At 56 Wall Street in Douglas, Michigan, Douglas Congregational United Church of Christ is both a historic sanctuary and a progressive spiritual community. The 1882 building stands on the corner of Spring and Wall Streets, and the church is known as the church of the Extravagant Welcome. Its identity, “A Just World for All,” is followed by three words that matter here: Progressive. Inclusive. Open & Affirming. Douglas UCC grows together spiritually while pursuing peace, justice, love and healing for all creation. Sunday worship takes place at 10 AM in the sanctuary and on YouTube, with inclusive language and imagery and open communion every Sunday.
A Sanctuary Built in 1882
Built in 1882, the Douglas Congregational United Church of Christ sanctuary is one of the most historic structures in the Saugatuck and Douglas communities. Its history reaches through the Great Depression, two world wars and generations of changing ministries. Throughout those years, volunteers and church leaders kept the doors open, cared for the property and preserved worship on the same Wall Street corner.
The church grounds also serve as a place of contemplation. A Meditation and Memorial Garden surrounds the sanctuary, while the nineteenth-century Retreat House stands across the street at 69 Wall Street. Together, the sanctuary, garden and retreat house give Douglas UCC a physical presence in Douglas that is both rooted in history and oriented toward reflection, healing and service.
The Extravagant Welcome
Douglas UCC belongs to the United Church of Christ, a denomination known for the Extravagant Welcome and for historic firsts that include ordaining an African-American minister, a woman minister, a gay minister and a transgender minister, as well as sanctioning same-sex unions. The local church puts that welcome into practice. People come from many backgrounds, perspectives and spiritual viewpoints, with some traditional and some non-traditional. Douglas UCC describes itself as radically inclusive rather than asking newcomers to arrive with identical beliefs.
For Douglas UCC, being Open & Affirming means fully including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the life and ministry of the church. It is one of the clearest expressions of the church's larger mission: to grow together spiritually as Progressive Christians, welcome all, pursue peace, justice, love and healing, and recognize the interconnectedness of all peoples and all creation. The welcome is spoken through the mission, carried through worship, and enacted through the church's social justice, creation justice and care ministries.
Sunday Worship at Ten, with Room for Silence
Sunday worship begins at 10 AM and can be joined in the sanctuary or through the Sunday worship livestream. The service is conducted in English, uses inclusive language and imagery for God, and opens communion to everyone. Douglas UCC's pastoral team and musicians shape the service around Scripture, reflection, music and shared communion.
The biblical rhythm of worship follows the Revised Common Lectionary. The Call to Worship often draws from the Psalms, the first Scripture reading usually comes from the Old Testament, and the second usually comes from the New Testament. Sermons often center on the Gospel teaching, while other messages turn to an Old Testament story or the wider lectionary. The congregation also makes space to share joys and concerns, to welcome one another, and to gather around an open communion table.
Music has a central place in the service. Pianist and Director of Music Peter Black works with Cantor Jeff Spangler and other musicians to create an uplifting and contemplative worship experience. Their music, together with the messages and readings, supports a service that can be both intellectually challenging and deeply communal.
For those unable to attend in person, the worship archive makes the church's work accessible beyond the Sunday service. The homily collection includes messages for reading, while YouTube playlists hold Sunday services, congregational music and weekly messages. Douglas UCC messages have also been available as a podcast since 2016, allowing the congregation's reflections on faith, justice and spiritual growth to be heard in a car, on a walk or around the house.
Drivers coming from I-196 can take the Douglas and Saugatuck exits, turn onto Main Street from Blue Star Highway and then turn right on Wall Street. The church is at the corner of Spring and Wall Streets, with the Retreat House directly across the street.
An Hour for Quiet Contemplation
Not every part of Douglas UCC's rhythm happens on Sunday morning. Each Thursday from 5 to 6 PM, the church is open for quiet contemplation. The hour offers a different way to encounter the sanctuary and the grounds, without the movement and conversation of a full worship service. It reflects the contemplative side of a church that also emphasizes justice, questions and active service.
A Faith Built Around Belonging and Questions
The mission of Douglas UCC is to grow together spiritually as Progressive Christians, welcoming all and pursuing peace, justice, love and healing for all creation. “A Just World for All” is not merely a slogan above the door; it expresses a church that sees spiritual formation and public witness as connected work. The sanctuary is a place to ask hard questions, while the community around it is organized to turn compassion into action.
