 Photo by Pablo Merchán Montes on Unsplash In This Week's E-Pistle, You Will Find:
This Week's Service: Be the Miracle! Photo by Natalia Blauth on UnSplash Dan offers this teaser for this coming Sunday's Talk: Be the Miracle. (Could rightly be answered by the grieving...) Yes, damn it, we prayed day and night, night and day for one but never got it! Did you even hear us? Please join us on Sunday at 10am in our Sanctuary, or online, live on our YouTube channel. Message: Rev. Dan Plasman Music: Peter Black, Jeff Spangler You will always find our latest church bulletin and service music at Bit.ly/DUCCBulletin 
Last Week's Service: Third Sunday in Lent Jody writes, "I was certain that there was a heaven and hell that I was destined for when I died, based on whether I was a believer or not. I was fairly certain that if my 80-year-old parents got Covid they would die; but they did become ill, and they lived to talk about it. As Americans we were fairly certain that the US would not be attacked on its own soil. Until 9/11. What makes us certain of anything? Is it not better to live with a little humility that maybe we don't know, or at least that we don't know everything? Jesus spoke to this. Enjoy last week's service, when we explored "Certainty," based on Luke 13. Jody and Dan's Office Hours This Week
One Great Hour of Sharing: This Week's Collection For one hour every year, the UCC asks every UCC member to Be the Light, to consider our own advantages in this life, and in gratitude, make an investment in the lives of others -- share what we have, bringing love, food, development, kinship to the whole world. We will be asking for that gift during service next week, but to help you consider what the UCC does with these gifts, here's some background: 2021 Mission Impact Report. It takes a while to measure and report on the impacts of our gifts. We need to be patient to see the results. This report, just out, highlights the distribution and outcomes of your giving from 2021. Where do OGHS monies go? Here's the UCC's Andrew Long-Higgens' explainer. Here's What it Means to Be the Light. You can use the envelopes in your bulletin to make your gift, or find envelopes at the church office, or give online by clicking the button below. We will be gathering gifts throughout Lent, and gifts will be matched by our Church Council. USDA Freezes Food Shipments to Feeding America West Michigan In the wake of Christian Neighbors of Douglas anticipates a significant increase in the cost of food for our clients due to announced cuts in USDA funding. Please prayerfully consider a monetary donation to Christian Neighbors of Douglas. Contact Rich Marth or Wendy Hamlin with any questions. We are already seeing the effects of this decision in our local food pantries. Easter Lily Orders, Due Monday! On Easter Sunday, it's our tradition at Douglas UCC to fill our chancel with Easter Lilies, offered in memory of our friends and loved ones. Can you help us accomplish this? You can order lilies (and tell us who they are in memory of) for $15 apiece either online (click that button below), or by using the lily envelopes in the church pews. After the Easter service, you can take your lilies home with you if you wish! Please help the Worship Team in their planning by having your orders in by April 1. A Strong Foundation!In January, we learned that we would not be able to salvage the existing shallow foundation beneath our Friendship Hall kitchen, as an undetected water leak had eroded the mortar between the blocks. After several months of discussion with our architect, bidding with our contractor, and prepping our site for work, we finally have a solid foundation beneath our Friendship Hall kitchen! Heavy supports and lifts were installed under the joists per architect’s specifications, allowing the foundation installation to begin. Excavation, pouring of footings, and installation of concrete blocks was finished on March 21. As the mason said: 'This foundation will last forever!' Our contractor, Will Lamer of Straight Arrow Homes, is busy working on framing and drywall. Every week will bring visible progress. Your patience while this important work is completed is greatly appreciated. Lenten Soup Suppers, Thursday Nights Photo by Aneta Pawlik on Unsplash Lent is traditionally a time of introspection and reflection. Sometimes that work is done well with others with whom to share the journey and insights. This year, beginning March 6, we are offering a Soup Supper on Thursday nights after the Contemplative Service (which occurs from 5:00-6:00pm in the Sanctuary). Depending on the number of people who sign up, we will gather in the Retreat House (or the Isabel Graham Center) for a cup of soup and a quiet conversation. We will use the UCC Devotional, Into the Deep (available in the Isabel Graham Center for $5 or at this link for possible topics. Please let us know that you are available by signing up in the IGC or emailing Louise Kenny ([email protected]). If you would like to donate soup, you can contact Louise, as well. Please join us for one week or all of them through Maundy Thursday, April 17. Our Common Ground, March 30 Our Creation Justice Team is supporting and encourages you to join Holland UCC