Twenty Second Sunday after Pentecost

11/7/2025

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

This Week In the E-Pistle, You Will Find...

This Week's Service: Twenty Second Sunday after Pentecost — What's Next?
Last Week's Service: Twenty First Sunday after Pentecost — Balcony People, Basement People
Thank You to Reverend Linda Knieriemen for Sharing Her Gift of Preaching
Jody and Dan on Vacation This Week, Rev. Jim DeVries Available for Pastoral Care
Jody and Dan's Installation Service and Celebration, November 23, Join Us!
Church Directory Update
Kudos to the Trunk or Treat crew! What Fun!
Social Justice Team Community, Speaker from Lighthouse Immigrant Advocates, November 13
Second Sunday Luncheon, November 9
Listening Ear: Do You Need to Be Heard?
Card Ministry, Bring a Smile to Someone's Day
Prayer Requests
Birthdays This Week
Financial Stewardship
Church Calendar

UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST NEWS

Grand West Association Councils Covenantal Prayer Circle for All Churches
UCC Advent 2025 Resources Offer Paths for Awakening, Preparing, Expecting & Dreaming

CLASSES

Qigong! Summer into Fall!
Thank You, Wayne! Financial Literacy Series, Next Session is January 7
Soul Collage November 8, Restoring Our Soul

AROUND TOWN

Men's Coffee and Conversation
Annual Drive for Thanksgiving Baskets, Asking for Rice this Year
Spirit of Christmas Program, Helping Families prepare for Winter
Water Smart Landscaping Workshop 101, November 18

BEING THE CHURCH

This Week's Service: Twenty Second Sunday after Pentecost - What's Next?

Photo by Matt Ashby on Unsplash

In this Sunday’s reading, Jesus was asked a question about heaven. What do we know about “What’s Next” and possible ways to make the transition easier. Explore these possibilities with Rev. Jim DeVries who spent 40 years interacting with individuals as a hospital and hospice chaplain.

Please join us on Sunday at 10 am in our Sanctuary, or online, live on our Youtube Channel.
Message: Rev. Jim DeVries
Music: Peter Black, Jeff Spangler, Lauri Donaldson

DUCC Bulletin/Hymns November 9 2025
File Size:	851 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Last Week's Service: Twenty First Sunday after Pentecost - Balcony People, Basement People

Photo by Mauro Maro on Unsplash

Last week Reverend Linda Knieriemen celebrated All Saints Day with us, and reflected on, and wove together stories of the everyday saints around us who have encouraged us in becoming peace-loving, justice seeking, love bestowing humans. We Gathered in the Memorial Garden at the close of the service and in a spirit of gratitude, we were invited to name aloud those who have been our saints. Click below to see the full service.

WATCH LINDA'S MESSAGE

WATCH THE ENTIRE SERVICE

Thank You, Reverend Linda Knieriemen!

We are deeply grateful to Rev. Linda Knieriemen's for her willingness to fill in and share her gift of preaching with our community. We appreciate her generosity of time, and thoughtful reflection.

Jody and Dan on Vacation This Week

For The Week of November 9:
Jody and Dan are on Vacation this week.

If you have a pastoral emergency, please call the church office: 269-857-2085
Rev. Jim DeVries will be available for pastoral care.

For evening visits on these days, please feel free to call for an appointment.

Please note, if you get an email from Jody asking for money or gift cards, please don't comply. This is a scam!

 Call to schedule an appointment:
Jody: 616-706-3549; Dan: 616-828-2293

Installation Service and Celebration
for Jody and Dan, November 23, Join Us!

Jody and Dan's Installation Service and celebration will be held on November 23, sometime in the afternoon (Time to be announced). Please, join us for food and drinks in the Friendship Hall after the Installation Service. We welcome our new pastors and celebrate an important marker in the life and history of our church.

So that we can more accurately judge quantities for both food and drink. Please, sign up for the Installation Service and Celebration on the sheet in the Friendship Hall.