Douglas UCC is a designated member of the Center for Progressive Christianity. Its own explanation of that identity centers on respect for other people's paths to God. It recognizes the faithfulness of people who use different names for the way to God and acknowledges that those ways are true for them, just as Douglas UCC's way is true for its own people. This approach supports the United Church of Christ's affirmation that God is still speaking and allows a congregation made up of traditional and non-traditional spiritual viewpoints to worship together.
The church demonstrates its Progressive Christian identity in five concrete ways:
- Being Open & Affirming
- Acting as a Creation Justice Church
- Respecting and understanding all belief and faith traditions
- Recognizing and celebrating connectedness to all peoples
- Valuing questions rather than demands for definitive answers
Its teaching vocabulary draws on love of neighbor, welcome to strangers, forgiveness, spiritual freedom, justice and healing. Doubt is welcomed rather than treated as a failure of faith. The open communion table is part of that welcome, expressing a community in which people may participate without first agreeing on a single creed, political position or spiritual vocabulary.
The church also encourages a unity that does not require sameness. Its members have described Douglas UCC as a place for people who want to think deeply, ask difficult questions and live with spiritual curiosity. The result is a progressive Christian community that values conviction without demanding conformity.
Justice That Reaches Beyond the Sanctuary
Douglas UCC calls itself “so much more than Sundays,” and its Social Justice group gives that statement a practical shape. The group commits the church to peace and justice through prayer, education, spiritual formation, political advocacy and community witness. It selects areas of concentration, raises awareness and works to influence local, state and national decision makers. Justice is approached as an expression of faith, not as an activity separated from worship and spiritual formation.
A major partnership is Christian Neighbors, which provides food, clothing, heating assistance and other help to people facing economic hardship. Douglas UCC supports that work by providing baby food, blankets, school supplies, clothing and Thanksgiving baskets. Its social justice work has also included school-family support drives that assist with food, housing and gas expenses. These practical efforts connect the church's welcome to people in immediate need.
The congregation extends its service beyond direct assistance by offering annual grants to charitable organizations serving the community. A Grant Committee receives and reviews requests from organizations seeking support. This practice places some of the congregation's resources into the hands of organizations with direct knowledge of local needs.
Five Groups for Connecting and Serving
Five spiritually active groups give Douglas UCC's mission an organizational structure. They welcome people who want to move from reflection into service and from service back into deeper spiritual life.
- Social Justice is facilitated by Robert Kenny. The group combines education, prayer, advocacy and community action on issues of peace and justice.
- Creation Justice is facilitated by Chris Clark. It helps the congregation understand its connection to all creation and develop ways to respond to environmental concerns.
- Congregational Care is facilitated by Kelly Jacobsma. Volunteers assist people dealing with illness, medical conditions and other limiting circumstances.
- Christian Neighbors is facilitated by Rich Marth, with Wendy Hamlin serving as a board member. This partnership supports food, clothing, heating assistance and other forms of help for economically challenged people.
- Douglas UCC Retreat House and Spiritual Center is facilitated by Kathleen Mueller, helping the retreat ministry support clergy and church staffs seeking meditation, collaboration and renewal.
Congregational Care volunteers provide practical forms of help such as errands, light housework, meal preparation, rides and yard work. Their work allows care to be expressed through the everyday tasks that can become difficult during illness or other debilitating circumstances.
Wellbeing and Conversation
Qigong and Tea meets Tuesdays from 3 to 5 PM in Friendship Hall. Led by Kat VanHammen, the first hour is devoted to Qigong, a Chinese practice similar to Tai Chi that uses movement, breath and mindfulness to integrate body, mind and spirit. The class includes sitting and standing options, followed by an hour of tea and conversation. A requested donation supports the class, with any amount accepted from those on limited incomes.
Men's Coffee and Conversation meets at 10 AM on the first and third Wednesdays at Blue Star Barns Coffee and Bikes in Saugatuck. The gathering offers a recurring setting for conversation outside the church building. Coffee Hour after Sunday worship provides another regular point of connection, with volunteers preparing coffee and helping with cleanup.
Creation Justice in the Garden and Beyond
As a Creation Justice Church, Douglas UCC is committed to seeing the interconnectedness of all God's creation, practicing wise stewardship of Earth's resources and providing community outreach around environmental concerns. Its Creation Justice work brings together education, advocacy and attention to the physical campus. The congregation's stewardship is visible not only in sermon themes but also in gardens, plantings, local restoration efforts and the continued care of the church property.
