C3 inspires spiritual, intellectual, and creative exploration and action, led by the questions, “what are the biggest challenges we face on our shared journey, and how do we respond to those challenges?”
We are pleased to welcome our special teacher for Earth Day, Tanya Cabala, Lakeshore Outreach Organizer for West Michigan Environmental Action Council. She will ask How can we cultivate a deeper connection with nature and each other to foster joy, renewal, and wisdom in these challenging times?
Michelle Held, contemporary folk musician from Detroit, makes her debut appearance at C3. The meditation comes from Rod Van Abbema.
Sunday Gathering
Come for Pre-Talk at 9 a.m. to get a jump on the rest of the group; join us at Central Park Place in Grand Haven for the Gathering at 10 a.m., which is live-streamed on C3’s Facebook page. Snack and socialize during Small Bites, then respond to the teaching at Talk Back from 11:15 to noon. C3 Kids meet in the C3 Kids’ area of the Mackinaw Room from 10 a.m. to noon.
Talk Back Takeover Next Sunday
Please make plans to stay after the Gathering next Sunday for a special Talk Back Takeover. Our Executive Director Shannon McMaster will lead us through a visioning exercise to kick off our community Strategic Planning process.
🆕 Update from Teacher Search Team
The Teacher Search Team plans to make a decision by the end of the month, and then an offer will be extended to the selected candidate.
Springtime Dine with Nine
Let’s try for a spring theme for the next Dine with Nine on Saturday, May 11, at 6:00 p.m. Sign up any Sunday between now and April 21 at the Membership Table. This event connects adults regardless of age or relationship status, bringing together widows, singles, couples, partners, and divorcees at the host’s home to share food, fun, and conversation. Coordinators of the event are Joyce Cawthon, Kathy Smith, and Mary Ackerson. Contact: Joyce with questions.
Your Feedback, Please
We’d love your feedback on our guest teachers—as well as the musician(s) and the overall Gathering experience. Use this online form to share your feedback. There will also be forms located at the back of the Gathering room, and boxes in which you can put your feedback. You can be anonymous or sign your name. Thanks for your help!
Week 3@C3 for April
This is the last week to donate to our project for April, which is to help Grand Haven’s American Legion collect snacks and other items, which they will mail in individual care packages to our troops overseas. Food items (regular size, no bulk packages): Peanut Butter Pretzels, Beef Jerky (no pork), Doritos, Sun Chips, Potato Chips, Pringles, Reese’s Fast Breaks, Paydays, M&Ms, Gummy Bears, Mac and Cheese Cups, Rice A Roni Cups, Pasta Roni Cups, Summer Sausage & Crackers, Goldfish Crackers, Pretzels, Combos, Pop Tarts, Rice Crispy Treats, Girl Scout Cookies, Trail Mix, Cheez Its, and Propel Water Packets. Non-food items: Deodorant, Shampoo, and Toothpaste. Printable list here.
Donate Your US-Manufactured Eclipse Glasses
Did you experience the eclipse? Patti Baldus is collecting US-manufactured eclipse glasses to send to Eclipse Glasses USA, which distributes them to kids around the world so they can watch the next eclipse in October 2024. The website notes that they only take certified glasses manufactured in the United States. That means the eclipse glasses cannot be made in China and need to include the American-based manufacturer business and address on the inside. There should also be an ISO logo stamped on the edge of the glasses. If you have such glasses that you’d like to pass along, bring them to C3 this Sunday or next and give them to Patti.
Caring for the members of our C3 Community is a shared communal responsibility, rather than a role reserved for a pastor, priest, or leader. Our C3 Community Care Team encourages members to support each other at time of need with notes, cards, phone calls, visits, meals, and transportation. C3 members are urged to contact the Community Care Team to inform them of life events, illness, or hardships, which can be shared with the C3 Community. To report a need or request help, or to help visit members in hospital, rehab or recovering at home, contact Cheryl Van Abbema: email or Mike and Charlotte Rozich: email.
