What to Expect on Sunday Morning

Worship

At our worship on Sundays at 11 a.m., you are welcome to come as you are. Many of us choose casual dress!  We gather together as a community and sing. Whether singing from our hymnals or listening to our church choir, or special guests we celebrate the inclusion of music in our lives. One of the best ways to get to know us is to come and listen to the lyrics and appreciate the diversity of the music.

Our service usually contains a reading for the day--it may be from holy scripture from any of a variety of traditions, a topical poem, or a snippet of philosophy or literature.
 
Reverend Mary Moore typically delivers a sermon, though sometimes we observe or participate in a drama or a ritual. Some of the church's favorite rituals are September’s water communion, and June’s flower communion, to mark the beginning and ending of the "formal" church year. Reverend Moore speaks on a variety of topics, such as: how to live an ethical and meaningful life, social justice, history and what it says to us (for instance, human rights day or the anniversary of Kristallnacht), world religions and theological concepts, and poetry and literature and what they have to teach us. Each week is different, but the goal is to touch something deep in each listener’s heart to help guide the way toward wholeness and peace.  Periodically in the absence of our minister, our Religious Services Committee offers the Sunday morning services.  These talented lay people bring a wide variety of insights to the rest of us.  During the summer, which is the "informal" part of our church year, lay people lead a number of our Sunday morning services.
 

Some churches distribute bulletins as a guide to the service. At the Unitarian Church, we use an Order of Service.
 

A typical Order of Service looks something like this:

• Ringing a bell or gong

• Prelude

• Welcome to the church

• Welcome to this service

• Opening Hymn

• Chalice Lighting (learn about chalices and why we light them at http://www.uua.org/visitors/6901.shtml)

• Offering

• Sharing Joys and Sorrows

• Silence or Prayer

• Sung Response

• Reading

• Sermon

• Closing Hymn

• Benediction

• Postlude

Often, we have Children's Conversation during our service. All children are invited to the front of the sanctuary / great room to sit for a 5-minute discussion with the minister or a lay person. When the conversation is complete, the children process to their meeting room as the congregation sings them out.
 

Forum

Our Forums on Sundays at 10 a.m. are opportunities for adults to explore current topics of the day, political issues, literature, and other interesting subjects. Examples include: Paul Ingraham of Prairie Lights Books who periodically highlights a variety of new books, professors from local universities who bring their expertise to us, representatives of non-profit and justice-seeking organizations, political figures who share their perspectives on the workings of governments, and congregational members who are expert on topics from birds to the environment. From September through May, there is always something interesting at 10:00 a.m.   The Forum takes a break during the summer months.