The God’s Country Cooperative Parish
is in the eastern part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
It covers a 2500 square mile area from Engadine near
Lake Michigan, up to Paradise at Whitefish Bay, to Grand
Marais on Lake Superior’s south shore and encompasses
McMillan, Germfask, Newberry and Hulbert. Although it
is located in some of the most beautiful country you
could ever hope to see, the isolation, extremely harsh
long winters, and scarcity of jobs bring real challenges
to these churches and the communities they serve. Unlike
our more densely populated areas where you might find
another United Methodist church within a few miles,
these churches can be up to 100 miles from their sister
churches in the Cooperative. Yet these seven communities
of faith combine their resources, share their faith
and, through their active presence, work to bring self
esteem, hope and faith to all God’s children throughout
their vast parish. These goals are accomplished by:
• Cooperative Mission
Trips
• Cooperative Bible Studies
• Cooperative Youth Activities
• Cooperative Leadership and Training Events
• Cooperative Support of Mission Projects
and Missionaries
• Cooperative Hosting of Volunteers in Mission
Teams
• Cooperative Fellowship Activities
MISSION STATEMENT:
God’s Country Cooperative Parish is to bring together
people of the seven churches to provide mutual love
and support for a greater impact, serving Christ,
community, and mission to all.
GCCP
Director, Deaconess, Church and Community Worker
Katie Peterson
Message from Katie:
"Faith is given according to our present need.
You have now such faith as is necessary for your living
unto God. ..To-day improve the faith you now have,
and trust God for to-morrow." John Wesley. Letter
dated April 17, 1776.
Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to share
with the Jammers afterschool ministry at Gwinn UMC
that has grown from 5 kids to 35 kids in a matter
of just a few years. We shared The Faith of the
Mustard Seed story – that with God’s
help we can move mountains and change lives, if we
only trust in God. This was a fun experience to teach
and learn alongside the young people. How often do
we as adults find it hard to trust that God has control
over all steps of our lives and will take us in many
directions in our lives – today and every day?
That is a difficult concept often to understand, but
with a little faith, we can move mountains also!
During this “winter, spring, mud” season
I am enjoying co-teaching confirmation class with
3 young people in the Paradise community. It is a
joy to see them grow in their understanding of the
church, the Bible, and their faith. Liam, Hannah,
and Rachel will have the opportunity to profess their
faith and join church on Mother’s Day.
As seasons change, sometimes our health and life
circumstances change. During these season changes,
we have noticed an increase in need for gas cards,
to assist people to get to and from doctor’s
appointments, grocery stores, work, school, visiting
people in the hospital. Our gas card ministry has
been a vital part of who we are as God’s Country
Cooperative Parish. I would like to thank you for
your continued support for the gas-only cards that
we purchase from Holiday Gas stations or from the
local stations (if the families need it).
We are excited to share that Bishop Kiesey will be
visiting God’s Country Cooperative Parish on
June 4 for a pasty lunch, as she is touring the Marquette
District for 1 ½ days. This is an exciting
time for the parish as we share with her what we are
doing in ministry and she shares with us about her
visions in ministry. Please come join us on June 4
at 11:15am at Paradise UMC to welcome Bishop Kiesey
to GCCP!
We are going through transitions within the staff
of GCCP as well. After 10 years of ministry at Newberry
and Engadine, Rev. Saundra Clark and Michael will
be retiring. Rev. Lowell Peterson will be re-retiring
from the Paradise and Hulbert-Tahquamenon after serving
with us for the past 2 years. We would like to thank
them for their active part of all of the ministries
of GCCP. We wish you the best in your new adventures
of life. A celebration of their ministries within
GCCP will be on June 8 at 6pm at Newberry UMC.
Thank you to all of the churches and UMWs for your
generous prayers and support for myself as
your Deaconess and Church and Community Worker and
from God’s Country Cooperative
Parish! If you would like someone to share the joy
of missions with your church or organization
– please contact me at ktpete@gmail.com. My
advance covenant support is 982942.
Shalom, Katie
Katie Peterson
PO Box 382, Paradise, MI 49768
(906) 492-3680 ktpete@gmail.com
Advance number 982942
Message from Rev. Sonie Clark:
GCCP Parishioners:
It has been my privilege to serve God by serving
as pastor to the Newberry and Engadine
congregations and as a part of the GCCP council.
The years have brought many joys—the most recent—baptizing
as 12-year-old boy at the
Engadine Church and asking him, “Do you accept
Jesus as your Savior?” and seeing a big smile
on his face as he responded, “Yes!” I
had the joy of reading and sharing letters from 9-
year-old
twins and their 14-year-old sister at the Newberry
Church. Their letters were sent to Newtown,
Connecticut after the massacre of all of those young
school children. These girls witnessed to
The Good Shepherd as they wrote about God “putting
His large arms around those in Newtown
and they would be all right someday.” The girls
spoke of planting forget-me-knots in their own
yard to remember Newtown’s lost loved ones.
We often think our children and youth do not hear
what we teach. They do; and their witness is important.
The joys have been abundant through the years. I
thank you for the love and support
shown to me in the past ten years. It has been a joy
to serve with you. But we cannot survive on
joys. It takes work at walking the path with Christ
in challenging times as well as joyous times.
I pray God’s blessings upon each church, the
pastors, Katie Peterson, the GCCP council, and the
connectional workings of the GCCP as you move forward
in service to our Lord.
Together we serve,
Rev. Sonie Clark
Message from Rev. Lowell Peterson:
I would like to thank everyone for the warm reception
you folks have given me during the two
years I have served at the Paradise and Hulbert Tahquamenon
United Methodist Churches. The
GCCP is a strong ministry serving the people and the
churches of this wide parish in a variety of
ways and it has been a joy to be part of it. For over
35 years you have worked together spreading
God's love and word. I will be interested in seeing
how you continue this work in new and old
exciting ways.
God bless you,
Rev. Lowell Peterson
We give thanks to the General Board of Global Ministries
for providing free space for this web site.
For comments on, or additions to, the website, contact
the editor, Jan Barrett at janbarrett47@gmail.com