Longtime C3 member Dr. Justin Kleveland died on March 30, at the age of 99, just 12 days shy of his 100th birthday. After serving in the Army, he settled in Muskegon in 1953, and began his career in Internal Medicine, which he practiced for 44 years. He was a strong advocate for education, universal health care, and common-sense gun control. He also enjoyed traveling, and did so to approximately 27 countries. The Celebration of Life will be on Saturday, May 11 at 12 p.m. at the Lake House (730 Terrace Point Dr, Muskegon, MI). Cards can be sent to Kathleen at 1634 Sunset Drive, North Muskegon, MI 49445.
Tomorrow! Earth Day Lakeshore Celebration
Make plans to attend the Earth Day Lakeshore Celebration tomorrow Saturday, April 20! Join the Green March at 12:30 p.m. from the Courthouse parking lot through Grand Haven to Central Park Place, where C3 will have both a Kids’ activity and a C3 Outreach table, focusing on our value of Care for the Earth. The celebration features booths and activities for all ages, food, music, and horse-drawn carriage rides!
Join the Spring Adopt-A-Highway Cleanup Crew!
Our spring Adopt-A-Highway cleanup is Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to noon (If necessary, the rain date is Sunday, April 28, after the Talk Back Takeover). Thank you to all the volunteers that have signed up already! Look for a reminder email next week prior. If you have not signed up yet, and want to, please send an email to Annie Wassmann(include name and phone number). More information and safety video here! Thank you!
🆕 Our Partnership with The People Center
As part of our C3 Outreach, we contribute to a few organizations in the area, including The People Center in Spring Lake. A note from them is attached. Our People Center representative Patti Baldus reports that C3 member Bob Wassink has volunteered to be in charge of the garden in front of The People Center this year (established and tended for years by Pam and Jean)! He will surely welcome any volunteer help from the rest of us, so clients can be offered fresh produce when they come for food. Also, donations from Spring Lake residents to the biggest food drive of the year, the Postal Workers’ Food Drive on May 11, will benefit the People Center! (Donations from Grand Haven and GH Township will benefit Love in Action and The Salvation Army).
🆕 Parks Clean-Up in Spring Lake
Here’s another chance to put our value of caring for the Earth into action! Outreach Team member Charlotte Rozich has organized a parks clean-up on Saturday, May 11, at 10 a.m. to clean up Tanglefoot and Millpoint Parks in Spring Lake. Many hands make light work, so help out, if you can! Sign up today at the Outreach Table.
Vigil for Peace and Justice
Reactions from passers-by have been positive! Join the Vigil for Peace and Justice on Saturday from noon to 1 p.m. along Washington Avenue at Central Park in Grand Haven.
🆕 Sunday Dinner Group
We’ll gather at The Kirby on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. to enjoy each other’s company and some good food. Sign up at the Membership table before leaving the Gathering.
C3 Men’s Group
The C3 Men’s Group meets each Tuesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Room B, in Grand Haven. Contact Phil Koster for more information.
C3 Book Club and Friends
Book Club meets next at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21, at The Bookman, to discuss Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.
🆕 June 18: Sisters Under the Rising Sun by Heather Morris.
Women’s Journey
We meet again on Monday, April 22, at 6:30 p.m. at The Bookman. Coincidentally, it will be Earth Day, so we are planning on bringing a small outdoor plant to exchange. Please join us! We also set the date for May: Monday, May 20, (one week before Memorial Day) same time, same place.
Automate your donations!
Want to make your life easier and more predictable?
- Why not put your donations to C3 on autopilot?
- No more having to remember to send a check!
- No more trying to remember — did I or didn’t I?
- It is a secure and easy set up — just call Carol Takas (616-613-3222) at Selby Accounting. Please direct any questions to Andy Cawthon.
Your ongoing support of C3 is greatly appreciated. Online donations can be made here. Automatic donations can be set up by contacting Carol Takas at Selby Accounting. Checks should be sent to C3 Spiritual Community, P. O. Box 371, Grand Haven, MI 49417. C3 is a 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Organization. Our tax ID is 38-1960212.
Community Events for Your Consideration
Click on the links for more information.
- April 20: The Big Shop Support your favorite non-profit organizations by shopping local.
- April 24: Retirement Sip & See Learn about volunteer opportunities at the Momentum Center
- April 27: Art for the Parks A pop-up sale to benefit Ottawa County Parks Foundation
- 🆕 April 28: The Diatribe Annual Fun’raiser Social Hour, performances by students, Diatribe Teaching Artist, and Caleb Rainey AKA The Negro Artist—rsvp today!
