Worship
Sunday Services 2024-2025
Our Sunday worship services begin on September 8, 2024 with our Ingathering and Water Ceremony. Please join us either in person or on Zoom.
This Month’s Services
December 1: Feel, Deal, Heal
Devin Shmueli, Director of Family and Community Ministries
While recovery is not one-size-fits-all, one thing we can learn from people in recovery – living with behavioral or substance addiction – is that it is necessary for one to lean into complex feelings rather than find unhealthy ways to cope. What does feel, deal, heal mean? Healing starts with feeling.
December 8: Advent Lessons
Rev. Joel Miller, Creationdance Performing
Description coming soon…
December 15: Appreciative Inquiry
Rev. Debra and Rev. Joel
Description coming soon…
December 21: Winter Solstice Service at 6pm
Rev. Joel Miller
On the eve of the winter solstice, we gather to reflect on the ways that the darkness nourishes us and the light beckons us. After readings and music from many traditions’ observances of this longest night, we process outside and offer our hopes for the light to come.
Dec. 22: Christmas Pageant and Carol Sing
Devin Shmueli, Director of Family and Community Ministries
Anne Watson Born, Director of Music Ministry
Join us for this festive, all-ages celebration of the Christmas Story in word and song, followed by an enthusiastic singing of carols! Bring your Christmas cheer or find it here!
Dec. 24: Christmas Eve Services at 7pm and 10pm
Rev. Dr. Debra Haffner and Rev. Joel Miller
7pm: Join us for a beautiful service of lessons and carols to recall the timeless Christmas story and let it enter our hearts anew. Our Sanctuary Choir will sing, and we will end the service with candlelight and “Silent Night.”
10pm: This cherished service brings readings to celebrate Christmas, winter, and new birth alongside musical offerings spanning many genres. Join us for quiet beauty, contemplation and spiritual grounding to ring in Christmas.
Dec. 29: Quaker Service
Anne Watson Born, Director of Music Ministry
Our annual Quaker-style service will be held on Sunday December 31, 2023 at 10:15am in the Sanctuary. “…group silence is a type of communion, using both the religious and secular meaning of the word. We are taking sustenance and solace from each other, receiving a blessing of the spirit. We are also communing together, experiencing community, in silence with each other. We are all focused on becoming present to ourselves so that we can become present to others.” (Heather McRae-Wolf)
A Note on Gathering in Person
We are delighted to be gathering in person, and to have the option of Zoom for worship and event attendance. As Covid, RSV and other communicable illnesses rise and fall, we hope everyone will exercise caution to keep the community safe:
Stay home if you feel unwell and definitely if you have tested positive for a communicable illness. Even if you think it’s a cold, it could be a serious illness, especially for those with compromised immune systems. Follow CDC guidelines to prevent spread. Free Covid tests will soon be available here.
Wear a mask if you feel well but may have been exposed.
Remember that the last few rows of pews in the sanctuary are reserved for folks masking due to increased vulnerability to illness, and respect that space appropriately.
About Worship Service
Our worship services are an opportunity to connect with our deepest selves, with one another, and with our visions for a world of justice and peace.
We gather at 10:15am on Sunday all year round, and welcome people of all ages and identities to join us! If you join us virtually, you can contribute to our collection plate here.
There are programs for children and youth most Sundays, and nursery care for children 4 and under every week.
Our sanctuary is formal, but our vibe is not: we encourage people to dress comfortably, whether that means a dress or a fleece
The service includes:
- hymns (from traditional Protestant to contemporary songs)
- readings from many sources of wisdom
- music of all kinds and a fabulous choir
- a sermon or reflection
- meditation
- sharing the joys and sorrows of the community
- a voluntary offering to support the work of the congregation or a cause beyond our walls
After the service, we gather for coffee, tea and conversation; a great opportunity to connect and learn more about what is happening that week and reflect on the conversation begun in the service.
Summer Services
Services from the second Sunday of September through the second Sunday of June are led by our professional staff and/or guests; summer services are organized by lay leaders and are often led by guest speakers from a variety of perspectives and disciplines.