Weekly E-Pistle: Ascension Sunday

5/27/2022

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

This Sunday's Service Notes — Ascension Sunday
Last Week's Service Video — Sixth Sunday of Easter: "Divine Healing"
70 x 7 Cards for Prisoners
Gun Violence Sabbath, June 12
LEDA 17th Summit on Race and Inclusion, June 7, Hope College and Online
140th Anniversary Block Party, June 5
Christian Neighbors Quarterly Update
Soul Collage Workshop with Rev. Ruth Zwald, June 11, 1 PM
Community Pride - June 1 thru 5 -- Booth Volunteers Needed
Annual Congregational Meeting, June 26, 11:30 AM
Qigong Classes, Wednesdays, 11:30 AM
Birthdays & Anniversaries, Prayer Requests, and Financial Stewardship

This Sunday's Service: Ascension Sunday

This Sunday is "Ascension Sunday," which marks the end of the Easter Season. We hope you'll join us this Sunday at 10 AM (either in-person or streaming live online), as we hear all about Jesus's ascension into heaven. We'll also learn the path to our own personal ascensions and uncover the "12 Symptoms of Spiritual Awakening." Message: Pastor Sal. Music: Peter Black and Max Brown.

Download This Sunday's Online Bulletin:

order_of_service_may_29_2022.pdf
File Size:	992 kb
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Download File

Last Week's Service Video: "Divine Healing"

The gospel reading (John 5:1-9) from the lectionary for the Sixth Sunday of Easter is all about the miraculous healing of the man at the Pool of Bethesda. Are there really such miraculous places of healing? Please enjoy last Sunday's service, when we explored the healing miracles in the gospels, and how we can, too, can experience "Divine Healing" in our own lives today. Message: Pastor Sal. Music: Peter Black, Stan Greene, and harpist, Joan Donaldson

Click here to read, listen to, watch, and share Pastor Sal's Homily.

70 x 7 Cards for Prisoners

This past Sunday we heard from 70 x 7 minister Paula Creswell, who shared her moving stories about offering letters and cards to prisoners, and the profound difference this outreach has made in the lives of prisoners. You can become a Penpal too! Click the button below to learn more about the program, and to receive your PenPal Packet!

Become a Penpal

Gun Violence Sabbath, June 12

The DUCC Social Justice Team encourages us to wear orange on June 12 to commemorate Gun Violence Sabbath.

These past weeks we’ve witnessed gun killings at a Presbyterian Church in California, a supermarket in New York, and an elementary school in Texas. There are more guns than residents of the U.S. - more than 400 million. Hate speech flourishes - against persons of color, religious minorities, immigrants, and LGBTQ people; and these hate crimes and killings become the horrendous consequence of hate speech. White supremacy messages erode our hope for unity amidst diversity. Within this situation, faith communities have a voice to raise - a voice of inclusion, non violence, justice.

Let’s be the voice of peace.

In April, the New England Journal of Medicine released a research report concluding that “Guns became the leading cause of death among children and teens in 2020, killing more people ages 1 to 19 in the U.S. than vehicle crashes, drugs overdoses, or cancer. The University of Michigan recently released a report that firearms are now the #1 cause of death for children and youth, surpassing all others.

In May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an analysis on gun related deaths. Here are the key findings:

The U.S. homicide rate from gun violence rose 35% in the first year of the pandemic to the highest level since 1994, according to the CDC.
Excluding suicides, more than 19,000 people were killed by guns in 2020 compared with more than 14,000 the year prior, according to the CDC report.
Homicides from gun violence increased among people of every age, in most racial groups, for men and women, in cities and in rural areas, and in every region of the nation.
Black Americans suffered the most with the homicide rate from gun violence increasing nearly 40% to 26.6 per 100,000 people, about 12 times higher than the rate among white Americans.

