 Photo by Dan Plasman In This Week's E-Pistle, You Will Find:
This Week's Service: Peace: Pastoral Vote Sunday Photo by Dan Plasman A Note from our Candidates... "What are Dan and Jody thinking? What else do we need to know about them? First, we believe that we have a breadth of experience, training, and expertise that is of value to a Church, and that the timing of our considering this Call is fortuitous for us and for you. We also believe that relationships develop over time, that because we are not perfect human beings either, you will see us at our best and perhaps not our best. We believe that you are a Church of Extravagant Welcome and Inclusive Hospitality, and as the UCC says, that you believe in a Still Speaking God who is with and in each of us, helping us to shine our light of love in the world, and that you are willing to grow and change. We believe it could be a mutually gracious season for us to be in ministry together. We will share some of that (what is possible in 15 minutes or so) on Sunday. Please join us!" Please join us on Sunday at 10am in our Sanctuary, or online, live on our YouTube channel. Message: Pastoral Candidates Jody Betten and 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: Pastoral Search Team For last week's service, we hosted our Pastoral Search Team, who caught us up on their entire year of hard work, preparing the massive church profile document, inviting candidates, interviewing more than 30 pastoral candidates, traveling to see them at work, receiving coaching from our UCC conference leaders, receiving recommendations from the congregation. And they presented their creative recommendation for the Call for Pastor: To call Rev. Jody Betten and Rev. Dan Plasman as Co-Pastors, leading us into our new church season. Watch the whole service here, and see next steps below, starting with tonight's Q&A with Jody and Dan. Sunday Jody's Hours in Douglas Jody's Hours in Douglas for the week of Dec 8 Monday: 10am - 3pm Wednesday: 10am - 3pm Friday: 10a m- 3pm Q&A With our Candidates Tonight in Person or Tomorrow on Zoom Photo by Ana Municio on Unsplash MEET THE CANDIDATES IN PERSON: FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 6th For those who can join on Friday, we will host a meet and greet in the Isabel Graham Center (office/house north of the church). This will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. Jody and Dan will be there to take your questions, comments, feedback and/or just to chat. We will host a more structured Q&A where you can ask questions publicly at three different time slots (for as long as the questions take). These will begin at 5:30, a second one at 6:30 and a third one at 7:30. MEET THE CANDIDATES ONLINE: SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 7th We recognize that some of our congregation are already away for the winter or traveling and/or unable to join in person on Friday night. For those folks we have arranged a Zoom call that will be moderated and allow for questions and discussion with Jody and Dan. This will be from 6-7:30 p.m. Saturday. ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 8 JODY AND DAN WILL GIVE THE HOMILY, AND AFTERWARD THE CONGREGATION WILL VOTE IN PERSON AND ON ZOOM on whether to accept the search team’s recommendation and “call” the new candidate. You can join via Zoom for voting by writing to Julie Ridl before December 8 for instructions. You may also share your vote and membership status with Julie by email before December 8. She will pass email votes to the counters on Sunday, removing names from this email vote count. The search team is grateful for the support, help, and prayers of the congregation through this process, and we look forward to the conversations ahead. Christmas Fund Giving Beginning this week, please consider making a special offering for the annual Christmas Fund drive. The Christmas Fund has been caring for active and retired clergy and lay employees of the United Church of Christ for more than 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. As always, you generosity this season is so appreciated! If you wish to give to this fund but can't make Sunday's service, you can make an offering online here: The Friendship Hall: Progress PhotosOur New ceiling is up and some temporary lights lighting the way. Insulation is next, then taping and mudding. Fingers crossed and prayers up for reopening the Hall for Christmas Eve! Gayle Boss Advent Devotional You may recall that in 2021, we invited author Gayle Boss to share the story of her Advent Devotional, "All Creation Waits" with us. Gayle has been busy since then with the introduction of the softcover edition and a new children's edition of her popular advent story. Our Creation Justice Team highly recommends this advent devotional to you. You may find a daily visit to these pages an especially comforting practice at this time. The book is available at all your favorite booksellers. KUDOS to church member Betsy York for the reminder! Christian Neighbors' Giving Tree is Up! Our Giving Tree is up in the Church Narthex! The tree contains heart tags detailing items on the wishlists of our neighbors in