Weekly E-Pistle: Pentecost Sunday

6/3/2022

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

This Sunday's Service Notes — Pentecost Sunday: WEAR RED!!!
Last Week's Service Video — Ascension Sunday
Church Block Party on Sunday!
"Pride in the Park" - This Saturday!
Affordable Housing Options for Afghan Family?
Upcoming "March for Our Lives" Events
We're Halfway There! Grocery Receipts Box in the Friendship Hall!
LEDA 17th Summit on Race and Inclusion, June 7, Hope College and Online
Styrofoam Drop-off June 11
Soul Collage Workshop with Rev. Ruth Zwald, June 11, 1 PM
Annual Congregational Meeting, June 26, 11:30 AM
Birthdays & Anniversaries, Prayer Requests, and Financial Stewardship

This Sunday's Service: "Pentecost Sunday"

This church is on fire! This Sunday, we celebrate Pentecost. Just as the apostles became filled with the flames of the Holy Spirit, we, too, celebrate the Holy Spirit aflame in our hearts.

Please join us on Sunday at 10 AM (either in-person or streaming live online) as we celebrate the "Birthday of the Church" and the 140th Anniversary of Douglas UCC. We will be welcoming our new members class and welcoming back several of our former pastors, too!

As is our long-standing Pentecost tradition, we encourage you to WEAR RED to church this Sunday. After our service, we will gather together outside the church for a BLOCK PARTY** and our annual GROUP PHOTO.

**Due to the Block Party: Spring Street along the side of the church will be blocked off to cars on Sunday morning. Please plan accordingly.

Download this week's online bulletin here:

order_of_service_june_5_2022.pdf
File Size:	1024 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Last Week's Service

Last Sunday was "Ascension Sunday," which marked the end of the Easter Season. We hope you'll enjoy last Sunday's service, when we heard 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.

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

Church Block Party on Sunday!

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. Because we will close the street at the side of the church building on that morning, please remember to plan to park elsewhere in town for Sunday services!

"Pride in the Park" - This Saturday!

Pride celebrations in Douglas and Saugatuck have been joyful and ongoing! We hope you can join the celebration during Pride in the Park, where our church will have its own booth, Saturday, June 4, beginning at noon! Music, food, vendors and talks all afternoon! And once again, the Care-A-Van Pride Parade will spread our pride and joy from Saugatuck High School to Beery Field in Douglas. If you'd like to enter the parade, join the line-up at 11am at Saugatuck High School, 401 Elizabeth Street. The promenade starts at 11:15.

Affordable Housing Options for Afghan Family?

Photo by Mayur Gala on Unsplash

Our family from Afghanistan is beginning to investigate affordable housing options in Allegan and Ottawa counties. We have a list of reduced rent and subsidized housing options. If you are aware of any affordable housing in either county, please email Karen Clark (kbclark@iusb.edu) or Pat Denner (dendronus@yahoo.com)

Upcoming "March for Our Lives" Events, June 11 and June 18

Our UCC Grand West Association is encouraging our area churches to participate in either the Grand Haven or Grand Rapids March for Our Lives events. If you are interested in going to either of these events, and wish to carpool, contact Julie by email, to arrange rides.

Interfaith Action of Southwest Michigan is also encouraging its faith communities to wear orange when they come to church on Sunday, June 12. Our churches will be focusing on the issue during our worship services that day.

This past Sunday, Pastor Sal talked about our church's active role in advocating for gun reform over the years -- see video, below -- and how we will continue to do so.

March For Our Lives Grand Haven, MI
June 11, 2022 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM ET
Central Park, Grand Haven, MI 49417
https://fb.me/e/2r4Ld77WJ

March For Our Lives, Grand Rapids, MI
June 18, 2022 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET
Veteran’s Memorial Park,
101 Fulton St E, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
https://fb.me/e/1NrSfBXN2

We're Halfway There! Grocery Receipts Box in the Friendship Hall!

We are about half-way toward our goal of giving $1,000 to Ladders of Hope in Fennville!!!!
The old familiar Family Fare reciept dropbox has been moved back to the Friendship Hall.

Please drop off those receipts so we can total up reciepts and move closer to our goal of collecting $150,000 worth of receipts.

Once we hit that goal, DUCC will donate $1,000 from Spartan’s ‘Direct your Dollars’ Program to Ladders of Hope Food Pantry in Fennville.

If you forgot to save receipts before, now is the time to start! And drop them in!

KUDOS to Dee Mikos Graves and Kathleen Mueller for managing this program and counting up all of those receipts!

LEDA 17th Summit on Race and Inclusion,
June 7, Hope College and Online

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!

Styrofoam Drop-off June 11, 9am to 3pm

Photo by Jonas Gerlach on Unsplash

Thanks to everyone who could participate in the Household Hazardous Wasteevent last week! The team collected 16,792 pounds of recyclables and electronics, which means that much less will be disposed of in our landfills.

The team would love you to take a few minutes to complete this survey. Your feedback will help them improve upon our trash and recycling efforts here in the Tri-Communities.

Also, just a reminder that we'll be collecting foam Saturday, June 11 at the Public Works Yard. Dropoff hours will be 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Soul Collage Workshop with Rev. Ruth Zwald, June 11, 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.

Annual Congregational Meeting,
June 26, 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
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Birthdays & Anniversaries

June 5- Lynne Snyder, Marissa Oveweg, 6- Dee Baker & Lin Wisehart,
10-Catherine Dienes, Jim Hopkins, Matthew McWebb
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

Dick Bont; Tom Pearson (Wendy Hamiln's son); Phil Sturdevant (Pete Wehle's friend); Darren Dixon (Beverly and Orie Hawkes' nephew); The Hotwagner Family; Fritz Royce; David Zylstra (Laurie VandenBeldt's friend); Elinor Hite (Virginia Stuart's sister); Judy Baxter (Kristine Sherman's Mother); Joann DeJonge; Richard and Joanna Weber's grandson Mattox (friends of the Ridls); Al Overweg; Beverly Willming (John Willming's mother); Jay North (friend of Dan Pierce); Hannah Sherman; Maureen Pierce; 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); Sherri Kanten (Ruth VandenBosch's friend); Chris Stuart (Virginia Stuart's sister-in-law); Mary Elizabeth Loudin (friend of Laurie VandenBeldt); Chris Robinson (Peter and Kathleen Mueller's nephew)

Financial Stewardship

In-Person Attendance, May 29: 88
Livestream Household Attendance: 54
Total Views for May 29 Online Videos: 698
Podcast Downloads in May: 5,450

Collection Plate & Mailed Donations: $1,379
Online Giving: $2,417.43

Total: $3,796.43

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.