LEDA 17th Summit on Race and Inclusion, June 7

The DUCC Social Justice Team encourages us to attend the Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance (LEDA) is proud to present their 17th Summit on Race and Inclusion: Uniting Our Voices! at Hope College, Holland, Michigan on June 7, 2022. The 2022 Summit is a hybrid event; you can attend either in-person or virtually.

This year’s theme, “Uniting Our Voices,” explores how and why, in these unsettled times, it is more important than ever to pull together and unite for real and lasting change towards racial equity and justice for everyone in our communities.

We are very proud this year to present as our keynote speakers two gifted speakers and authors:

· Isabel Wilkerson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Humanities Medal, is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste: The Origins of our Discontents. She has become an impassioned voice for demonstrating how history can help us understand ourselves, our country and our current era of upheaval.

· Rev. Dr. Jennifer Harvey is an award-winning author, educator, and public speaker. Dr. Harvey’s most recent books, Raising White Kids and Dear White Christians, brings Jen’s experience as an anti-racist activist and educator to bear on conversations about how white communities can more deeply support racial justice work being led by communities of color.

The 2022 Summit will offer a unique day-long opportunity to engage with leaders in our communities, state, and nation. In the morning and afternoon, breakout sessions will address economic equity and wealth generation, health equity, book banning, reconstruction history, the African immigrant experience, talking to kids about race, hate crimes, and more. There will also be a panel of area youth discussing their experiences and hopes for the future.

Individuals and organizations can register for this event at:
https://whova.com/portal/registration/ledas_202206.

This is a hybrid event, with both in-person and virtual options to attend.

Thank you! We hope to see you June 7!

140th Anniversary Block Party, June 5

Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash

We are so excited that this year, Douglas UCC celebrates its 140th Anniversary! We hope you can help us celebrate by joining in the "Block Party," with food and live music, in front of the church on Pentecost Sunday, June 5, from 11 AM to 1 PM.

Christian Neighbors Quarterly Update

Christian Neighbors has been serving our neighbors with food, clothing, utility and rent assistance for more than 40 years. Through the generosity of our community, we have been able to greatly increase the scope of services we provide. With the termination of state and federally funded pandemic programs and increasing inflationary stresses, the organization saw approximately 250 different families this last quarter, and a 35% increase in program expenses. Rental assistance represented one of the greatest needs.
If you are interested in supporting Christian Neighbors, there are many ways you can help:

Right now, we have a need for clean, used children’s clothing, infant through teen sizes. If you have visiting relatives over the summer holidays, perhaps you can mention our special needs?
We provide free items of clothing and linens to our clients, but did you know that we are also open to the community to shop? Funds from sales cycle back into our program expenses. We host a monthly “First Friday Sale” open to all, as well as our regular shopping hours. Visit us for bargains and shop locally.
Finally, please help your friends on a fixed income or neighbors experiencing financial difficulties discover the local resources provided by Christian Neighbors from our compassionate volunteers.

Christian Neighbors is located in the rear of the Community Church of Douglas, 6874 Wiley Rd. We are open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. (Closed on Wednesdays.) Hours for shopping and donation drop-offs are 9:30 until 12:00. Please call 269-857-1050 should you have any questions.

Working together, we can alleviate many needs within our community. Thank you for your ongoing support of Christian Neighbors.

Soul Collage Workshop with Rev. Ruth Zwald, June 11 at 1 PM

Our friend and spiritual teacher Ruth Zwald will be leading a Soul Collage workshop in the Friendship Hall on Saturday, June 11, from 1 to 4pm. If you're interested, register with Ruth at her email adress above.

Community Pride - June 1 thru 5
Church Booth Volunteers Needed

Douglas UCC is proud to be a "Silver Sponsor" of the upcoming Community Pride Event in Saugatuck/Douglas from June 1 thru 5. Each day, there will be a series of fun and informative events around town (see poster above) in which we hope you will take part. Our church will have a booth at the "Pride in the Park" event on June 4 at Berry Field.