Church Directory: The Phone App, The Desktop and the Print Versions

Photo by Jose Rago on Unsplash

Church Directory: the Phone App, the Desktop, and the Print versions:
It's time to make any changes and/or updates to your church directory entry, or add yourself to the church directory, if you wish. For the next two weeks there will be a draft copy of the directory in the Friendship Hall where you can jot down your changes, in the copy or with sticky notes.

If you wish to add your information to the directory for the first time, or make a change of address, email, phone, or new photo, you can email your changes to Claire. See link to email below.
If you already use the Instant Church Directory app, you can make your changes directly from your phone!

After next Sunday's collection of changes, we will send the updated data off to the printer, to print a short run of the 2025 edition. Use the sign-up sheet in the friendship hall if you find you need a printed copy. For information security purposes, we no longer send the directory via email, and would like to limit the number of printed copies in circulation. (If you own outdated copies, we recommend shredding the old ones as you retire them!)
As always, we strongly encourage you to use the phone app or desktop app to access the directory, for its security, ease of use, and also because changes are taking place all year long. So the phone app and the desktop app are always the most current.

If you would like help adding the app to your smart phone, look for Barb Witt after services, who is organizing helpers. You can also find the instructions for adding the app on the bulletin board in the Friendship Hall.

Please know in order to gain access to the app you have to have included your information in the directory.

CLAIRE'S EMAIL

Kudos to the Trunk or Treat Crew! So Fun!

THANK YOU everyone for such a wonderful Halloween Night! We counted about 37 total kids, Some adorable outfits, lots of goodwill, and overall community spirit. Even the weather was somehow both warm and spooky. Thank you everyone for the fun, laughter, and creativity. We LOVE this kind of stuff - it's a great way to share Douglas UCC with our community.

Social Justice Team Community Conversation

Our Social Justice Team has been busy making connections and inviting local thought leaders to come to our church and help us understand current challenges to Justice For All right here in our communities. Here are the upcoming dates and times already scheduled. Stay tuned for more from the SJT.

Lighthouse Immigration Services
Thursday, November 13, 6:15 pm
Representative to speak

All events are scheduled for our beautiful new Friendship Hall. All are welcome

Update from the Communications Team

Photo by Elshan Neymatov on Unsplash

We would like to update everyone on what the Communication Team has accomplished
and are working on:

We have Welcome Brochures available to take home, give to neighbors or colleagues, or people we recognize as visiting us on Sundays. They are located in at both of the entrances.
A printed two week calendar is now available in the Friendship Hall with the church’s activities and events.
If you have an announcement that you would like presented at the beginning of the service, write it out on a notecard ( provided in the entrances) and give it to Jody or Dan before the service.
We are working on a way to reach out and staying connected to congregants who we miss seeing on Sundays. If you have any ideas send them to Barb Witt.
We are working on some sandwich boards to help communicate Listening Ear and Contemplation.
We encourage you to follow DUCC on Facebook and share postings to increase both awareness and followers.
We have updated the ads we place in the Commercial Record so they are on a four-week rotation with a different message each time.
See any member of the team if you have any ideas for improving communication in DUCC: Barb Witt, chair; Lewis Corbin, Tom Fahlstrom, Greg Gerrans, and Gemina Petruzzelli
Please send any photos you may have from church events to Greg Gerrans([email protected]) for social media use

SEND CHURCH EVENT PHOTOS

Second Sunday Luncheon, November 9th

Church potlucks, now called Second Sunday Luncheons, will help us continue to create community while sharing a meal together.

Thank you to everyone who helped set up, clean up and provide food for our first Second Sunday Monthly Luncheon. Forty-five people attended. Our next lunch will be November 9 following the service. Bring what you are able (entrees, salads, desserts, bread etc) and if you can't bring anything, please bring yourself. All are welcome!

If you are interested in helping to set up or clean up, there will be a new Event Committee signup sheet in the Friendship Hall so that we can establish email communications when asking for help with set up or take down going forward.

EMAIL ANY QUESTIONS

Listening Ear: Do You Need to Be Heard?

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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.

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!