The church understands creation as spiritually significant. Creation is part of the community to which the church is accountable, not simply a resource. This understanding connects worship to questions of consumption, climate, land and the well-being of other living beings. It also gives the church's work a local dimension, since the grounds and surrounding community become places where a large moral concern can be practiced.
A Garden for Remembrance and Reflection
The Meditation and Memorial Garden provides a calm place for the meditation of the living and the repose of those who have completed their earthly journey. It can be used for reflection, journaling, art, enjoying life and connecting with God. The space carries both the beauty of a cultivated garden and the responsibility of caring for those whose ashes have been placed there.
Ashes are mixed in designated, uncontained soil plots so that they may continue to give life and bear fruit. Placement includes a plot, continued garden upkeep, a brass plaque on the Memorial Wall and two pages in the Book of Life kept in the sanctuary. The Book of Life holds photographs, memories and other tributes. Because the plots are limited, the garden is both a living memorial and a carefully stewarded part of the church grounds.
A Nineteenth-Century House for Rest and Rejuvenation
Across Wall Street, the Douglas UCC Retreat House occupies a renovated two-story nineteenth-century home that once served as the church parsonage. Reimagined as a contemplative retreat, it provides clergy and church staffs a quiet place to meditate, collaborate or simply recover from demanding work.
Three sunny guest rooms are on the second floor, with one queen bed and four twin beds. Guests share a full bath, while a powder room and laundry are on the main floor. Wireless internet, a comfortable living area, a fully equipped kitchen and a dining area support stays and shared meals. The house does not provide food, but its kitchen makes it possible for guests to prepare their own.
Stays require advance reservations. The retreat house does not accept young children, pets or smoking, and gift certificates are available. Its setting is notable: the historic house stands directly across from the sanctuary and within the same Douglas and Saugatuck community that the church serves. The retreat ministry therefore keeps contemplation and community close together.
The People Who Shape Sunday and the Wider Mission
Douglas UCC's pastoral and music leadership combines long local relationships with broad experience. Together they support the Sunday service, the congregation's spiritual questions and the work of welcome, justice and care beyond the church.
- Rev. Jody Betten, Pastor: Betten felt a call to ministry from a young age, although she was told it was not a path for girls. She pursued a career in education, but the pull toward spiritual leadership remained. Her work at Douglas UCC continues that sense of calling while placing a strong emphasis on welcome, questions and social responsibility.
- Rev. Dan Plasman, Pastor: Plasman grew up in Holland, Michigan, and attended Calvin University and New Brunswick Seminary. He served Reformed Church in America congregations in New York and Illinois and later worked as a co-interim minister with several United Church of Christ congregations. He is also a writer, photographer, renovator and world traveler whose work is guided by what he calls the eye of his heart.
- Peter Black, Pianist and Director of Music: Black has been the church's pianist since 2004 and officially joined Douglas UCC in 2015. He became Director of Music in 2019 and also performs in venues throughout West Michigan.
- Jeff Spangler, Cantor: Spangler began attending Douglas UCC in 2001, first singing in a small choir and then serving as a soloist. He has served as cantor and soloist since 2004, bringing many years of experience to the congregation's worship music.
Special musicians and a large network of volunteers support this leadership. They prepare music and worship materials, tend the sanctuary and grounds, host gatherings, provide care, organize justice work and sustain the many behind-the-scenes tasks that allow the church to serve both its congregation and Douglas.
Giving and Other Ways to Stay Connected
Douglas UCC offers several forms of giving. Online giving, text-to-give and the Vanco Mobile app support financial contributions, while planned giving helps secure the church's future. Talent donation is another form of participation: people can offer their abilities by joining one of the church's service teams. More information about these options is available through Douglas UCC giving.
A weekly E-Pistle and an events calendar help people stay connected to classes, music, meetings and community activities. The church also shares worship, messages and music through Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube, extending its invitation to conversation and participation to people beyond the sanctuary.
A Church for the Work Still Ahead
Douglas UCC brings together a historic 1882 sanctuary, an inclusive congregation and a wide network of service. Its worship makes room for Scripture, music, silence, open communion and difficult questions. Its ministries carry those questions into care for individuals, support for families, advocacy for justice and stewardship of creation.
The heart of the church remains its mission to grow together spiritually as Progressive Christians, welcoming all and pursuing peace, justice, love and healing for all creation. In its sanctuary, garden, retreat house and community work, Douglas Congregational United Church of Christ continues to seek the welcome it asks of others: a just world for all.