Worship Services at Unity Church
From the May 26-September 1, 2019, there is just one service each week at 10:00 a.m.
During the church year (the Sunday after Labor Day through the third Sunday in May) worship services are held at 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 4:30 p.m., except where noted. The entrance to the Sanctuary is at 733 Portland Avenue and parking is available in the church's lot on the corner of Portland Avenue and St. Albans Street. Map and Directions 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. If you would like to nominate a non-profit to receive the Sunday offering, please fill out the online nomination form. August Sunday Worship • 10:00 a.m.August 4: Learning to Swim
We seek to lead lives of integrity, service, and joy. Sometimes in our daily actions, we allow discomfort, fear, or unexamined habits to convince us to let go of our values and to act in ways that are contrary to how we want to be in the world. What do we do when we fall short of our aspirations? Join Bob Lies and Bob Peskin to explore what it means to embrace change and to cultivate the courage to examine habitual ways of being that prevent us from living out the truth we claim to be our own. Musician: Sarah Pradt, hardanger fiddle Offering recipient: Frogtown Green August 11: Bringing our Best Selves Forward: Claiming our Personal Power When our egos are befriended, and our authentic selves invited to emerge, can we allow ourselves to shine? There seems to be an urgency right now, for all of us to move beyond whatever is keeping us small, and to take another step into our personal power, for the good of the planet. Our “spark of the divine” has a knowing, and can communicate with us in sometimes mysterious ways, but we also know that deep down inside, we are in charge of our own choices. When we take ourselves seriously, and with reverence, we can bring our true strength forward. Join Suzanne Quinn-McDonald and Bailey Webster as they explore what sovereignty can look like in our lives. Musician: Ron Parker, guitar and vocals Offering recipient: One Voice Mixed Chorus August 18: You Don't Ever Let Go of the Thread No matter how intentional and clear we are in our lives, life keeps challenging us with the unexpected and uncontrollable. Angela Wilcox and worship associate Nelson Moroukian will explore those threads that help us hold on through transitions, tragedies, and time, and celebrate the immutable aspects of our faith and our communities. Pancake breakfast after the service! Musician: Dawn Baker, piano Offering recipient: East Side Elders August 25: Grounded Faith Unitarian Universalism’s commitment to religious freedom is often misrepresented as “religion-lite,” where you get to choose the easy elements of theology and ignore the harder ones. And yet, life-long UUs Erika Sanders and Rev. Lisa Friedman have found the principles and faith of Unitarian Universalism to be life-saving in their hours of need. What is the essence of that strength and foundation, and what can it offer us in these challenging times? Musicians: Oasis (vocal trio) Offering recipient: One Voice Mixed Chorus September 1: That's (Not?) Funny! We can be such a dreadfully earnest and serious people. Our faith also equips us with open minds and a keen appreciation for irony, incongruity, absurdity, and the stuff from which humor is made. We know how laughter can be medicine, and how the causes of social justice have often been served by pioneering comedians, from Lenny Bruce through Dick Gregory to Ellen DeGeneres. We also know how sarcasm and ridicule is used too often to belittle and bully the vulnerable and the oppressed. We’ll reflect on how to draw boundaries and appreciate humor that is a tonic, and not toxic, in our struggle for justice, and our everyday lives. And we’ll parse some of the best and worst Unitarian Universalist jokes! Worship leader: Dane Smith Musicians: Dan Schwartz, guitar and vocals; Bryan Janssens, bass |
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.
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© Unity Church-Unitarian • 733 Portland Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55104 • 651-228-1456 • unity@unityunitarian.org • A Welcoming Congregation
