The Sunday Experience

Our 11 AM Sunday worship services are fairly traditional-looking, at least from September to May.  Our choir, ably led by Musical Director and Composer-in-Residence Beverly McLarry, robes and processes to the opening hymn.  Our ministers, Rev. Mark Christian and Rev. Jonalu Johnstone, join them.  The service includes readings that are selected from a variety of sources.  You could encounter the Bible or the Bhagavad-Gita, Emily Dickinson or Emily Saliers, theologians or poets.  With any luck, you’ll find delight in both familiar passages and those utterly new to you.  We sing a few hymns, listen to outstanding musical compositions, and hear a sermon, usually from Lead Minister Mark Christian, but sometimes from a distinguished guest.  Whoever is preaching, the message is, in the words of Emerson, “life passed through the fire of thought.”  Our ministers enjoy freedom of the pulpit, which means that no one dictates what they preach.  Our members and friends enjoy freedom of the pew, which means that they need not agree with what is preached, but are expected to discern for themselves how they believe and live.  We also collect an offering, giving cash donations and designated checks to an organization in our community doing the work we value in the world, through our Change-for-Change program.

About once a month, the children and youth of our church join us for a Family Sunday.  Worship those mornings includes a Story for All Ages, generally the story our elementary age children will be exploring in their QUUEST workshops throughout the month.  Our older children then remain with their families throughout the service, while younger ones have childcare once the first part of the service is over.  Nursery care is always available for infants and toddlers.

But there’s more to the Sunday experience than worship.  10 AM is the starting time for our religious education for children and youth, as well as several programs for adults.  Adult activities include Forum, Sustainable Living Discussion, and Adult Religious Education classes.  Children’s activities continue through the worship hour, except on Family Sundays.

Summers look a little different, as most of our speakers are lay people, and our services less formal.  The choir is off, so talented musicians lend their skills in a variety of musical genres.  We learn more about one another’s journeys and connect more informally.

Each August, we offer a series of Seeker Services, designed especially for newcomers.  Our ministers lead these services, but our choir remains off until September.  If you are curious to learn more, attend these services during the last three weeks in August.

Throughout the year, we have a coffee hour after worship where people can mingle informally, check out the Bookstore or the Welcome Table, and just get to know one another.

Sunday morning schedule (September to May):

10 AM  –  Religious Education for All Ages

Forum

Sustainable Living Discussion Group

Nursery Care

11 AM  –  Worship

Nursery Care

Continuation of Children’s RE and programs

12 PM  –  Coffee Hour

 

Sunday morning schedule (June through August):

10 AM  –  Adult Religious Education

Sustainable Living Discussion Group

Forum (some weeks)

Childcare

11 AM  –  Worship

Children’s Religious Education

12 PM  –  Coffee Hour