IN-PERSON SUNDAY SERVICES with ZOOM OPTION

We gather on Sunday mornings to learn to live more wisely, to live with more connection, and to deepen our compassion.  

An usher just inside the sanctuary is available to answer questions and hearing assist devices are available on the usher’s table.

Elements in the service vary from Sunday to Sunday, but in general:

– The church bell rings a few minutes before the service.

-A musical prelude moves us into the sacred time and space. 

– Welcoming words and lighting the chalice, the symbol of our faith, lead us into the hour of respite and transformation

– During the service, we may sing hymns, folk music, and popular music.

• • We may listen to  classical, folk, ethnic, rock, popular, jazz, blues, and other music performed by talented congregants and guests.
  • We may hear stories, poems, and readings.
  • We may read responsively, with the speaker reading some parts and the congregation reading alternate parts.
  • For some elements of the service, we stand in body or in spirit (if physically standing is unrealistic). 
  • We usually recite our Bond of Union
  • A minister, a guest speaker, or a member of the congregation delivers a sermon or message.
  • Other elements of the service – the music and the readings – are chosen to support and enhance the meaning of the sermon. Music may be offered by music director, Jackson Froman or by some of the talented musicians from our congregation and community.
  • Children’s Religious Education is offered each week during the regular church year. Young ones join their family in the service initially then leave for classrooms, except for intergenerational services, when they stay through the service. 
  • We usually light candles in recognition of those joys and concerns, both spoken and unspoken. There will be an opportunity to express joys and concerns, in writing to be shared in the service or with the Minister. All are welcome to participate.
  • Worship sometimes includes a short period of silent meditation.
  • We receive an offering to financially support the facility and the work of the congregation and our work in the community.
  •  Extinguishing the chalice, closing words, and a closing hymn usually mark the end of the service.
  • A musical postlude ushers us out to conversation over refreshments during Social Hour in the Olympia Brown Room.

Attendance via Zoom is an option that is open to all, near and far. Our Zoom room opens at 10 a.m. through a waiting room. To get the zoom link, click here. Joys and concerns can be shared the chat box during that part of the service and will be acknowledged from the pulpit in the sanctuary. After the service, everyone is invited to a brief social time in breakout rooms.

SUMMER LITE SUNDAY SERVICES

During the summer Sunday services vary in style and ritual. They are less formal, but the purpose remains – to learn to live more wisely, with connection and compassion. The usual service format may or may not be followed. Shorts and sandals announce that some people are heading to the peninsula after the service. Social hour probably features a simpler cookie and fruit table, or none. The one thing that remains is the opportunity to talk with each other. As always, we are happy to be together.