- May 2: Town Hall Meeting: You Have New Voting Rights! sponsored by Organize District 9 and ONTRAC
- 🆕 May 9: QPR Training Training in Suicide Prevention
- May 18: Momentum Center’s Prom with a Purpose. Consider a sponsorship, get your tickets!
Deepening Our Spiritual Connection – Shamanic Sundays 2024
A series of four workshops to build understanding of the indigenous spiritual path, hosted by Ruth Zwald, will take place on May 5, June 2, July 14, and August 18. Click here for more information.
Saturday, April 20
12 p.m. Vigil for Peace and Justice (Central Park, GH)
12:30 p.m. Green Parade (Courthouse Parking Lot, GH)
1 p.m. Earth Day Lakeshore Celebration (Central Park Place)
Sunday, April 21
9 a.m. Pre-Talk & Awakenings
10 a.m. C3 Kids with Miss Mary and volunteer Sally Alderink
10 a.m. Gathering, In Person + Livestream on Facebook
• Guest Teacher: Tanya Cabala
• Music: Michelle Held
• Meditation: Rod Van Abbema
11 a.m. Talk Back
Monday, April 22
6:30 p.m. Women’s Journey (The Bookman, 715 Washington, GH)
Tuesday, April 23
7 p.m. C3 Men’s Group (Room B, St. John’s Episcopal Church, GH)
Saturday, April 27
10 a.m. Adopt-A-Highway Cleanup (meet at CPP parking lot)
12 p.m. Vigil for Peace and Justice (Central Park, GH)
Sunday, April 28
9 a.m. Pre-Talk & Awakenings
10 a.m. C3 Kids with Miss Mary and volunteer Charity McMaster
10 a.m. Gathering, In Person + Livestream on Facebook
• Core Teacher Michael DeWilde with Guest Speaker Dr. John Mulder
• Music: Jess Willyard & Caitlin Eyestone
• Meditation: Mary Ackerson
11 a.m. Talk Back Takeover
Michael DeWilde, a core Guest Teacher at C3, is the director of the Koeze Business Ethics Initiative in the Seidman College of Business, as well as a full professor in the Management Department at GVSU. He holds an MTS from Harvard University and did his undergraduate work at William James College (GVSU).
Dr. John Mulder has extensive experience in hospice and palliative care. He has an appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine where he serves as the Director of the Division of Palliative Medicine. He serves as medical director for a number of hospice and palliative care organizations in the region.
Jess Willyard is a guitar-playing singer-songwriter active in the Michigan music scene since the early 90’s. He currently teaches guitar, bass, ukulele, and mandolin. He was also a student with the Tibetan Buddhist master Gelek Rimpoche for over 20 years.
Caitlin Eyestone is a teacher and a district behavior consultant at Northview Public Schools.
Drop Us Some Stars
We would really appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to share your experience at C3 by reviewing us on Google. Thank you!
Google requires reviewers to have a Google account. If you don’t have one you can set one up with your current email address, follow instructions here.
C3 Membership Directory (login required)
C3 Website>Values (printable list here)
Teaching Podcast “The Stage at C3” Feeds: Apple Podcasts YouTube Music
🆕 Last Week’s Update and Bulletin
frontdesk [at] c3westmichigan [dot] org
C3 Spiritual Community Office
1447 Washington Ave., Grand Haven, MI 49417
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 371, Grand Haven, MI 49417
616-842-1985 (number can receive text messages)
Becky Park, Office Manager
Office Hours: Mondays and Tuesdays from 12 noon – 2:30 p.m., or by appointment.
Shannon McMaster, Executive Director
smcmaster [at] c3westmichigan [dot] org
Automatic donations are handled by Carol Takas, 616-613-3222, at Selby Accounting.
Please direct any questions to Andy Cawthon.
C3 Board of Trustees
Chair: Teresa Colbry
Vice-Chair: Tod Wyn
Secretary: Beth Buelow
Treasurer: Andy Cawthon
Newsletter Submissions and Editor: Chrysteen Moelter-Gray
Newsletter Designer: Annie Wassmann
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