tumultuous time, and so, after a successful trial period, this highly trained team of empathic folks -- Paul Burdick, Mike Valdez, Pat Denner, and Doug Sipsma -- will be continuing the service. Their premise is, everyone goes through rough patches in life. Sometimes stress can feel overwhelming. Talking to a caring human helps in so many, sometimes immeasurable, sometimes mystical ways. Our listeners are available at the Retreat House on Thursday afternoons from 1 to 3 pm.
Council Meeting Minutes
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| Church Council Minutes Nov-11 2025 |
Card Ministry
Photo by Immo Wegman on Unsplash
Do you love receiving cards in the mail when you're sick, recovering from surgery, have a birthday or anniversary, or need a reminder that you're being prayed for? Maybe sending cards to folks in those situations is a way you could bring a smile to someone's day! If you are willing to send a card on behalf of DUCC for members' birthdays or anniversaries, for healing or prayers, for one month, please contact Pastor Dan or Pastor Jody. If you have cards that you aren't using that would be appropriate for such occasions, please drop them off at the office for our use. A couple minutes to let someone know they are thought of, a quick trip to the post office, that's all it takes to bring a smile!
Mid-Year Congregational Meeting, January 11 after Sunday Service
Join us this Sunday January 11, 2026 after the morning service for our annual Congregational Meeting to kick-off the New Year. We will gather as a Congregation to review the past year and look forward to the future. Please plan to join us.
Recruiting Video Technician - Interested in Joining the AV Team?
Our Sunday morning AV team needs a few more hands on the camera to make the magic happen. We are seeking enthusiastic individuals to join our tech crew behind the camera creating the livestream. No prior experience is necessary; we embrace newcomers with open arms and are fully committed to training. If you have a willingness to learn the ropes, a passion for supporting the service behind the scenes, and are available on Sunday mornings, you could be the perfect fit for our collaborative and welcoming AV team.
Taking Pictures at DUCC Event?
Photo by Alexey Demidov on Unsplash
Want people to know about the fun we have, the meaningful events we provide, the community you love? Share your photos! After a DUCC event, text appropriate photos to Greggie Gerrans @ 616-218-9679
Prayer Requests
Orie Hawkes; Elinor Hite (Virginia Stuart’s sister); Dave Lawson; Christine Kerney; Dan McGavin and Family of Carol Brown; Rev. Marchiene Rienstra Family; Ann and Jim Hopkins; Ruth Fahlstrom (Tom Fahlstrom’s daughter); Mary Westenbroek; Max Matteson; Eric Cooley (Jo Cooley's brother); Ian Blumer (Claire Blumer's nephew); Charlene Burdick (Paul Burdick's mother); En Vivo UCC.
Birthday's & Anniversary's This Week
Birthday's & Anniversary's This Week
BIRTHDAYS
December 22: Mary Harris
December 24: Cambria Whitcomb, Kelsey Whitcomb & Christine Kerney
December 27: Bert Hallewas
ANNIVERSARIES
December 27: Anne & Douglas Petersen
Birthday and Anniversary cards are a great way we can reach out to one another. If you wish to mail a card to one of our church members, addresses can be found in our Church Directory.
* If you have had any changes in your information, please know you can go to the Directory and update yourself, or contact Claire to change/update.*
BIRTHDAYS
December 22: Mary Harris
December 24: Cambria Whitcomb, Kelsey Whitcomb & Christine Kerney
December 27: Bert Hallewas
ANNIVERSARIES
December 27: Anne & Douglas Petersen
Birthday and Anniversary cards are a great way we can reach out to one another. If you wish to mail a card to one of our church members, addresses can be found in our Church Directory.
* If you have had any changes in your information, please know you can go to the Directory and update yourself, or contact Claire to change/update.*
New "easy" Options to Change Your Contribution to DUCC
Photo by Michelle Henderson on Unsplash
New (Easy) options to change your current contribution to DUCC
In response to input we have received from members and friends, we are offering new ways to change your contributions.
In response to input we have received from members and friends, we are offering new ways to change your contributions.
- You can e-mail Bill Briggs for information regarding your current contribution amount and/or request that your current contribution be changed.
- There are now forms and envelopes on the table just inside the door of the Friendship Hall that can be completed and placed in the collection plate to request changes. We will be happy to take care of it for you!
- You can use the simple fillable form below and forward to Bill Briggs.
| Douglas UCC Contribution Change Form |
Give by Text Message
Please, consider giving online. To donate by text, open a new text message on your mobile phone, type 844-931-2849 in the “To” field, and in the message body, type only the dollar amount of your gift (for example, 50 for a $50 donation). Then press Send. You’ll receive a message confirming your donation.
Church Calendar
Photo by Dari lli on Unsplash
OPPORTUNITIES FOR GIVING
Cards for Prisoners
Many thanks to Paula Creswell for sharing her story with us! Please find more testimonials in the video below.
Cards for Prisoners - Join hundreds of pen pals and show love this holiday season with caring letters that give hope. Cards for Prisoners encourages incarcerated men and women while helping them feel connected to life outside the razor wire. The average prisoner stops receiving cards, letters, emails, visitors and phone calls three years into their sentence.
