Weekly E-Pistle: Second Sunday after Pentecost

6/9/2023

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

This Sunday's Service — 2nd Sunday After Pentecost: "Miracles When You Believe"
Last Sunday's Service Video — Trinity Sunday
Pride in the Park: Photo Gallery
Save the Date: DUCC Annual Meeting, June 25
Thank you Notes: Linda Charvat and Max Brown!
New Members Class: This Sunday, June 11
Gun Violence Awareness March, Grand Haven, June 17
Opera MODO presents DxN Pasquale at DUCC June 17
Soul Collage with Ruth Zwald, June 10
Forest Bathing: A Guided Experience, July 8
Tickets are on Sale! West Shore Aware Gala, August 19
Birthdays & Anniversaries, Prayer Requests, and Financial Stewardship

This Sunday's Service: "Miracles When You Believe"

In the gospel reading from Sunday's lectionary, a woman suffering from hemorrhages for 12 years is miraculously healed as she touches the hem of Jesus's garment. He tells the woman, "Take heart, for your faith has made you well."

Join us this Sunday at 10 AM (either in-person or streaming live online) as we explore the healing miracles in the gospels, and how we, too, can experience miracles in own lives when we believe. Message: Pastor Sal. Music: Peter Black and Jeff Spangler

Download This Sunday's Online Bulletin:

order_of_service_june_11_2023.pdf
File Size:	2565 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Last Sunday's Service

The first Sunday after Pentecost is known as "Trinity Sunday," when we celebrated the "three-in-one" aspect of God. In last Sunday's gospel reading, Jesus speaks to the apostles about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. How do we make sense of the Trinity? Is God one or three? Please enjoy last Sunday's service when we explored the metaphysical understanding of the Trinity. Message: Pastor Sal Sapienza. Music: Peter Black

Here's the Homily

Pride in the Park: Photo Gallery

Pride 2023 was a great success. Thank you so much to the organizers, donors, vendors, artists, and shower-uppers who all made Community Pride such a joyous event! We really are so proud to have been a Silver Sponsor for such a great event.

And, a very big thank you to all who helped work our church booth at the "Pride in the Park" event: Carol Brown, Jim Kern, Julie Hebding, Mike VerMerris, Peter Black, Kathleen Klage, El Clough, Nancy & David Van Dyke, Virginia Stuart, Ruth VandenBosch, Sue Scott & Larry Fuerst, Sheryll & Greg VanPortFleet, Fred Hamlin, Laurie VandenBeldt, Pat Denner, and Joyce Wright.

Click photos above for captions and larger views.

Save the Date: DUCC Annual Meeting, June 25

Our Annual Church Business Meeting will be held on Sunday, June 25, at 11:30 AM in the Friendship Hall after service. All church members are wholeheartedly encouraged to attend.

Pastor Sal and our church leaders will be giving us updates. We'll affirm new Council members, and we’ll be approving last year's minutes and the new church budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

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 also be posted in the Friendshiip Hall.

2022_draft_annual_meeting_minutes.pdf
File Size:	110 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Thank you Notes:
Linda Charvat and Max Brown!

Our deepest thanks to two church members who have donated the fruits of their work to make our campus more beautiful. Max Brown donated his painting "Cottonwood" to grace our new church office building, and Linda Charvat offered this giant rhododendron from her farm to anchor the corner of our church's memorial garden. Kudos also to Stancy Honson and Dick Bont, who arranged for transport and planting of this beautiful plant.

New Members Class: This Sunday, June 11

We officially welcome new members to our church just twice a year: once in the Fall and once in the Spring. Pastor Sal will be holding the Spring New Members class on Sunday, June 11 from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM at the new Administrative Office building. If you are interested in becoming a member of our church, please email Pastor Sal to register for the class. This class is also open to current church members who'd like a "refresher" course.

