SAVE THESE SUNDAYS—COME TO CHURCH—MAY 31 AND JUNE 7!
On Sunday, May 31, we will have around 250 guests! Most of them will be the congregation from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring (UUCSS). The UUCSS grew out of UNMC; they are our offspring, so-to-speak.
We will have our usual order of worship, so the UUCSS congregation will experience a traditional, Christian, Universalist service. Both Rev. Elizabeth Lerner, UUCSS minister, and I will be delivering a collaborative sermon on the historical perspective of UNMC and UUCSS, as well as our Universalist tradition.
On Sunday, June 7, we will visit UUCSS for their 11:15 a.m. service. They have two services; however, we will go to the 11:15, because they have invited us to their annual potluck picnic after the service. We will bring potluck dishes and celebrate our common heritage.
There will be no services here that Sunday, and the Board of Trustees and I would like all of you to drive up to Silver Spring. Rev. Lerner and I will once again be preaching together on “The Future of Unitarian Universalism.”
We will have sign-up sheets for car-pooling that Sunday, as well as driving instructions for those who will be driving from other parts of the metro area. More will be forthcoming on this historical gathering.
Between now and then, we will have Easter celebrations: Maundy Thursday service will be a celebration of the “Last Supper.” It begins at 7:30 p.m. on April 9. It will be a joyous service, filled with singing and afterwards, we will enjoy the wine, bread, and cheese.
Everyone, will you please bring wine, cheese, and bread to the Maundy Thursday service?
On Easter Sunday, we will have a communion service at 9:30. It will be a contemplative, participatory service with everyone invited to join in communion. I will be preaching at the 11:00 service only.
Growing up a Southern Baptist, I did not experience the heritage of our tradition, even though the Baptists came out of the same religious heritage as the Universalists. Somehow, the Southern Baptists of my day forgot their roots in the independent, freethinking Congregational churches. They also forgot their freethinking forbearers that forced the legislative and judicial branches of the state and federal governments to re-think the laws rooted in the theocratic Colonial times of our nation.
It is wonderful to be part of a church rooted in the brave and courageous religious fervor of our nation. It is even more wonderful to be part of a church and religion that requires no creed, only a commitment to free-religious thinking rooted in Jesus’ inclusive, prophetic, and revolutionary ministry.
See you in Church,
Pastor Lillie