Weekly E-Pistle: 14th Sunday after Pentecost

9/1/2023

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

This Sunday's Service — 14th Sunday after Pentecost: "I Am That I Am"
Last Sunday's Service--13th Sunday after Pentecost: "Exploring the Real Jesus"
A Delightful Douglas Social Photo Album
CJT and Alliance of the Great Lakes September 16 Beach Cleanup 9am to Noon!
Planning the Creation Justice Season -- Can You Help?
Heads' Up! Membership Directory Update Ahead!
Save the Date: Annual Household Hazardous Waste Dropoff!
Walkers on Deck! Fundraising for October 8 Crop Walk!
Meet our New Retreat House and Spiritual Center!
September 24 Campus Stewardship Meeting
Next SoulCollage Workshop with Rev. Ruth Zwald, September 9
Birthdays & Anniversaries, Prayer Requests, and Financial Stewardship

This Sunday's Service: "I Am That I Am"

This Sunday of Labor Day weekend, we will be putting our focus on the Old Testament reading for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost. We'll hear the famous story of Moses and the Burning Bush. In it, Moses asks for God's name. God replies, "I am that I am." What did God mean by this?

Join us this Sunday at 10 AM (either in person or streaming live online) as we explore the meaning of "The Great I AM." Message: Pastor Sal Sapienza. Music: Peter Black and Jeff Spangler.

Download this Sunday's Online Bulletin:

order_of_service_september_3_2023.pdf
File Size:	1031 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Last Sunday's Service--13th Sunday after Pentecost: "Exploring the Real Jesus"

In last Sunday's Gospel reading for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost, Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am?" Who is Jesus to you? Savior? Lord? Way Shower? Master Teacher? Friend? How has your understanding of Jesus changed throughout the years? Enjoy last Sunday's service, when we explored who Jesus really was and what his message and ministry mean for our lives today. Message: Pastor Sal Sapienza. Music: Peter Black

Here's the Homily

A Delightful Douglas Social Photo Album

Thanks to all who turned out and helped out at last week's Douglas Social. What a great way to celebrate the summer! Kudos to our food booth volunteers: Debra Carr, Greg & Sheryll VanPortfleet, Linda Charvat, Kathleen & Peter Mueller, Annie Hotwagner, Wendy Hamlin, Gregg Smith, Linda & Rich Marth, El Clough, Pat Denner, and Joyce Wright.

CJT and Alliance of the Great Lakes
September 16 Beach Cleanup 9am to Noon!

Ths Douglas UCC Creation Justice Team will hold our annual beach cleanup on
Sept 16 from 9am to 12pm from Oval Beach north to the inlet and south to Douglas Beach.

Residents, visitors, friends, family...ALL ARE WELCOME!

We are holding the cleanup in partnership with the Alliance for the Great Lakes Adopt-a-Beach program.

Every year thousands of volunteers participate in clean-ups across the Great Lakes.
Volunteers remove tens of thousands of pounds of litter, most of it plastics, from Great Lakes shorelines.

Meet in the parking lot of Oval Beach. Please bring a bucket if you have one, bags and gloves will be available.

If you prefer to clean up your favorite strip of shoreline, please bring your litter to Oval Beach before 12:30 to be weighed and disposed of properly. Collecting data on beach debris is an important part of this work!

And... THANK YOU FOR HELPING US KEEP OUR BEACHES BEAUTIFUL!!!

Planning the Creation Justice Season

The Creation Justice Team is organizing the first of four seasonal services for October 1. The theme is "Harvest Moon" and the goal is to highlight issues related to food, such as local sourcing, packaging, growing your own, and protecting crops. We're looking for a small group of people to help decide which areas to focus on and then do things like choose music, prayers, and readings. If you're interested in helping, please contact Chris Clark.

Heads' Up! Membership Directory Update Ahead!

It's time to update our membership directory! Yaay! We will be handling things just a bit differently this year -- to keep your data safe and to be sure everyone has the type of directory they most prefer, while simultaneously working to tamp down the consumption of paper!

There will be three phases to our process: Revisions, Production, and Distribution.

September 3 - 16 is our Revision Phase. This is your time to make any changes you wish to make to your entry in the directory. Here's how:

1. Make Changes! You can make changes in person after church on September 3 or 10, or during office hours (M, W, F 10am to 3pm). Look for Julie in both places, and she'll help you. You could also email Julie Ridl with any revisions you wish to see. Copies of our current directory will be on hand at the church and in the church office for your review.

2. Submit a New Photo (or not)! Our new directory will make room for larger photos in a square format. Please send any new photos to Julie, or see her during office hours, and she'll gladly take a new photo for you.

3. Order Your Directory! During this revision period, you'll see a sign-up sheet in the Friendship Hall and at the Church Office where you can choose the format you wish to have, either print or PDF (electronic document). Or email Julie Ridl and tell her which format you wish to receive. We won't be mass emailing copies of the directory, so if you wish to have one, this step is necessary.

Stay Tuned! Production will take place the week of Sept. 17, and we plan to have new directories out by the end of September.

