Palm Sunday

In This Week's E-Pistle, You Will Find:

• This Week's Service: Palm Sunday: We Call This Week Holy
• Last Week's Service: Fifth Sunday in Lent: Who's Lost?
• Jody and Dan's Office Hours This Week​
• Gas Outage Alert
• Recycling Tour
• Foundation Photos Again
• Last Lenten Soup Supper, April 17​​
• A Listening Ear: Empathy, Confidentiality -- If You Need to Talk
• Will You Support Sarah Donovan in Her Annual MS Walk, April 26?
• Care Team Meeting, April 24, 11am
• Christian Nationalism Meetup, April 24, 5:30pm
• ​Carol Brown Memorial April 26
• Global Spirituality Book Series With Rev. Marty
• ​Save the Date Christian Neighbors Fundraiser,  May 4
• Prayer Requests
• Birthdays & Anniversaries This Week
• Financial Stewardship
• Church Calendar​

---

Palm Sunday: We Call This Week Holy 

Photo by Valentin Salja on Unsplash

Holy Week begins this Palm Sunday. Everyone who enters the sanctuary will be offered a leafy palm to commemorate this day when the gospel writers remind us of the triumphal entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. Even if you’re not all that familiar with biblical stories, you know that the cheers of the  crowd were short lived. Five days later, public sentiment convinced the Roman governor Pontius Pilate that this same Jesus  was a danger to the nation. How quickly sentiments change! It’s old news when public opinion turns ugly, when Capitol buildings get stormed and leaders turn a blind eye to protect their interests. I wonder what Holy Week can teach us about our own struggles — personal and national. 

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​
​

hymns_4-13-25-combined.pdf
File Size:	6620 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---

---

Last Week's Service: Who's Lost? 

When have you felt lost?  Lost emotionally when a significant relationship falls apart, or lost spiritually when the church of your upbringing denies your presence within it, or lost figuratively when your path in life doesn't seem clear for whatever reason? What if a way that is life-giving is only available if we give up knowing the "right" way? The GIFT of being lost is the topic for this week, based on the Parable of the Prodigal Son. (Hint: The son may not be the only one who's lost in the story.) 

Click the image above to watch the entire service or the button below for the week's message from Rev. Jody.

Here's the Homily»»

---

Jody and Dan's Office Hours This Week​ 

​For the Week of April 13:

Monday: 5pm to 9pm, Jody and Dan
Thursday 2pm to 8pm, Jody and Dan
Friday 10am to 3pm, Jody and Dan

*Reminder: if you need to see Dan or Jody, please make an appointment with them. Sometimes they are in Douglas but not at the office. 

Please call to schedule an appointment:
Jody: 616-706-3549
Dan: 616-828-2293

---

Gas Outage Alert !!!

Getty Image via Unsplash

By now you likely know of the breached gas pipeline interrupting service for thousands of homes and businesses -- and churches! -- in Fennville, Douglas, and Saugatuck. Our Church Council and pastors are staying on top of the situation and will make a determination on Saturday about our Palm Sunday Service on Sunday -- whether heat has been restored, or we will hold a cold and memorable service, or cancel the service, or...

We will communicate the Council's decision, as always, by email and Facebook and, if broadcast closings are happening in this spring season, through those channels as well. So please stay tuned.

Meanwhile, we hope everyone is finding a way to stay warm and safe and fed during this once-in-a-lifetime outage. Church staff are working from home, so please, If you need help, call our cell phones (see contact info in the article above and in the directory).

---

Recycling Tour 

This week, members of our Creation Justice Team visited Republic Recycling to learn more about our local recycling processes. Talk to one of them to find out what we learned!

---

Foundation Photos Again 

In case you missed this piece from two weeks ago.... 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.

---

Last Lenten Soup Supper, April 17

Photo by Aneta Pawlik on Unsplash

Our popular Lenten Soup Suppers come to a close on April 17, Maundy Thursday, 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. 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. 

---

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, Paul Burdick, 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

---

Will You Support Sarah Donovan in Her Annual MS Walk, April 26?
​

Last Sunday our chuch member Sarah Donovan shared about her journey with Multiple Sclerosis and her work to raise money for a cure. She is once again asking for sponsorship for this year's MS Walk in Grand Rapids that takes place on April 26. click on her page above or the link below if you can help Sarah reach her goal this year!

Help Sarah Walk for a Cure»»

---

Care Team Meeting, April 24, 11am 

The Carer Team will be meeting up on April 24 at 11am in the Isabel Graham Center. If you're a member of the team or just curious about how they work and what they do, please join in!

---

Christian Nationalism Meetup, April 24, 5:30pm ​

​




​The Christian Nationalism Discussion Group will reconvene for further discussion on April 24 at 5:30pm in the Isabel Graham Center. If you have read the book, if you have not read the book, and wish to explore new ways of responding to this movement, please join us!

---

Carol Brown Memorial April 26 

​On November 3 we lost our dear friend and church member Carol Brown, partner of Dan McGavin. Memorial Service for Carol Brown will be held here at 1pm on Saturday, April 26. Interment of ashes and gathering for refreshments and remembrances to follow to celebrate a life well lived. Learn more about Carol's life and loves in this lovely tribute here.

---

Global Spirituality Book Series 

Our increasingly connected world is moving from being separated by various religious traditions into an interwoven global spirituality which connects us. At Mother's Trust on the first Friday of each month from May to November, 4:00-5:30pm join us for a book series led by our own Rev. Marty Reinstra. Details in the document you can download, below. 

global_spirituality_book_series_-marty_reinstra__1___1_.pdf
File Size:	4599 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---

---

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.

---

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 Week

Birthdays: April 13- Bill Klatt, Jim DeVries, 14- Julie Hebding, 16- Jerry Coates

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 Stewardship 

In-Person Attendance, April 6: 100
​Total Views for April 6 worship videos: 124
​
​Collection Plate & Mailed Donations: $1,010.00
Online Giving: $2,608.68
Total, General Support: $3,618.68
One Great Hour of Sharing: $50
​​​​​​
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 Calendar​

Did you know the Church Calendar is published to our Website? Indeed. Use it to look for space for your event, click on an event to get all the details, or copy an event to your own 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.

Church Calendar»»