Update for January 21, 2024

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?”

Please note: Jack Ridl was unable to attend the Gathering on Sunday, January 21 and was replaced with Beth Buelow.

Poet, professor and writer Jack Ridl visits C3 this week to share some of his poetry and thoughts through his teaching Damage Done; Damage Undone.  He is the author or editor of 14 works of literature published by Wayne State University Press, CavanKerry Press, and St. Martins. Named Michigan Professor of the Year by The Carnegie Foundation, more than 90 of his students have earned their MFA and more than 100 are published, several having won first book awards. 

Musician Kyle Rasche returns, offering his songs of the poetic, soul-bearing sort. In 2022, Kyle was named a finalist in Kerrville Folk Festival’s prestigious New Folk Songwriting Competition. 

Beth Buelow will share the meditation.

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.

• Missed an email? Revisit or catch up on our website > Updates
• Need Event Information? Our website has a full event calendar > Calendar
• Latest Teaching and Meditation here. 

🆕  Canceling the Gathering

Here’s hoping the weather cooperates this weekend! It’s such a joy to meet on Sundays, and a disappointment when we don’t. Our Guest Teacher Matthew Laidlaw has been rescheduled for March 3.

     The decision to cancel our Gathering last week was shared both on our Facebook page and by email. Executive Director Shannon McMaster has initiated the process of getting C3 to be a part of the televised lists of closings as another avenue to inform C3 members and friends of any cancellations. For the present, cancellation announcements will be made via the C3 email list, our Facebook page, Instagram and Fox 17 news.

Your Feedback, Please

The Sunday Gathering Team recently began developing a larger pool of guest teachers. Thanks to your many suggestions, we’re inviting some of them to teach in the next couple of months, so you’ll be seeing a lot of new faces. We’d love your feedback on these guest teachers—as well as the musician(s) and the overall Gathering experience. Please either talk to a member of the Sunday Gathering Team, or 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!

Sunday Gathering Team: Leslie Newman (Chair), Beth Buelow, Valerie Engeltjes, Marianne Fischer, Chrys Moelter-Gray, Jean Regester, Chuck Tawney, Rod Van Abbema, Cindy Van Ittersum, and Ellie Williams

Board of Trustees

At the Board of Trustees meeting on January 10, departing board members Sally Alderink, Valerie Engeltjes, and Tom Edwards were thanked for their service. We welcomed four new board members: Tabitha Blanski, Karen Cotton, Cheri Eshenaur, and Tod Wyn. New officers were elected: Teresa Colbry, Chair; Tod Wyn, Vice-Chair; Andy Cawthon, Treasurer (one-year term), and Beth Buelow, Secretary (one-year term). They join continuing board members Kim Crozier, Kathy Humphrey, Wayne Johnson, and Rod Van Abbema. Congratulations to all! January 8 was Shannon McMaster’s official first day as C3’s new Executive Director; he can be reached at smcmaster [at] c3westmichigan [dot] org.

Put These Dates on Your Calendar

It may be winter now, but spring will arrive, and with your participation, C3 will show up in strength for these events, which support our value of Care for the Earth.

Saturday, April 20:    Earth Day Fair

Saturday, April 27:    Adopt-A-Highway Spring Cleanup

🆕  Humanity for Prisoners January Newsletter

Click here to read the HFP Communicator for January,

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.

Family in Need

Pastor Tim from Life Church and his family lost their home and everything in it, including pets, to a fire recently.

• We are collecting funds to provide a gift card from Meijer, which can be used for food, clothes, household items to help them with a new start, or even gas for the car if needed. Monetary donations can be made through C3 in the usual ways, earmarked “Family in Need” in the memo field. 🆕  Online donations can be made here. Click on the Donate button, then there’s a box that allows you to choose between “General Fund” or “Family in Need” (click on the arrow to the right in the box).
  
• Creative, crafty people might be inspired to make something for them, to make a new place feel like a home.
• If you have household items to donate, please send photos of them to Charity McMaster by February 4, to share with the family, so they can decide if they’d like those items.

Nelleke Knarr’s mother entered hospice care at home in Indiana recently, and Nelleke is now back at home herself recovering from COVID. Contact Nelleke or send a card to 747 Fuller Avenue SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506.

Sunday Dinner Group

Sign-up for Sunday Dinner Group at the Membership Table at the Gathering. This week we’ll head to The Kirby at 5:30 p.m.

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 at for more information.

🆕  C3 Book Club and Friends

Join us on at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, February 20 at The Bookman to discuss The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi by Efif Shafek. 

March 19: Bee Season: A Novel by Myla Goldberg

April 16: The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan

🆕  Women’s Journey 

Our next meeting will be Monday, February 26, at 6:30 p.m. at The Bookman. Bring a favorite children’s book or story. Leslie Newman will be leading us. Please continue to consider ideas for the new year!

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 at treasurer [at] c3exchange [dot] org.

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.

Calvin’s January Series

The award-winning January Series, presented by Calvin University, began on January 15 and continues through February 2. Each lecture begins at 12:30 p.m. The series will be broadcast at Second Christian Reformed Church (2021 Sheldon Road, GH). Click here for a full list of speakers, topics, and remote locations.