Gathering for Sunday services in person and online, 10:15 am.
“All is vanity . . . all things are wearisome . . . there is nothing new under the sun.” Thousands of years ago, a man known only as The Preacher – Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet in his native Hebrew – wrote these words about his struggle to find spiritual meaning in life. How do we respond to his challenge? Music: Michael Peterson and Laura Rubinstein-Salzedo harpsichord and violin
The day of Epiphany is a day of paradoxes. It is a celebration of home and yet it is all about travel: the Magi’s pilgrimage to Bethlehem, and Jesus and his parents’ flight for their lives. Although it is (in the western Christian tradition) the twelfth day of Christmas, it is about gifts, not that we receive, but that we bear and bestow on others. Let’s begin the new year with a reflection on this ancient holiday and what it tells us about home and belonging. Special music: Mayan Dolev, classical guitar
Today’s entire offering collection will be donated to Parents Helping Parents.
In this intergenerational service, we rejoice in the everyday miracles of the season, marking the winter solstice, telling the story of Hanukah–which begins tonight–and inviting all who wish to play a part to help make the story of Jesus’s birth come to life. Our annual tradition for the Sunday before Christmas. Special music: Larry Chinn, jazz piano
In a sermon a year ago, Dan shared a poignant letter written to our first called minister, describing the church as a nice group of folks who weren’t quite sure if they were more than a social club. It is still a relevant question, although it’s clear that we have a sense of mission that goes beyond that of a club. What does that mission mean for us as a congregation? Music: The Choir.
A conflict avoider’s guide to one of the most challenging aspects of community. It turns out that dealing with conflict bravely is less scary than avoiding it. The Posadas, a story of this season, will help us. Music: Gwen Halterman, harp
This is an intergenerational service.
Today’s entire offering collection will be donated to Ada’s Cafe.
James Luther Adams asserted that while immediate optimism was unrealistic, “the resources (divine and human) that are available for the achievement of meaningful change justify an attitude of ultimate optimism.” We’ll take a close look at that claim in this final service on Adams’s tenets of religious liberalism. World AIDS Day is, strangely enough, an apt day for such an exploration. Music: Veronika Agranov Dafoe, piano
We like to tell the story that Thanksgiving began in the fall of 1621. But actually Thanksgiving has been reinvented many times, sometimes including new people, sometimes leaving people out. We’ll imagine how Thanksgiving looked from the point of different people over the centuries. Today is an intergenerational service.
Music: Sara Kirton, violin
James Luther Adams, whose “Five Smooth Stones” of liberal religion we’ve been exploring, was a great believer in institutions. This is perhaps the greatest challenge to people in our spiritual communities, especially since the iconoclasm of the 60s and the profound (and warranted) mistrust in civic and religious institutions that has marked our age. If Adams was right that we need institutions in order to enact goodness on a grand scale, then how are we to create institutions that we can trust? Music: Brocelïande
In this jazz-influenced service, Martin Manley will illustrate for us how music informs and inspires his spiritual life. He will discuss whether music can ever really be considered to be divinely inspired and touch on the paradox that many transcendent musicians are actually deeply flawed human beings. Music: Martin Manley
When loss befalls us, we may wish to float above brutal reality. Our loving community helps us to endure coming back to earth. Today is our annual remembrance service–please bring photos and other mementos for our altar. Special Music: Veronika Agranov Dafoe, piano