need. Choose multiple heart tags if you like. Each gift tag includes instructions for purchase and drop-off for the gifts. Choose as many tags as you like, and we will replenish the tags on our tree while they are available. This year, while our Friendship Hall is under construction, please plan to drop gifts directly at Christian Neighbors' headquarters: 6874 Wiley Road, Fennville, MI 49408 (door C11). Deadline for gift drop off is December 12. Lakeshore Community Chorus, December 7 & 8 I'll Be Seeing You: Holiday Homecoming --The Lakeshore Community Chorus, (including several of our own church members!) under the direction of Artistic Director, Josh Keller, and accompanied by Vivian Boot, presents I’ll Be Seeing You: Holiday Homecomings, music to ignite your holiday season. Sacred music and popular songs take you on delightful (and sometimes challenging) journeys home. Guest singer-songwriter and pianist, Caitlin Cusack, joins the chorus for this fun and inspiring event, a community tradition to start the season. Concerts are Saturday, December 7, at 7:30 pm, Sunday, December 8, at 4:00 pm. Tickets Adults: $28 Students: $15 West Michigan Voices of Pride Holiday Concert, December 8, 3pm Join the West Michigan Voices of Pride (formerly the West Michigan Gay Men's Chorus) for a musical afternoon to celebrate the holiday season and our 16th Anniversary of creating change one voice at a time! Sunday, December 8 at 3:00 PM Fountain Street Church, Grand Rapids Admission is free, and donations will be accepted. A Christmas Carol, Opening December 13 The all-volunteer cast and crew are working hard to create a memorable show, with all proceeds going to fund Christian Neighbors. We can't wait to see you! Don't miss being part of this tradition! Tickets available at SaugatuckChristmasCarol.LUDUS.com. Showtimes: Friday, December 13, 2024 8:00 PM Saturday, December 14, 2024 2:00 PM (matinee) Saturday, December 14, 2024 8:00 PM Sunday, December 15, 2024 7:00 PM Friday, December 20, 2024 8:00 PM Saturday, December 21, 2024 2:00 PM (matinee) Saturday, December 21, 2024 8:00 PM Sunday, December 22, 2024 7:00 PM The Venue: Saugatuck Woman's Club, 303 Butler St, Saugatuck, MI 49453 Christmas Eve Service, December 24, 6pm Please join us on Tuesday, 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! SJT Presents: "How to End Christian Nationalism," begins Jan 9, 5:30pm Our Social Justice Team invites everyone in the church, and anyone from the community to join an 8-week book read starting on Thursday, January 9 at 5:30pm. The book is titled, How to End Christian Nationalism, by Amanda Tyler, and is available at your favorite bookseller. As background for the discussion, the SJT team points to two documentaries available to stream on Netflix called "God and Country," and "The Family," with the same theme. We will share news of location soon. Sign up to join in, in the Isabel Graham Center, 5:30pm, eight consecutive Thursdays ,at the Isabel Graham Center, beginning January 9. Restorative Circle Facilitator Training: January 23-24 January 23-24 from 9am-4pm at Lavender House in Holland, MI. We are living in a fractured society where conflict and division is tearing at the social fabric. This two-day training is for anyone who is eager to actively build strong communities, families, work environments and faith communities. You will learn how to communicate and collaborate during times of conflict or even just around different points of view. You will develop skills that can be put to practice immediately in informal ways and will also learn how to facilitate a formal restorative circle as well. Registration is limited to 12 so be sure to register early. You can register with this Registration Link: tinyurl.com/RCTrainingJan2025 or for more information about restorative circles go to HollandRestorativeCircles.org. Prayer Requests Melanie (Stacy Honson's sister); Bev Hawkes; Anne Dooley's daughter, Dee; Dan McGavin and Family of Carol Brown; Barbara Lindsay (Lewis Corbin’s Bridge Partner); Rev. Marchiene Rienstra Family; Karen Clement (Friend of Debra Carr's); Ann and Jim Hopkins; Sally LaRowe (Linda Charvat's friend); Janice Campbell children & grandchildren (Pete Wehle's friends); James Higgins (Friend of Shane Anderson and Michael Tuleja), Joe Scarpone (Friend of Tom Fahlstrom); Fred Hamlin; John Kerr; Dave and Shirley Lawson; Ruth Fahlstrom (daughter of Tom Fahlstrom); Nancy Grib (Friend of Pamela Chappell); Stuart Family; Mary Westenbroek; Jerry Elpers and family (Beth Howley's Dad); Edie Plantinga (Nancy’s Mom); Max Matteson; Eric Cooley (Jo Cooley's brother) Birthdays & AnniversariesBirthdays: December 9: Carol Jaworowicz, 10: Linda Charvat, Chris Clark, 11: Stephen Townsend, 13: Kelly Jacobsma, 14: Nicole LaCroix 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. Financial StewardshipIn-Person Attendance, December 1: 107
Total Views for December 1: worship videos: 160 November Podcast Downloads: 5,476 Collection Plate & Mailed Donations: $6,987.00 Online Giving: $1,044.38 Total, General Support: $8,031.38 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. |
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