for an engaging and inspiring conversation on caring for our planet! The Justice Action Team at Holland UCC, in collaboration with community partners, invites you to "Our Common Ground: An Earth Care Conversation," a thought-provoking panel discussion on Sunday, March 30, from 3:00 to 4:30 PM at the Midtown Center. Our panelists—Debra Reinstra, Emily Ulmer, and Steve Bouma-Prediger—will share insights on the climate crisis, practical steps for meaningful change, and ways to foster hope in the face of environmental challenges. Moderated by John Puttrich of 8th Day Farms, this discussion will inspire both individual and collective action toward a more sustainable future. Come be part of the conversation and discover how we can make a difference together! Thank you to our co-sponsors: Still Processing, St. John's Episcopal, Grace Episcopal, Hope Church, Hudsonville UCC, Douglas UCC, Maple Avenue Ministries, the Hope Green Team, Hope Sustains, Holland Citizens Climate Lobby, the Momentum Center, and b.comm creative Transgender Day of Visibility Local Events Roundup!   Our local friends and LGBTQIA+ supportive organizations are celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility with several local events. Three days of Transgender Visibility in our communities. Enjoy! Regulating Nervous Systems with Kat Van Hammen, April 9, 7-8:30pm In these stress filled times it is very important to be able to regulate both our personal and collective nervous systems. Join Kat VanHammen for an informative talk and direct experience of some tools and practices that we can use to help us to maintain our steadiness and peace during times of chaos and upheaval. We will see how cultivating and strengthening our capacities to regulate and co-regulate are truly a deep service to ourselves and our communities and come away with some practical and doable practices that can be applied in everyday life. Kat VanHammen has an MA in Expressive Arts Therapy and is a Yoga and Qigong instructor. This class will be offered on a donation basis. A love offering will be taken to support Kat's work. A Listening Ear: Empathy, Confidentiality -- If You Need to Talk Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash Everyone goes through rough patches in life. Sometimes stress can feel overwhelming. Thinking that may hold true for members of our congregation, an idea has come out of the DUCC Carers Group to offer the services of church members who have been trained in listening, empathy and confidentiality. Starting in March, Doug Sipsma and Pat Denner have volunteered to be available at the Retreat House on Thursday afternoons from 1:00-3:00. We're calling this service "Listening Ear", but all are welcome whether that is your need, or you want to check out some of the resources in the Library, or you'd just like to share a cup of tea. We're initiating this program on a drop-in basis to start and will evaluate the program after 3 months to see if our church family finds this useful. Save the Date Christian Neighbors Fundraiser, May 4 The annual spring fundraiser held by our friend and neighbor Arthur Frederick will now be held in his honor. Save the date and watch for more information here. This year's funder will be held on May 4. Questions Check with our church members Bert Hallewas and Kirsten Stannis. Minutes and Reports
Prayer Requests Chris Warner (Friend of Pete Wehle); Ken Rans (friend of Pete Wehle); Rich Marth; Christine Kerney; Nancy Plantinga and her family; Family of Jim Solazzo (Anne Hotwagner's uncle); Virginia Stuart; Carrie Andrews, Julie and Jack Ridl and the family of Paul Frederickson; Dan McGavin and Family of Carol Brown; Rev. Marchiene Rienstra Family; Ann and Jim Hopkins; James Higgins (Friend of Shane Anderson and Michael Tuleja), Joe Scarpone (Friend of Tom Fahlstrom); Fred Hamlin; John Kerr; Ruth Fahlstrom (daughter of Tom Fahlstrom); Mary Westenbroek; Jerry Elpers and family (Beth Howley's Dad); Max Matteson; Eric Cooley (Jo Cooley's brother) Birthdays & Anniversaries This WeekBirthdays: March 30- Ann Hopkins, Rachael Overweg, 31- Pamela Chappell April 1- Nancy Plantinga Anniversaries: April 4- Bill Klatt & Jim McHugh 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. Battling Power outage! Stay tuned! Financial StewardshipIn-Person Attendance, March 23: 67 Total Views for March 23 worship videos: 113 Collection Plate & Mailed Donations: $4,520.00 Online Giving: $2,837.98 Total, General Support: $7,357.98 One Great Hour of Sharing: $191.00 Thank you!! Your generous giving allows us to sustain our church community and our mission of service in the world. Please consider giving online, which is easily done by texting your donation amount to 844-931-2849. Church CalendarDid you know the Church Calendar is published to our Website? Why, yes! Use it to look for space for your event, click on an event to get all the details, copy an event to your own Google Calendar. So convenient! When you have events to schedule anywhere on campus, contact [email protected] to make your reservation. Email is best so she can keep track.
|
Previous
|
||||||||||||||||
RSS Feed
56 Wall Street • Douglas, Michigan 49406
© Douglas Congregational United Church of Christ. All Rights Reserved.