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?”
Lead Teacher Brad Ruggles opens Pride month with Things I Wish I’d Said. A sneak peek at the readings, one from James Baldwin and one from Yuval Noah Harari, points toward a powerful start to this month that brings a focus to people’s lives and basic human rights.
Grace Theisen lends her musical gifts to the Gathering, and Charity McMaster offers a 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
- Stay up to date on C3 events and upcoming Gatherings > Calendar
- 🆕 Book shared by Brad last week: Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow by Elizabeth Lesser.
🆕 Teachers for Pride Month 🏳️🌈
What a great lineup of teachers for June, as we focus on LGBTQ+ equality.
Our Lead Teacher Brad Ruggles bookends the month, teaching on the first and fifth Sundays. We’re pleased to welcome Kent Dobson back on June 9 and 16. On June 23, our Guest Teacher will be Joseph Kuilema, a former Calvin University professor who was fired for conducting a wedding for a former student (a transgender man) and their fiancé. You won’t want to miss a week!
C3 Pride T-Shirts! 🏳️🌈
Our C3 Pride t-shirts will be available to pick up at the C3 table at the Grand Haven Pride Festival on June 8! You can do a Superman-phone-booth-change of clothes, or just pull it on over a light layer, and then enjoy the Pride festival while spreading our message of love and inclusion. If you can’t pick it up at the festival, it will be available for you at the Gathering on Sunday, June 9.
🆕 C3 Kids Helpers Needed!
Mary Crouse is our C3 Kids teacher. She needs a helper each Sunday morning from 10 a.m. to noon. Mary plans the morning schedule and leads the activities. She needs a second adult with her for support and to accompany kids to the restroom down the hall. There are five women currently on the rotation to help Mary. We need three more volunteers, so that each person only needs to take a turn every eight weeks. Please consider joining this essential team. Men are also encouraged to volunteer! Contact Sally Alderink.
C3 Summer Celebration
Mark your calendar now for C3’s Summer Celebration at Mulligan’s Hollow on Thursday, July 18, when we will recognize Brad Ruggles as our Lead Teacher and Shannon McMaster as our Executive Director, among other festivities. Keep tuned here for further details.
Use of Preferred Pronouns
The C3 Board of Trustees has adopted a policy that all official communications and all individuals when representing the organization will make every good-faith effort to use a person’s preferred pronouns when disclosed. If you have questions about this development, please see Executive Director Shannon McMaster.
There’s Still Time! 🏳️🌈
Volunteers are still needed at the Pride Festival in some areas, such as helping in the vendor market, the children’s area, and the MSLG (Make Stuff Look Good) crew, especially later in the day. Head to the GH Pride website and sign up here. Look for the red “buttons” that indicate how many slots for each volunteer position and two-hour time slot are open.
Vigil for Peace and Justice
You are always welcome to join the weekly Vigil for Peace and Justice from noon to 1 p.m. on Saturday along Washington Avenue at Central Park. Stand or bring a chair to sit. Borrow one of our signs or make one of your own. 🆕 Please note that next week, there will be no Vigil on June 8, so that everyone can attend or volunteer at the Pride Festival.
🆕 Week 3@ C3 for June
We will support The Green Valley Samaritans, members of Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, Sahuarita, AZ, who work to relieve the suffering of migrants and asylum seekers in the borderlands of Sonora, Mexico, and southern Arizona. They do desert searches for stranded migrants, maintain water drop stations, provide for El Comedor migrant station and assist at the Welcome Center in Tucson. Our monetary gifts will support general expenses of water, food, blankets, clothing and first aid. Cash, checks, and credit card donations are accepted. Make checks out to C3, with “Green Valley Samaritans” in the memo line. Donations may be deposited in the donation boxes at the Gathering, credit card donations can be made with Chase at the sound table, or checks can be sent to the C3 office, PO Box 371, Grand Haven, MI 49417. Be sure to indicate clearly that the gift is for GVS.
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.
🆕 Mary Jane Montgomery is at home recovering from scheduled surgery earlier this week. Cards may be sent to P.O. Box 722, Grand Haven, MI 49417.
🆕 Pam Park had surgery on a smashed thumb on Wednesday. She says dinners would be appreciated. Call to coordinate. Cards may be sent to 11682 152nd Avenue, West Olive, MI 49460-9232.