We need volunteers to run our church's booth at Pride in the Park on June 4. If you can help out, please drop an email to welcome@douglasucc.org.

Annual Congregational Meeting
June 26 at 11:30 AM

Photo by Rineshkumar Ghirao on Unsplash

Our Annual Church Business Meeting will be held on Sunday, June 26, at 11:30 AM in the Friendship Hall and online via Zoom. Our Church Council and Financial Oversight Committee will be giving us updates, and we’ll be approving the new church budget for the upcoming fiscal year. All church members are strongly encouraged to attend. If you’ll be joining the meeting from home, please be sure to email Julie Ridl (julie@douglasucc.org) to receive the Zoom link. You can email Julie to request a copy of the budget for review, and click below to download a copy of last year's meeting minutes, which will be approved at the start of this year's meeting.

june_2021_annual_congregational_meeting_minutes.docx.pdf
File Size:	65 kb
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Download File

Qigong Classes, Wednesdays, 11:30 AM

Photo by Sajad Nori on Unsplash

Kat VanHammen is offering Qigong at Douglas UCC again this year on Wednesdays at 11:30am on the Retreat House lawn, or in the Friendship Hall when the weather requires it. The class is generally about 50 minutes long. Qigong is a very simple but deep practice of movement, meditation, visualization and breathing techniques. Similar to Tai Chi, Qigong is rooted in Chinese Medicine and Martial Arts Practice. But you don’t have to memorize any forms! It is great for cultivating Self and Body Awareness, Stability, Balance, Ease of Movement and Joy and Peace! It is a very accessible practice for everyone.

Class fees are on a donation basis but Kat requests a minimum of $5 in order to keep it sustainable. Contact Kat with any questions: Katvanhammen@gmail.com

Birthdays & Anniversaries

May 31- Larry LaBine, Derek Rieley, June 1- Floyd Fleming, Tracey Shafroth,
2- Dale Lower, 3- Timothy Buszka, 4- Jane Grady, Michael Teekamp

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

Phil Sturdevant (Pete Wehle's friend); Darren Dixon (Beverly and Orie Hawkes' nephew); Ruth VandenBosch; The Hotwagner Family; Fritz Royce; David Zylstra (Laurie VandenBeldt's friend); Elinor Hite (Virginia Stuart's sister); Michael Mok and friends and family of Paul Murphy; Wendy Hamlin; Roye McDonald; Michele Turner and Family; Judy Baxter (Kristine Sherman's Mother); Joann DeJonge; Richard and Joanna Weber's grandson Mattox (friends of the Ridls); Paul Burdick; Al Overweg; Beverly Willming (John Willming's mother); Jay North (friend of Dan Pierce); Hannah Sherman; Maureen Pierce; Ron Turks (Carol Cunningham's son-in-law); David Abbot; Sarah Johnson Lock; Linda Masten (Mark Reiman's friend); Vicki Latham (Ruth VandenBosch's cousin); Cole Hartman; Mike Sneedon (Peg and Jack Donohue's friend); Tim Reineck, Matt Brazys, Suzanne Cook, and Ken Cassbon (friends of Pete Wehle and Pamela Chappell); Richie Czarnowski (Mark Reiman's friend); Dale Lower; Sherri Kanten (Ruth VandenBosch's friend); Michael (a friend of Dan Mack's); Chris Stuart (Virginia Stuart's sister-in-law); Mary Elizabeth Loudin (friend of Laurie VandenBeldt); Chris Robinson (Peter and Kathleen Mueller's nephew); Daniel Ver Meulen (Susan Fleming's son); Marcia Sullivan (Jo Cooley's friend)

Financial Stewardship

In-Person Attendance, May 22: 90
Livestream Attendance: 69
Total Views for May 22 Online Videos: 429

Collection Plate & Mailed Donations: $1,514.00
Online Giving: $4,018.80

Total: $5,532.80

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.