EMAIL PASTOR JODY

EMAIL PASTOR DAN

Prayer Requests

Nancy Plantinga, and the Plantinga family; Tere Krueger; 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; Jose (friend of Tom Fahlstrom); John Kerr; Ruth Fahlstrom (Tom Fahlstrom’s daughter); Mary Westenbroek; Jerry Elpers and family (Beth Howley's dad); Max Matteson; Eric Cooley (Jo Cooley's brother): East Congregational UCC.

Birthday's & Anniversary's This Week

BIRTHDAYS:
November 10: Derek Hoehn
November 11: John Willming
November 12: Rev. Marchiene Rienstra
November 13: Liz Wilson
November 15: Doreen Ritt

Birthday and Anniversary cards are a great way to connect with one another. If you wish to mail a card to one of our church members, the 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.*

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

EXPLORE THE CALENDAR

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 cycle includes our 22 UCC churches, and also UCOM and the Michigan conference staff.

The "church of month" for November is East Congregational 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.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

CLASSES

Qigong, Tuesdays in the Friendship Hall

Photo by Sajad Nori on Unsplash

Kat VanHammen's Qigong Winter classes began in the Friendship Hall on October 7. The classes will run through May!

Qigong is a wonderful, 5,000 year-old practice from China, very much like Tai Chi. It involves simple movements that build strength, flexibility, balance and well being. It also employs visualization, breath, and mindfulness to integrate the body, mind, and spirit and develop our felt sense of Interbeing. Class is one hour long and involves both sitting and standing practice although it can be done sitting if needed. There is a requested donation of $10 per class but for those of you on limited incomes, any amount will be gratefully received

Thank you, Wayne! First of the Financial Literacy Series was Informative and Fun! Next One is January 7

Soul Collage November 8, Restoring Our Soul

The next Soul Collage sessions with our friend and masterful teacher, Ruth Zwald, are scheduled for the Friendship Hall November 8. This artful, soul-honoring class will set you exploring and making and asking your own wisdom sources for guidance. It's always a surprising and stilling journey with Rev. Ruth! To sign up, follow the registration instructions in the poster above. You must register to participate.

TO REGISTER EMAIL RUTH

AROUND TOWN

Men's Coffee and Conversation

Annual Drive for Thanksgiving Kits,
Begins Now! Asking for Rice this Year.

Photo by Defrino Maasy on Unsplash

It’s November, and with it comes Christian Neighbors’ distribution of Thanksgiving Meal Kits to area low-income families - a 45-year-old tradition in our community. In 2024, 75 volunteers organized, packed and distributed 330 meal kits that provided a Thanksgiving meal to roughly1200 area residents. This year, our church is being asked to collect Rice – 1lb Bags to contribute to these meals. Please consider donating one or more of these items. It is through the kindness and generosity from our community that Christian Neighbors is able to provide this special holiday meal to those in need. Thank you!

Participate in the Spirit of Christmas Program, Helping Families Prepare for Winter

Photo by Ignat Kushnarez on Unsplash

For several years, many from UCC have participated in the Spirit of Christmas program. We are working with Fennville, Pullman schools and Van Buren ISD who identify families that are below poverty level and are struggling to provide clothes for the winter. With the SNAP program in jeopardy, the families needs will include food as well. If you want to donate, there are two ways, you can donate funds which will be given to someone who will shop for the family or you choose to take a family and you will get a list of their needs. So you will get a a chance to shop! If you are interested, Please contact Maryjo Lemanski.

EMAIL MARYJO

Water Smart Landscaping Workshops and Grants, November 18

From the Creation Justice Team: Learn about reducing outdoor water use while keeping your yard beautiful! Attend the “Water Smart Landscaping 101” workshop on November 18 at the Allegan Conservation District. There will be a second workshop in February. Find full details and reserve your seat at bit.ly/wslnov25
The ODC Network and the Allegan Conservation District are providing the workshop through a grant from Bell’s Brewery, which will also fund native plant gardens for 10 homeowners, rain barrels for 5 homeowners, and a public demonstration rain garden.