Update for June 18, 2023

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?”

Following last week’s powerful Pride Gathering, C3 Teacher Kent Dobson is back to ask . . . We Have Questions: What is the Father Wound? Patty PerShayla makes a return visit from Nashville, and Nelleke Knarr offers the meditation for this week’s C3 Gathering.

All C3 Sunday-morning events take place in the Mackinaw Ballroom at Central Park Place. Pre-Talk and Awakenings start at 9 a.m. The Gathering begins at 10 a.m.; Small Bites and Talk Back follow the Gathering. C3 Kids meet at 10 a.m. in the C3 Kids’ area in the Mackinaw Room. If you aren’t able to join us in person, you can watch the Gathering online on C3’s Facebook page.

Think you might have missed an email? Revisit or catch up on our website > Updates

Need Event Information? Our website has a full event calendar > Upcoming Events

🆕  Last Sunday’s Teaching here.  🆕  Last Sunday’s Meditation here.

🆕 Our First C3 Billboard is Up!

The generous contributions from C3 members are showing first fruits. Our first billboard was unveiled on June 12, where it will sit at the corner of M-104 and 144th Avenue for four weeks. Two more billboards will be erected on July 10, one north and one south of Grand Haven. Annie Wassmann’s design focuses on C3’s unique organizational nature: we ask questions to which we don’t have all the answers. We’re hopeful that this exposure will help those of like minds to know that there is a place for them at C3. 

🆕 Claude’s Graduation Open House

from Charity and Shannon McMaster: Our son Claude graduated from Spring Lake High School this year, and we are having an open house for him on Saturday, June 24, from 2 to 4 p.m. We’d love to see any C3 people! Your presence is gift enough. Our address is 227 Prospect Street, in Spring Lake. We’re on the corner of Prospect and River, one block west of Holmes Elementary.  Note: Claude has done the weekly set-up for our Gathering for a few years!

🆕 Community Meeting to be held on July 9!

Make plans to stay for a short community meeting after the Gathering on Sunday, July 9. The Finance and Membership committees have proposed that we move our annual meeting from February to November. This revised schedule requires a change in our bylaws, which requires community approval. You can also expect an update on the search for an executive director and our status at Central Park Place. You won’t want to miss it!

     If you are a C3 Member and won’t be able to attend the meeting, please click here to email your proxy vote to chairperson Sally Alderink.

Dine with Nine-ty!
Join us this summer for a delightful twist on our beloved Dine with Nine event! We are excited to announce the expansion of this gathering into an “everyone-is-welcome” community dinner at the picturesque Mulligan’s Hollow Lodge in Grand Haven. Save the date for Saturday, July 15, dinner begins at 5:30 p.m. To let us know what food you’ll bring, kindly utilize the sign-up sheet at the Gathering. Bring your own beverage (alcohol is allowed) and place setting, utensils, and cups (we are being friendly to Mother Earth). For drop-off convenience, you may drive up to the lodge, but all event parking is in the YMCA parking lot. Rain or shine, the event will go on, with ample space indoors and outdoors that is ADA accessible.

Rolling Along!

Andy Cawthon reports that his bike fundraiser is rolling along with 179.4 miles logged since June 1. He invites anyone willing and interested to commit to any of a wide range of activities (walking, stationary biking, kayaking, horseback riding, holes played at golf, etc.), and a dollar amount (computed by any means—dollars or cents per mile, holes played, a flat amount) to help raise money for the C3 Community. So far we have three committed participants and four or more sponsors! Join in the fundraising!

🆕 Submitting Information for the C3 Update

Newsletter submissions should be sent to Chrys Moelter-Gray by Wednesday of the week they are to be included. Many thanks to Annie Wassmann for filling in during Chrys’ recent vacation. 

Auction Kudos

• Kathy and Mark Smith write “Thanks to the kindness of Cathy and Bruce Martin. We “won” the bidding for the use of their home for a week. We had a fantastic week, enjoyed time with our son and his family from Aurora CO., did lots of hiking and sightseeing. Their home is beautiful, in a fantastic location and we truly enjoyed our time.”
• Tom, Annie, Mark, Kathy, Valerie and Ira wanted to take a moment to express their heartfelt thanks to Corrie and Berend Snoeyer for their wonderful “Taste of Indonesia” auction dinner party. The food, the company, and the ambiance were all truly exceptional. It was an evening to remember!

Month Long Pride Focus at our Vigil for Peace and Justice

C3 has welcomed and supported the LGBTQ+ community since the 1990’s. We want to share that support and welcoming message with the greater community though our Vigil for Peace and Justice during June. Join us each Saturday from noon to 1 p.m. along Washington Avenue at Central Park in Grand Haven. Why not let your creative juices flow and make a sign promoting justice and equality for all LGBTQ+ folks (folx) and invite friends and family to join in?

Last Week for June’s Week 3@C3—but, There’s More!  

Bring items on Sunday, June 18! Kids Food Basket – Muskegon will receive our support in June. Their wish list is here:

• fruit cups or pouches
  
• pudding cups
  
• meat sticks (i.e. Slim Jims, approx. .28 oz sticks)
  
• 8-pound or extra-large brown lunch bags
  
• bulk items to make KFB Trail Mix—Cheerios, Pretzels, cheese crackers. 
  

Off-brands are fine! Keep in mind, KFB avoids serving items with peanuts or tree nuts in the ingredient list.

Can we go above and beyond?

Every Woman’s Place has an urgent request for women’s underwear—small, medium, or large; any style; six pack Fruit of the Loom, Hanes for Her, or other similar brands are suitable. Bring goods or cash to the Week 3@C3 table on June 18 or June 25.

🆕 Sunday Dinner Group at Ted’s

Those interested in dining out on Sunday will meet at Ted’s in Spring Lake at 5:30. (Pine Street Café is no longer open for dinner). Please sign up at the Membership Table before leaving the Gathering!

C3 Book Club and Friends

We meet this coming Tuesday, June 20, 6 p.m. at The Bookman to discuss  Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. We’re reading The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman for Tuesday, July 18.

C3 Men’s Group 

The C3 Men’s Group meets each Tuesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the American Legion Hall on Harbor Drive in Grand Haven. Questions? Contact Phil Koster.

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.