Winter Solstice Service
What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness. Join us and special guest musician, LEA Morris to celebrate the first day of winter.
Speaker: Rev. Nancy McDonald Ladd Senior Minister
Be Quiet Child, Be Quiet
For centuries, mystics and teachers have withdrawn into quiet places of the heart to make room for something deeper to present itself. Does your inner monologue seem a little shouty these days? Maybe a little busy? Could the holiday season bring a time of stillness and silence where all that chatter often is?
The Other Side of Rage
Sikh activist and author Valerie Kaur has written, “On the other side of rage awaits the ability to wonder again at the spinning world.” What healing lies on the other side of rage in your life? What healing can only come after feeling that rage? What comes next – beyond the burning of what one feels in … read more
A Republic, If You Can Keep It
As Benjamin Franklin walked off the floor of the constitutional convention, it’s said that an onlooker shouted at him, “Doctor, what have we got? A republic, or a monarchy?” Franklin is said to have replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Here on the other side of election day, as we wait or work or worry … read more
A More Perfect Union
The preamble to the US Constitution states that our form of governance exists in part for the formation of “a more perfect union.” More perfect, of course, doesn’t mean perfect. It means something closer to perfect, something that is still not fully realized. The American experiment remains unrealized, but this moment in history invites us to push … read more
Our Requiem: Listening Deeply to Grief
In this service, we’ll feature several movements from Clif Hardin’s Requiem, professionally recorded live in the sanctuary before the pandemic and debuted for this online format. Rev. Nancy will preach about the concrete and amorphous grief of this time in our lives. We’ll also prepare for the liturgy of grief and letting go that we’ll share … read more
Big Friendship
This Sunday, we’ll look at the renewing the power of friendship, so often overlooked as a central relationship in our lives. How do our friendships hold us, and how can we cultivate “big friendship” even at a distance?
Exhaustion and Renewal in an Anxious Age
This month’s worship theme is renewal. Rev. Nancy will look at what drains us of our power and capacity in this anxious age and what spiritual and emotional tools we can use to open ourselves up to renewal.
Spilled Paint and the Pandemic
Some weeks ago, during maintenance on our grounds, we spilled some paint right next to the crosswalk in front of the River Road building – and just when we thought that blotch was a blemish on the beauty all around us, our facilities manager turned it into a heart. What transformations are happening from the … read more
Being Anti-Racist, a Joint Worship Service
“The opposite of ‘racist’ isn’t ‘not racist.” It is ‘antiracist,” writes Dr. Ibram X. Kendi in his groundbreaking book How To Be An Anti-Racist. How do we become anti-racist as individuals and as a religious community? How are we proactively acting to dismantle systemic racism, and to implement policies that will measurably increase equity, and … read more