Cards for Prisoners' purpose is to connect a pen pal with a prisoner for connection, friendship, encouragement and spiritual wellbeing.
Cards for Prisoners - Join hundreds of pen pals and show love this holiday season with caring letters that give hope. Cards for Prisoners encourages incarcerated men and women while helping them feel connected to life outside the razor wire. The average prisoner stops receiving cards, letters, emails, visitors and phone calls three years into their sentence.
Cards for Prisoners' purpose is to connect a pen pal with a prisoner for connection, friendship, encouragement and spiritual wellbeing.
Thank You All for Your Generosity!
Thanks to all those who took cards for gifts for Christian Neighbors families!
Christmas Fund Giving
The Christmas Fund, one of the United Church of Christ 5 for 5 offerings, has been caring for active and retired clergy and lay employees of the United Church of Christ for over 100 years, providing emergency grants, supplementation of small annuities and health premiums, and Christmas “Thank You” gift checks each December to our lower-income retirees.
United Church of Christ congregations and members have blessed the Christmas Fund with their generosity! Our care and compassion will be especially appreciated by those servants of the church who are facing a time of need. Our Outreach funds match any offerings you make to send to the UCC for distribution to those who are needy.
Our offering for the Christmas Fund will be received throughout the Sundays of December. Please put your donation in an envelope marked Christmas Fund and place it in the offering plate or drop it at the office.
United Church of Christ congregations and members have blessed the Christmas Fund with their generosity! Our care and compassion will be especially appreciated by those servants of the church who are facing a time of need. Our Outreach funds match any offerings you make to send to the UCC for distribution to those who are needy.
Our offering for the Christmas Fund will be received throughout the Sundays of December. Please put your donation in an envelope marked Christmas Fund and place it in the offering plate or drop it at the office.
UNIITED CHURCH OF CHRIST NEWS
Prayer Circle for All Churches
Photo by Martin Bennie on Unsplash
The Grand West Association Council is continuing their covenantal prayer circle for all our churches. This is one of the Councils attempts to better connect in our region as a faithful community. The two year prayer circle includes our 22 UCC churches, and also UCOM and the Michigan conference staff.
The "church of the month" for December is En Vivo UCC.
Thank you for keeping them in our prayers.
The "church of the month" for December is En Vivo UCC.
Thank you for keeping them in our prayers.
UCC Advent 2025 resources offer paths for 'awakening, preparing and dreaming'
This season’s Abolition Advent Calendar will center on “The New Old Story of Freedom: Practicing New Worlds into Life.” Coordinated by the UCC’s Racial Justice Ministries and Join the Movement Toward Racial Justice, this year’s Advent Calendar brings together quotes from Octavia Butler’s novel Parable of the Sower, Advent scripture readings, stories of past and present abolitionists, and visionary practices drawn from Andrea Ritchie’s book Practicing New Worlds: Abolition and Emergent Strategies.
CLASSES
Advent Series for Families
Photo by Michal Robak on Unsplash
We Are Never Alone: A Watershed Discipleship Advent Workbook for Kids and Adults offers a daily coloring page and reflection for December 1-25.
We Are Never Alone engages the traditional nativity story in an expansive way and offers prompts for imagining the story of Jesus’s birth in your own places and watersheds. If Jesus was born in your place, which animals would surround him? Which laborers would be the first to hear the news?
Each day offers questions for you and your family to go deeper in imaginative reflections on place, justice, identity, and beliefs together.
This workbook might be for you if: you are of a progressive Christian lineage, a fan of Catholic Social Teaching, or on the fringes of Christianity searching for a spacious way to relate to the story.
We Are Never Alone engages the traditional nativity story in an expansive way and offers prompts for imagining the story of Jesus’s birth in your own places and watersheds. If Jesus was born in your place, which animals would surround him? Which laborers would be the first to hear the news?
Each day offers questions for you and your family to go deeper in imaginative reflections on place, justice, identity, and beliefs together.
This workbook might be for you if: you are of a progressive Christian lineage, a fan of Catholic Social Teaching, or on the fringes of Christianity searching for a spacious way to relate to the story.
Qigong Paused until 2026 as Kat Recover
Photo by Leonie Clough on Unsplash
First of the Financial Literacy Series was Enlightening and Fun! Next One January 7!
On Thursday 11/5, eighteen people shared an interesting and enlightening evening with our own Wayne Titus. Wayne shared his 30 years of financial experience as he laid out the next five subject-specific events to be held on the first Wednesdays -
January through June (not April). Next session is on January 7, 2026.
It’s not too late to join in and become financially wiser! Invite a friend, if you like.
Sign up for one or all of them in the Friendship Hall so Wayne can send you preparatory information.
January through June (not April). Next session is on January 7, 2026.
It’s not too late to join in and become financially wiser! Invite a friend, if you like.
Sign up for one or all of them in the Friendship Hall so Wayne can send you preparatory information.
Community Events
Celebrate The Winter Solstice, December 21
Men's Coffee and Conversation
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