🆕 Tom and Kathy Tosa’s son Michael continues to wear a collar, as his first vertebra was broken. He gets rehab, working on his hands and fingers, and can sit up for a while. He is waiting to move to the next hospital for his focused rehab of 3-4 weeks. Kathy is there every day; Riley, his son, visits on weekends, and so does Mike’s girlfriend.
Your support matters and is greatly appreciated!
It takes a lot of time, energy, and money to produce all the great things that happen at C3. Whether it is our Sunday Gatherings or working within our West Michigan communities, we strive to make a difference, with compassion. Your financial support allows us to continue to learn, teach and live our values to heal and effect change.
Donations of Stocks and Bonds
C3 will gratefully accept donations of stocks and bonds. We are researching the most cost effective brokerage account for C3 to utilize. If you’re considering such a donation, please contact Andy Cawthon, C3 Treasurer, to begin the process. We thank you for your continued support!
Honor and Memorial Giving
A donation was made in honor of Margaret Willey in appreciation of her kindness to Reed Smith, Mark and Kathy Smith’s grandson.
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.
🆕 Sunday Dinner Group
We will meet at Paisley Pig this Sunday evening at 5:30. Sign up at the Welcome Table before leaving the Gathering.
Women’s Journey
Our next meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, June 17, at The Bookman. Come prepared with a joke, a summer recipe, and a favorite travel memory to share.
C3 Book Club and Friends
Tuesday, June 18, 6:30 p.m. at The Bookman will be our meeting to discuss Sisters Under the Rising Sun by Heather Morris.
C3 Men’s Group
The C3 Men’s Group provides a valuable time for men to meet and talk with each other. Feel free to join them on Tuesdays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Room B, in Grand Haven. Questions? Call Phil Koster.
🆕 Metal Recycling at First Church Grand Haven
First Grand Haven Christian Reformed Church has an comprehensive metal and appliance recycling program. For an extensive list of accepted items, click here.
Deepening Our Spiritual Connection: Shamanic Sundays
The second in this series, hosted by Ruth Zwald, will be this Sunday afternoon, June 2, from 1–5 p.m. Pre-registration is required. For more information, click here and scroll down to the pertinent information.
🆕 VIP Volunteer Needed—Early Notice
The Momentum Center will host the annual Santa in Centertown celebration on December 14 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. A volunteer is needed to play Santa Claus. If you, or someone you know, would be interested in this very important job, please contact Jenna at the Momentum Center.
Community Events for Your Consideration
Click on the links for more information.
- May 31: The Diatribe Community Groundbreaking for The Emory Arts & Culture Hub
- 🆕 Every Monday: Summer Author Series, June 3– August 26, 7 to 9 p.m.
- June 8: Grand Haven Pride Fest
- 🆕 June 14: Free Dinner and Movie Night (Barbie!) at the Momentum Center
- June 25: League of Women Voters In-Person Primary Education Event, Central Park Place, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 1
12 p.m. Vigil for Peace and Justice (Central Park, GH)
Sunday, June 2
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
• Lead Teacher: Brad Ruggles
• Music: Grace Theisen
• Meditation: Charity McMaster
11 a.m. Talk Back
Tuesday, June 4
7 p.m. C3 Men’s Group (Room B, St. John’s Episcopal Church, GH)
Saturday, June 8 ️
Noon to 9 p.m. 🏳️🌈 Grand Haven Pride Festival (Lynn Sherwood Waterfront Stadium)
Sunday, June 9
9 a.m. Pre-Talk & Awakenings
10 a.m. C3 Kids with Miss Mary and volunteer Char Kole
10 a.m. Gathering, In Person + Livestream on Facebook
• Guest Teacher: Kent Dobson
• Music: Spencer LaJoye
• Meditation: Nelleke Knarr
11 a.m. Talk Back
Kent Dobson is a wilderness guide, podcaster and author. He worked for the church as a pastor, and at C3 as the lead teacher. He cares about questions of the Soul, the mystery of the Divine, and about a culture more connected to the Sacred.
Spencer LaJoye (they/them) is an East Coast singer/songwriter from the Midwest making queer indie folk music for everyone. The 2021 Kerrville Songwriting Competition winner spins crystalline vocals through a loop pedal while strumming an acoustic guitar in charming, banter-heavy performances that keep audiences laughing one moment and weeping the next.
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C3 Membership Directory (login required)
C3 Website>Values (printable list here)
Teaching Podcast “The Stage at C3” Feeds: Apple Podcasts YouTube Music
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
Brad Ruggles, Lead Teacher
brad [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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