Worship Services at Unity Church
Our building is currently closed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Multigenerational Sunday services are being live-streamed from the Sanctuary at 10:00 a.m. Religious Education opportunities will be offered beginning at 11:00 a.m. Please join us. Services are being recorded and may be viewed at your convenience following the live stream. CLICK HERE for past services.
Each Sunday, church members, friends, and newcomers are invited to join a virtual Zoom welcome lobby before the service and coffee hour check-in after the service. The welcome lobby will open at 9:30 a.m. with time to pop in, share a smile, and offer a quick hello. The lobby will remain open during the 10:00 a.m. service but all attendees will be muted and the service will not be shown in the virtual lobby. You will need to watch the service in your browser on the same or a different device. After the service, the lobby will stay open for a virtual coffee hour for more intentional conversation and sharing. Depending on the number of participants groups might be split into smaller break-out groups for conversation. This time together will be supported by staff and volunteers and is an opportunity to explore the possibilities of virtual connection available to the congregation. To participate in any or all of these offerings (greeting before the service, seeing each other during the service, virtual coffee hour after the service), please refer to the link in our weekly Sunday service email. If you do not currently receive our weekly Sunday service emails, please CLICK HERE to be added to the list. If you have questions about Zoom and how to get connected to the online platform, please click here for general instructions or email unity@unityunitarian.org before Sunday morning. Each Sunday, through the work of the Generosity Ministry Team, seventy percent of the offering is placed in the hands of the chosen community non-profit recipient. The remaining thirty percent goes to support of the Community Outreach Ministry at Unity Church. Offering recipients for each Sunday are listed below the Sunday service description. CLICK HERE to make a donation. If you would like to nominate a non-profit to receive the Sunday offering, please fill out the online nomination form. May Sunday WorshipMay 3: Foote Music Sunday
With the impossibility of Unity's choirs coming together for Unity's annual music Sunday, Director of Music Ministries Ahmed Anzaldúa will offer an intimate solo piano performance. Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs and worship associate Marg Walker explore the role of music in spiritual practice. Offering recipient: Arthur Foote Music Sunday Fund May 10: Coming of Age Sunday Live Stream A World Remade from the Flap of Butterfly Wings There are certain gates and threshold moments that none can pass through without being initiated into a deeper intimacy with life. What is it to come of age at a time when we touch the very limits of our human condition, or find ourselves stuck in countless places with their aching possibilities? What signals our strongest aspiration than braving the impossible? Coming of Age Sunday celebrates the signature year-long journey of our ninth grade youth, transitioning from the inherited faith of childhood to the adult journey of faith, and marked by youth sharing their statement of faith (credo) with mentors and family. Offering recipient: Hallman Ministerial Intern Fund May 17: Live Stream Flower Communion Family Sunday • Our Sure Blossoming Ritual Slideshow As spring takes hold all around us, we let it into our hearts as we gather for our annual Flower Communion. We will share the story of Norbert Capek, a Czech Unitarian minister who stood up to the Nazi terror by helping others share what beauty they could see in the midst of deep adversity. Our traditional flower arch will be placed in front of the main entrance on Portland Avenue on Saturday, May 16. From noon until 6:00 p.m. we invite you to stop by and place a flower in the arch. Rob and Janne will be there to greet you (masked and from an appropriate distance). Bring a flower from you garden or choose from those made available by the church. The arch will be photographed throughout the day on Saturday, and the Sunday service will include a montage of the arch “blossoming.” If you are not able to stop by on Saturday afternoon, please send a photograph of a flower in bloom to martha@unityunitarian.org so that your offering can be included in the ceremony. Offering recipient: Dream of Wild Health May 24 Live Stream: To Survive, To Cross Over On the Sunday before Memorial Day we honor those we’ve loved and lost to war and pray for peace. This year we will include a collage of voices to honor not only our own but, recognizing that there are no other people’s children, all those whose lives have been uprooted by conflict. Because we can’t gather in person to light candles and speak the names of those we’ve loved and lost to war, our Memorial Day Service will include a collage of voices. The ministers will share each name and a brief reflection on each life and loss before a memorial candle is kindled. Please send the names of those you want us to include, and no more than three brief sentences about their service, to Rob Eller-Isaacs at robei@unityunitarian.org with “Memorial Day” in the subject line. Offering recipient: Veterans for Peace May 31: Consider the Radiance In his poem “The City Limits” A.R. Ammons offers up a praise song for the natural world. The beauty that surrounds us can be a threshold through which we step as we accept the mantle of like beauty in ourselves and in our neighbors. One of the hidden blessings of physical isolation is that staying put and slowing down can really help us notice all the beauty that surrounds us. Offering recipient: Hallie Q. Brown Food Shelf |
Family and Story Sundays
Family Sundays 2019-20
Family Sundays take place five times each church year:
Story Sundays 2019-20 Story Sundays happen frequently throughout the church year, with children in grades 1-8 beginning in worship with the congregation in the Sanctuary. After the opening hymn, prayers, and children’s message, Workshop Rotation children (grades 1-5) proceed with their Journey Guides to their classrooms for religious education programming while junior high youth (grades 6-8) remain in the sanctuary for the entire worship service.
Coffee and Fellowship HourEveryone is invited to the Parish Hall for coffee and fellowship following the morning service. If you or a team you are working with would like to request a table in the Parish Hall as a way to share information with the congregation about a project, class, or other learning opportunity, please CLICK HERE. Parish Hall tables are reserved for programs and groups affiliated with Unity Church.
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© Unity Church-Unitarian • 733 Portland Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55104 • 651-228-1456 • unity@unityunitarian.org • A Welcoming Congregation
