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?”
All That You Can’t Leave Behind will be brought into focus by C3 member and Core Teacher Beth Buelow. Let those thoughts start to percolate between now and Sunday morning!
Bringing their music and voice to the Gathering for the third time is Spencer LaJoye. We’re so pleased to hear from them again!
Charity McMaster will have a meditation prepared for us.
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
- 🆕 Last Sunday’s Teaching here
- 🆕 Books shared by Ruth Zwald: Lessons in Courage: Peruvian Shamanic Wisdom for Everyday Life by Bonnie Glass-Coffin, Ph.D and don Oscar Miro-Quesada; Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
An Ask from the C3 Kids, in Their Own Words
The C3 kids are collecting gently used blankets for animals that need a home and are living at the shelter! We will be collecting these at a table after the Gathering for the last time this Sunday. Please consider donating and thank you very much for listening!
Save the date!
Join us on April 28 for a Talk Back Takeover where Executive Director Shannon McMaster will lead us through a visioning exercise to kick off our community Strategic Planning process! Look for additional information in the coming weeks.
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!
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.
🆕 Week 3@C3 for April
Our project for April will be 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. Items will be collected on April 7, 14, and 21. Printable list here.
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 members may remember Michael Dowd, who was a guest teacher a few times at Christ Community Church. His wife Connie Barlow notified us that Michael died unexpectedly last October. More information can be found here.
Justin Kleaveland will be 100 on April 11. Let’s help him celebrate this 100-year milestone! Cards can be sent to 1634 Sunset Drive, North Muskegon, MI 49445.
Support the Vigil for Peace and Justice
Please consider joining the Vigil for Peace and Justice, which resumes its weekly Stand for Peace activity next Saturday, April 6 from noon to 1 p.m. along Washington Avenue at Central Park in Grand Haven. Dress extra warmly, and bring a chair if you would rather sit! If you can’t stay for an hour, stay for as long as you can.
Your Help Is Needed . . .
- Earth Day Lakeshore Celebration: Saturday, April 20, 1 to 4 p.m.
Four volunteers are needed to help with the Kids’ Project at the C3 booth. There is a signup sheet at the Outreach Table. We’re looking for two volunteers from 1 to 2, and another two from 2 to 4 p.m. The project will be helping kids plant seeds in cups.
* Did you read the article Lakeshore Earth Day Celebration empowers West Michigan for 17 years by Community Columnist Bethany Dutcher in the March 15 edition of the Grand Haven Tribune? Pioneers Jean King, Pam Park, and Connie Widdis, Christ Community Church, Yvonne Olmsted, and Patti Baldus were mentioned, and Leslie Newman was interviewed! If you don’t subscribe to the Tribune, read the article here. - Adopt-A-Highway Cleanup: Saturday, April 27, 10 a.m. to noon
Our spring Adopt-A-Highway cleanup is Saturday, April 27. The clean up is from 10 a.m. to noon, and we need lots of volunteers! (If necessary, the rain date is Sunday, April 28, after the Talk Back Takeover). Sign up anytime via email (name and phone number please) or at the Outreach table. More information and safety video here!
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
The C3 Book Club meets at 6 p.m. at The Bookman on the third Tuesday of the month. Come join the discussion about The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan. Newcomers are always welcome!
🆕 May 21: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Women’s Journey
We meet next Monday evening on March 25, 6:30 p.m. at The Bookman to discuss poetry. Bring a favorite or original one-page poem and please keep thinking about the content for upcoming meetings, so we can plan ahead!
Honor and Memorial Giving Program
The Finance Committee has created a program for Honor and Memorial giving to support C3. Cards for this purpose are available at the Membership Table. The gifts, with permission, will be listed in the newsletter (names only, no dollar amounts). As always, your donations are invaluable to us, thank you!
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.
🆕 Defending Democracy From Its Christian Enemies – A Conversation with David Gushee and Kristin Du Mez
Here’s a link to a YouTube video of a conversation which may be of interest to C3 members. Kristin Du Mez was a C3 Guest Teacher in 2020 to talk about her book Jesus and John Wayne.
🆕 HFP March Newsletter
Click here to read the March 2024 newsletter from Humanity for Prisoners.
Grand Haven Area Community Energy Plan Survey
Are you interested in more comfortable and lower-cost housing, solar power, EV charging stations? The Board of Light and Power and the cities of Ferrysburg and Grand Haven, along with Grand Haven Township, are writing their first-ever Community Energy Plan. Tell the area’s elected leaders how you feel about their work for you in their Climate Action Plan by completing the survey linked here. Help them get it right!
The Science of Polarization: A Workshop
The Unifying Coalition of Ottawa County is sponsoring a workshop to explore the myths of toxic polarization and the neurological and social science behind our divisions. Snacks included! This event takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 11, at Porto Bello in Grand Haven. There is a registration fee. Information here.
Momentum Center: The Great Disconnect
This documentary explores our age of loneliness and disconnection by visiting North American cities to discover factors that have profound and lasting impacts on the health of the communities in which we live. Is it possible to overcome our modern culture of disconnectedness and rediscover how truly essential we are to one another?
On Friday, April 12, enjoy dinner at 5 p.m. at the Momentum Center (401 N. 7th Street) in Grand Haven, followed by the movie at 6 p.m. Both dinner and the movie are free and open to the public. The movie is rated PG-13.
🆕 Add These Community Events to Your Calendar
Click on the links for more information.
- April 13 & 14: All Walks of Life Pow Wow at GVSU, sponsored by the GVSU Native American Student Association.
- April 20: The Big Shop Support your favorite non-profit organizations by shopping local.
- May 2: Town Hall Meeting: You Have New Voting Rights! sponsored by Organize District 9 and ONTRAC
- May 18: Momentum Center’s Prom with a Purpose. Consider a sponsorship, get your tickets!
Sunday, March 31
All events held in the Mackinaw Ballroom in Central Park Place (421 Columbus Ave., GH)
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
• Core Teacher: Beth Buelow
• Musician: Spencer LaJoye
• Meditation: Charity McMaster
11 a.m. Talk Back
Tuesday, March 26
7 p.m. C3 Men’s Group (Room B, St. John’s Episcopal Church, GH)
Sunday, April 7
All events held in the Mackinaw Ballroom in Central Park Place (421 Columbus Ave., GH)
9 a.m. Pre-Talk & Awakenings
10 a.m. C3 Kids with Miss Mary and volunteer Sandy Kate Stephens
10 a.m. Gathering, In Person + Livestream on Facebook
• Guest Teacher: Jack Ridl
• Musicians: Ruth & Max Bloomquist
• Meditation: Andy Cawthon
11 a.m. Talk Back
Jack Ridl is the author or editor of 14 works of literature published by Wayne State University Press, CavanKerry Press, and St. Martins. His collections have been named Best Poetry Collection by Foreword Review and The Society of Midland Authors; and he has been nominated 17 times for the Pushcart Prize. 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.
Ruth and Max Bloomquist have been making music together since they met in 1975 and discovered their shared love not only for each other, but for music and songs made with acoustic instruments and featuring lyrics from the heart. Ruth and Max immersed themselves in folk, bluegrass, country, singer songwriters, and other acoustic music to create a sound and style all their own.
Drop Us Some Stars
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C3 Membership Directory (login required)
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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