Save the Date: Annual Household Hazardous Waste Dropoff!

The Annual Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) collection event will be held for all Tri-Community (City of Saugatuck, the City of Douglas, and Saugatuck Township) residents on Tuesday, September 26 from 3:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. at the City of Saugatuck Department of Public Works Building (3338 Bluestar Highway). This community service is made possible through the Tri-Community Recycling Committee and generous support from the Rotary Club of Saugatuck/Douglas, the City of Saugatuck, Saugatuck Township, KLSWA, and the Saugatuck Township Fire Department. Find all the helpful information about what will be accepted and where at the links below. You must sign up for a drop-off time so the committee can plan their day!

Here are the links for HHW Day
1. sign up to drop off https://bit.ly/HHWDay2023
2. sign up to volunteer https://bit.ly/HHWDay2023Vol

Walkers on Deck!
Fundraising for October 8 Crop Walk!

CROP Hunger Walks raise funds to end hunger here in Southwest Michigan and around the world. Our local walk on October 8 is one of the thousands that take place around the country. If you would like to be a walker-fundraiser on the DUCC team, please contact Mike Mok by email and/or sign up online right here:
https://events.crophungerwalk.org/2023/team/douglas-ucc

Meet our New Retreat House and Spiritual Center!

The Retreat House is gaining an additional purpose! Starting in September, certified spiritual leaders within DUCC will offer 'tastes' of wide-ranging spiritual discussions to small groups of 4-6 people in the first week of each month. But first, we hope you'll have a chance to visit the space for yourself:

Retreat House Open House During Coffee Hour
Sunday, September 3: Stop by to visit the new meditation chapel!

Open Prayer Time with Rev. Rienstra in the meditation chapel!
Tuesday, September 5 (10:30 - noon) For anyone who wishes to stop by.

Each month, new 1-1/2- to 2-hour classes will allow our members and friends to ask questions, try new methods of prayer and meditation, and appreciate the depth of spiritual leadership within our church.

These one-time classes begin the first week in September...

Rev Marchiene Reinstra
GOD IS TALKING. ARE YOU LISTENING?
Ways you can experience God’s Presence and Guidance
Wednesday, September 6, 10:30-noon
There is a Loving Divine Presence that surrounds us and lives within us. We will explore how we can experience this Presence and receive much needed wisdom and guidance for our daily lives through prayer and meditation.

Barb Flynn, Certified Spiritual Advisor
WHAT IS SPIRITUAL DIRECTION? IS IT RIGHT FOR ME?
Thursday, September 7, 10:30-noon
We will explore what spiritual direction is, a bit about its history, and why someone would choose a spiritual guide. A Spiritual guide helps another to recognize and freely name what God is doing in their lives.

Rev. Ginny Mikita, Animal Chaplain
DOG MEETS GOD
Can our pets lead us to the Divine?
Friday, September 8, 10:30-noon
We will explore how other of God’s creatures intersect with our own spirituality, and we will engage in an experience which may be practiced at home with an animal companion or wild animal.

Sign-up sheets will be in the Friendship Hall, or you can contact Julie to be put on a class list.

All groups will be limited to six persons.

If more are interested, there will be more opportunities to participate in these prayer and meditation experiences.

September 24 Campus Stewardship Meeting

Our Church Council is busy setting campus stewardship goals -- a project list for strengthening, securing, and updating our campus buildings, along with a plan for funding these projects. After church and coffee, at 11:30 am on September 24, our Church Council will hold a special Campus Stewardship Meeting in the Friendship Hall. We will be reviewing and voting on this plan, and all church members are encouraged to attend! We will provide Zoom access if we have members interested in participating in this way. Please let church admin Julie Ridl know as soon as possible if you require Zoom to participate.

Next SoulCollage Workshop with Rev. Ruth Zwald, September 9

Our friend and spiritual teacher Ruth Zwald will be leading a Soul Collage workshop in the Friendship Hall on Saturday, September 9, from 1 to 4pm. If you're interested, register with Ruth at her email address above.

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Sept 3-Dennis Konsarski, 8- Pamela Chappell & Pete Wehle, Dave Bohn

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.

Prayer Requests

Dan Pierce; Ruth VandenBosch; Mary Browning; Nancy Grib (Friend of Pamela Chappell); Stuart Family; Charlene Burdick (Paul Burdick's Mother); Diane Carr; Myron (Wendy Hamlin's grandson, Fred Hamilin's great-grandson); Betsy York; Mary Westenbroek; Brian Aikens; Jerry Elpers and family (Beth Howley's Dad); Edie Plantinga (Nancy Plantinga's mother); Joyce Potts (Ed Korson's Friend); Max Matteson; Eric Cooley (Jo Cooley's brother); Nicole and John (Wendy Hamlin's daughter-in-law and son)

Financial Stewardship

In-Person Attendance August 27:106
Total Views for August 27 Online Videos:586

Collection Plate & Mailed Donations: $2,473.25
Online Giving: $1,883.38
Total: $4,356.63

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, or sharing through the donate buttons on
Facebook or Instagram, or at our website.