Weekly E-Pistle: Third Sunday after Pentecost

6/16/2023

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

This Sunday's Service — 3rd Sunday after Pentecost: "Father's Day & Juneteenth"
Last Sunday's Service Video — 2nd Sunday after Pentecost: "Miracles When You Believe"
KUDOS to David Geen for Planting our Zinnias!
July Coffee Hour Treats Needed!
Volunteers needed for Venetian Fest! Sign Up Online!
Save the Date: DUCC Annual Meeting, June 25
Some Spaces Left at Jack Ridl's Oxbow Workshop, June 24
Gun Violence Awareness March, Grand Haven, June 17
Opera MODO presents DxN Pasquale at DUCC June 17
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: "Father's Day & Juneteenth"

This Sunday, we will be celebrating both Father's Day and Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day. We will be putting our on focus on the gospel reading from Sunday's lectionary, in which Jesus calls the first apostles to go out and declare that the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.

Please join us on Sunday at 10 AM (either in-person or streaming live online) for an inspiring message from Pastor Sal Sapienza and uplifting music from Peter Black and Nancy Plantinga.

Download This Sunday's Online Bulletin:

order_of_service_june_18_2023.pdf
File Size:	1894 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Last Week's Service

In the gospel reading from last 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."

Enjoy last Sunday's service, when we explored 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

Here's the Homily!

KUDOS to David Geen for Planting our Zinnias!

Thank you to church member, David Geen, for planting the zinnias in front of the church this year in memory of Jim Shewell, who planted them for many years.

July Coffee Hour Treats Needed!

Photo by Food Photographer | Jennifer Pallian on Unsplash

Thanks to all who work our Coffee Hour Coordinator, Joyce Wright! The sign-up sheet for treats for July is waiting for us in Friendship Hall, but with too few names on it! If you can provide treats for coffee hour in July, please sign up there, or connect with Joyce (you will find her contact information in the Membership Directory.)

Volunteers Needed for Venetian Fest!
Sign Up Online!

The Rotary Club of Saugatuck/Douglas is looking for volunteers to help with the Venetian Festival on July 28 and 29. One of our three local Rotary initiatives is to protect and enhance the waterways (and local ecosystems). As a starting point, we have opted for a laser light show instead of the fireworks, and if Rotary continues to carry the mantle for this event in coming years, we plan to include an awareness/educational component to the weekend. Volunteers who sign up by June 25 will receive a really cool t-shirt with the new logo! See church member Kirsten Stannis (or the website) for details or questions.

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

A few Spaces Left at Jack Ridl's Oxbow Workshop, June 24

Church member Jack Ridl is teaching an Art on the Meadow workshop at Oxbow entitled "Here's What Matters," Saturday, June 24, 9a.m- 5 p.m.
The day-long workshop includes lunch on campus. Workshop participants will spend the day exploring, through their preferred form of writing, the things that have profoundly impacted their own lives – whether they are funny, traumatic, serious, sorrowful, or joyous. Using Jack’s prompts, writers will first talk with one another about what subject they have chosen. Then, they will have time to explore that choice in writing, after which the group will engage in a delightful debriefing about what showed up as they wrote, culminating in a deeply memorable day.

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

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 17- Gordon Stannis, 18- Kirsten Stannis, 19- Gordon & Kirsten Stannis,
20- Jack Klott, 22- Lewis Corbin, 24- Katy Lemanski Loster

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

Stan Greene; Betsy York; Dick Bont; Tom Fahlstrom Sr. (Tom Fahlstrom's Dad); Mary Westenbroek; Brian Aikens; Family of Doug Smith; Jerry Elpers and family (Beth Howley's Dad); Edie Plantinga (Nancy Plantinga's mother); Joyce Potts (Ed Korson's Friend); Eric Cooley (Jo Cooley's brother); Nicole and John (Wendy Hamlin's daughter-in-law and son)

Financial Stewardship

In-Person Attendance June 11: 113
Total Views for June 11 Online Videos: 589

Collection Plate & Mailed Donations: $3,605.00
Online Giving: $3,074.57
Total: $6,679.57

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.