Gun Violence Awareness March,
Grand Haven, June 17

Gun violence has claimed more American lives than all of the historical wars combined. Currently, guns are the number one killer of American youth, and the violence is far from over. Please join Hailey Huggett and the Huggett family on June 17th, 11:00AM at Central Park in Grand Haven MI for a Silence the Violence, silent march. This is a Michigan-wide event put on by End Gun Violence Michigan and hosted locally. The group will march silently and carry a tombstone with the names of every Michigander killed by gun violence. There will also be an opportunity to sign a collective statement for the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners which is imperative to public safety. We would love to have our congregation represented at the event so please spread the word and show up! Let’s raise our voices and put an end to this epidemic! You can help event organizers by signing up for the march. Just click this button here:

Opera MODO presents DxN Pasquale
at DUCC, June 17

Detroit opera company, Opera Modo, is taking a tour of Michigan, bringing an exciting new production to Saugatuck/Douglas on Saturday, June 17, at 7 PM.

D[x]n Pasquale is a new English translation of Donizetti's classic Don Pasquale. Translated from its original libretto, this new LGBTQ+ translation tells the story of a young, nonbinary artist, their intolerant, miserly aunt, and two trusted confidantes with a plan to change it all. When Dawn Pasquale tries to disenfranchise their one remaining family member, Ernesto, on the basis of prejudice, Norina and Malatesta resort to hilariously extreme measures of drag, distractions, and deception to try to open Pasquale's mind and heart.

In celebration of Pride Month, D[x]n Pasquale uproots traditional operatic standards of gender and relationships with the familiar devices of disguise and deceit to celebrate the beautiful athleticism of bel canto singing and to tell a radically inclusive story of love and acceptance.

Tickets are $25, and can be purchased at the link below!

Buy Tickets Online Here

Soul Collage with Ruth Zwald, June 10

Ruth Zwald's next SoulCollage workshop is scheduled for Saturday, June 10 at 1pm in the Friendship Hall. After this workshop, Collagers will take the summer off, then come back together in the fall.

The theme for this month is: SoulCollage® And Our Companions. The Companion Suit in SoulCollage® helps us identify animal allies that can express the energetic aspects of our soul. Through a gentle guided meditation, we learn and listen to an animal helper, and create a card that expresses that animal. It can be a surprising and insightful journey.

There will also be time to create another card or two to add to your deck. I will share some ideas.

You don't need to be an experienced SoulCollager to join in on this creative form of meditative guidance. All are welcome! Follow the directions above to sign up directly with Ruth.

Forest Bathing: A Guided Experience, July 8

Photo by kazuend on Unsplash

Shinrin-yoku, or Forest Bathing, is a Japanese practice that encourages you to slow down and reconnect with the natural world through all your senses. Our Creation Justice Team is partnering with the Saugatuck-Douglas District Library to offer you a free, guided forest bathing experience.

On Saturday, July 8, join Katie Venechuk (of In Your Element), at either 10.30 am or 12.30 pm for a gentle 90-minute interaction with nature in a local park. Directions will be provided to participants after registration. Although there is no charge for this program, space is limited, so please call or email the library to reserve your spot.

All About Shinrin-yoku

Tickets are on Sale! West Shore Aware Gala, August 19

The Summer Event is Coming! The White Party Rainbow Reunion is August 19, and tickets are on sale now. Follow the button below for tickets, sponsorship opportunities, and more details.

Tickets and Info

Birthdays & Anniversaries

June 11- John Rienstra, 12– Bill Briggs, 15– Austin Belschner16– Marjorie Reiman, Marcy Weston, 17– Elisabeth Mannancheril

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

Betsy York, Stan Greene, Tom Fahlstrom Sr. (Tom Fahlstrom's Dad), Mary Westenbroek, Brian Aikens, Family of Doug Smith, Edie Plantinga (Nancy Plantinga's mother), Joyce Potts (Ed Korson's Friend), Dee Baker, Dirk Hollebeek (Ruth VandenBosch's Godson), Eric Cooley (Jo Cooley's brother), Anne Geraghty (Pat Denner's Sister-in-law), Nicole and John (Wendy Hamlin's daughter-in-law and son), Dan Pierce (Craig Drager's husband), Vicki Latham (Ruth VandenBosch's cousin), Darren Dixon (Beverly Hawkes' nephew), Chris Stuart, (Virginia Stuart's sister-in-law)

Financial Stewardship

In-Person Attendance June 4: 104
Total Views for June 4 Online Videos: 604
Collection Plate & Mailed Donations: $5,144.00
Online Giving: $2,375.41
Total: $7,519.41

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.